ANIMAL NERVOUS

SYSTEM
• Most animals have some type of
nervous system with distinct
organization of neurons.

In hydras, nerve nets are diffused

all over the body to control the
contraction and expansion of the
gastrovascular cavity.
• The onset of cephalization marks
a more complex nervous system.

In simple cephalized animals, a

simple CNS with a small brain and
longitudinal nerves are present.
Central Nervous System Peripheral Nervous
System
- composed of the brain and
ventral nerve cords with cluster of - all other nerves on the rest of the
neurons called ganglia. animal’s body.
Three stages in the interpretation of
signals that reach the brain:
• Sensory Input
- receives the external stimuli and internal conditions (sensory
neurons).
• Integration
- integrate the sensory signal in the CNS (interneurons).
• Motor Output
- motor output leaves the CNS to send the signal to the effector cells
(motor neurons).
- These effector cells then perform a response to th stimulus.
Neuron
• basic unit of the nervous system.
• composed of a nucleus from the cell body and two type extensions:
axons and dendrites
Synapse - site of communication between neurons.

Information is passed from the pre-synaptic cell to the post synaptic cell
using chemical messengers called the neurotransmitters.

Glial cells and Schwann cells are also present to maintain the structural
integrity of the nervous systems.
• In neurons, -60 to -80mV is the resting membrane potential (RMP).
- RMP is influenced by the ionic gradient from Na+ and K+
concentrations.

Na+ = 150mM and K+ = 5mM (normal concentration in the extracellular

membrane of mammals)

Na+ = 15mM and K+ = 150mM in the cytosol.

• Neurons use gated-ion channels that can vary depending on the
stimuli:

 stretch-gated
 ligand-gated
 voltage-gated

The inside of the cell becomes more negative when gated K+ channels
open.
The inside becomes less negative when Na+ channels open.
• When the stimulus is strong enough to get past the membrane voltage
threshold, an action potential is generated.
• In myelinated neurons of vertebrates, a mechanism known as
saltatory conduction occurs.
• Nodes of Ranvier - gaps in between myeline sheath.
Vertebrate Nervous Sysem
• All vertebrate brains contains three regions:
1. Hindbrain - use for autonomic processes and motor responses.
2. Midbrain - visual processing and some motor control
3. Forebrain - has two distinct regions: (1) diencephalon and (2)
telencephalon
Main structures of the brain:
• Cerebrum - the largest part of the brain that controls higher cognitive
functions.
• Cerebellum - a small structure at the back of the brain that controls
balance, coordination, and fine motor skills.
• Brain Stem - a connection between the brain and the spinal cord that
controls basic life functions, such as breathing, blood pressure, body
temperature, and swallowing.
Sensory Mechanisms

The senses are often divided into two:

1. General Senses - touch, pressure, pain, and temperature
2. Special Senses - smell, taste, sight, hearing, and balance
Taste
• An animal’s tounge usually contains ridges and valleys called
papillae.
• It can be of the following types:
a. filiform
b. fungiform
c. foliate
d. circumvallate papillae
The four basic senses cause a change in the
membrane ions by:
1. Binding to a receptor sites
2. blocking of membrane channels
3. breaking down of Cl- and Na+, where Na+ directly diffuses into the
cell.
Smell
• most useful sense in animals.
• Olfactory organ consists of modified nerve cells with microscopic
hairs on the surface.
• Humans have a more rudimentary sense of smell compared to other
animals.
• Ectothermic animals detect smell using Jacobson’s organ.
• Olfactory Mucosa - site of olfactory transduction.
• A total of 10 million receptor neurons are present in the olfactory
system with 1000