Chapter 8 NS I

Because learning changes everything.
Chapter 8
Nervous System Part 1
Lecture Outline
Seeley’s ESSENTIALS OF
ANATOMY & PHYSIOLOGY
Eleventh Edition
Cinnamon VanPutte
Jennifer Regan
Andrew Russo
Copyright 2022 © McGraw Hill LLC. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw Hill LLC.
Nervous System
Figure 8.1
Access the text alternative for slide images.
Copyright 2022 © McGraw Hill LLC. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw Hill LLC. 2
Nervous System Functions
1. Receiving sensory input
2. Integrating information
3. Controlling muscles and glands
4. Maintaining homeostasis
5. Establishing and maintaining mental activity
Main Divisions of Nervous System 1
Central nervous system (CNS)

• brain and spinal cord
Peripheral nervous system (PNS)
• All the nervous tissue outside the CNS
Sensory division
• Conducts action potentials from sensory receptors to the
CNS
Motor division
• Conducts action potentials to effector organs, such as
muscles and glands
Main Divisions of Nervous System 2
Somatic nervous system

• Transmits action potentials from the CNS to skeletal
muscles.
Autonomic nervous system

• Transmits action potentials from the CNS to cardiac
muscle, smooth muscle, and glands
Enteric nervous system

• A special nervous system found only in the digestive tract.
Organization of the Nervous System
Figure 8.2
Cells of the Nervous System
Neurons
• receive stimuli, conduct action potentials, and transmit
signals to other neurons or effector organs.
Glial cells
• supportive cells of the CNS and PNS, meaning these cells
do not conduct action potentials. Instead, glial cells carry
out different functions that enhance neuron function and
maintain normal conditions within nervous tissue.
Neurons
A neuron (nerve cell) has a:

• Cell body – which contains a single nucleus
• Dendrite – which is a cytoplasmic extension from the cell

body, that usually receives information from other neurons
and transmits the information to the cell body
• Axon – which is a single long cell process that leaves the
cell body at the axon hillock and conducts sensory signals
to the CNS and motor signals away from the CNS
Typical Neuron
Figure 8.3
Structural Types of Neurons 1
• Multipolar neurons have many dendrites and a single

axon.
• Most of the neurons within the CNS and nearly all motor
neurons are multipolar.
• Bipolar neurons have two processes: one dendrite and
one axon.
• Bipolar neurons are located in some sensory organs, such
as in the retina of the eye and in the nasal cavity.
Structural Types of Neurons 2
• Pseudo-unipolar neurons have a single process

extending from the cell body, which divides into two
processes as short distance from the cell body.
• One process extends to the periphery, and the other
extends to the CNS.
• The two extensions function as a single axon with small,
dendrite-like sensory receptors at the periphery.
Types of Neurons
Figure 8.4
Glial Cells 1
• Glial cells are the supportive cells of the CNS and PNS.
• Astrocytes serve as the major supporting cells in the

CNS.
• Astrocytes can stimulate or inhibit the signaling activity of
nearby neurons and form the blood-brain barrier.
• Ependymal cells line the cavities in the brain that contains
cerebrospinal fluid.
Glial Cells 2
• Microglial cells act in an immune function in the CNS by

removing bacteria and cell debris.
• Oligodendrocytes provide myelin to axons of neurons in
the CNS.
• Schwann cells provide myelin to axons of neurons in the
PNS.
Types of Glial Cells
Figure 8.5
Myelin Sheath 1
• Myelin sheaths are specialized layers that wrap around the

axons of some neurons, those neurons are termed,
myelinated.
• The sheaths are formed by oligodendrocytes in the CNS
and Schwann cells in the PNS.
• Myelin is an excellent insulator that prevents almost all ion
movement across the cell membrane.
Myelin Sheath 2
• Gaps in the myelin sheath, called nodes of Ranvier,

occur about every millimeter.
• Ion movement can occur at the nodes of Ranvier.
• Myelination of an axon increases the speed and efficiency

of action potential generation along the axon.
• Multiple sclerosis is a disease of the myelin sheath that
causes loss of muscle function.
Unmyelinated Neurons
• Unmyelinated axons lack the myelin sheaths.
• These axons rest in indentations of the oligodendrocytes

in the CNS and the Schwann cells in the PNS.
• A typical small nerve, which consists of axons of multiple
neurons, usually contains more unmyelinated axons than
myelinated axons.
Myelinated and Unmyelinated Axons
Figure 8.6
Organization of Nervous Tissue
• Nervous tissue varies in color due to the abundance or

absence of myelinated axons.
• Nervous tissue exists as gray matter and white matter.
• Gray matter consists of groups of neuron cell bodies and

their dendrites, where there is very little myelin.
• White matter consists of bundles of parallel axons with

their myelin sheaths, which are whitish in color.
Resting Membrane Potential 1
• All cells have electrical properties which are evident at

their cell membranes.
• The phospholipid bilayer of the cell membrane is
impermeable to ions but ions can cross the membrane
through ion channels.
• Ions flow through ion channels due to differences in
concentration across the membrane and due to charge
difference across the membrane.
• There are two types of ion channels: leak channels and
gated channels.
Leak channels are always open so ions can diffuse across

the membrane, down their concentration gradient.
Gated channels are closed until opened by specific signals.

• Chemically gated channels are opened by chemicals
such as neurotransmitters.
• Voltage-gated channels are opened by a change in the
electrical property of the cell membrane.
• In most cells the inside of the membrane has a negative

charge relative to the outside of the membrane which has
a positive charge.
• The membrane is said to be polarized.
• A small, but measurable, voltage exists across the

membrane.
• When the cell is at rest, this voltage is called the resting
membrane potential.
• Membrane potentials are due to differences in

concentrations of ions across the membrane
• In a resting cell, there is a higher concentration of K+ inside
the cell membrane and a higher concentration of Na+
outside the cell membrane.
• Also, there are negatively charged proteins trapped inside
the cell because they are too large to pass through the cell
membrane.
• Leak channels contribute to the difference in ion

concentrations across the membrane during resting
membrane potential.
• There are 50 to 100 times more K+ leak channels than Na+
leak channels.
• The resting membrane has much greater permeability to
K+ than to Na+.
• The sodium-potassium pump is also required to maintain

resting membrane potential.
• The pump actively transports K+ into the cell and Na+ out
of the cell.
• It is estimated that the sodium-potassium pump consumes
25% of all the ATP in a typical cell and 70% of the ATP in a
neuron.
Figure 8.7(1)
Figure 8.7(2)
Figure 8.7(3)
Nerve Cell Communication
• Nerve cells are excitable.
• The resting membrane potential can change in response

to a stimuli.
• In nerve cells, this change is a means by which the cell
communicates with other cells.
• The changes in membrane potential that nerve cells use to
communicate with other cells are called action potentials.
Gated Membrane Channels
• The stimuli that cause action potentials activate gated

channels which are closed until opened by specific
signals.
• The opening and closing of gated ion channels changes
the permeability of the membrane to ions and can
therefore change the membrane potential.
• Action potentials may result.
Action Potential 1
• Action potentials are electrical signals that are conducted

along the cell membrane similar to electricity travelling
along an electrical wire.
• The channels responsible for the action potential are
voltage-gated Na+ and K+ channels, which are closed
during resting membrane potential.
• When a stimulus is applied to the nerve cell, following
neurotransmitter activation of chemically gated channels,
Na+ channels open very briefly, and Na+ diffuses quickly
into the cell.
Action Potential 2
• This movement of Na+, which is called a local current,

causes the inside of the cell membrane to become
positive, a change called depolarization.
• If depolarization is not strong enough, the Na+ channels
close again, and the local potential disappears without
being conducted along the nerve cell membrane.
• If depolarization is large enough, Na+ enters the cell so
that the local potential reaches a threshold value.
• This threshold depolarization causes voltage-gated Na+
channels to open, generally at the axon hillock.
Action Potential 3
• The opening of these channels causes a massive, 600-

fold increase in membrane permeability to Na+.
• Voltage-gated K+ channels also begin to open.
• As more Na+ enters the cell, depolarization continues at a
much faster pace, causing a brief reversal of charge – the
inside of the cell membrane becomes positive relative to
the outside of the cell membrane.
• The charge reversal causes Na+ channels to close and
Na+ then stops entering the cell.
• During this time, more K+ channels are opening and K+
leaves the cell, resulting in repolarization.
Action Potential 4
• At the end of repolarization, the charge on the cell

membrane briefly becomes more negative than the resting
membrane potential; this condition is called
hyperpolarization and occurs briefly.
• Action potentials occur in an all-or-none fashion.
• All-or-none refers to the fact that if threshold is reached,
an action potential occurs; if the threshold is not reached,
no action potential occurs.
• The sodium-potassium pump assists in restoring the
resting membrane potential.
Action Potential 5
Figure 8.9 (1)

Action Potential 6
Figure 8.9 (2)

Action Potential 7
Figure 8.9 (3)

Action Potential 8
Figure 8.10
Action Potential Conduction
• Once an action potential is generated it is conducted

down the cell membrane in one of two ways: continuous
conduction or saltatory conduction.
• Glial cells insulate the axons of some neurons; a
characteristic called myelination.
Unmyelinated and Myelinated Axon Action Potentials
• Action potentials in unmyelinated axons travel more slowly

than in myelinated axons.
• Action potentials along unmyelinated axons occur along
the entire membrane in a process called continuous
conduction.
• Action potentials on myelinated axons occur in a jumping
pattern at the nodes of Ranvier.
• This type of action potential conduction is called saltatory
conduction.
Conduction along the Axon
Figure 8.11
Axon Conduction Speed
• The speed of action potential conduction varies widely,

even among myelinated axons; it is based on the diameter
of axon fibers.
• Medium-diameter, lightly myelinated axons, characteristic
of autonomic neurons, conduct action potentials at the rate
of about 3 to 15 meters per second (m/s).
• Large-diameter, heavily myelinated axons conduct action
potentials at the rate of 15 to 120 m/s.
Synapse 1
• A neuroneuronal synapse is a junction where the axon of

one neuron interacts with another neuron.
• The end of the axon forms a presynaptic terminal and the

membrane of the next neuron forms the postsynaptic
membrane, with a synaptic cleft between the two
membranes.
• Chemical substances called neurotransmitters are stored

in synaptic vesicles in the presynaptic terminal.
Synapse 2
• An action potential reaching the presynaptic terminal

causes voltage-gated Ca2+ channels to open, and Ca2+
moves into the cell.
• This influx of Ca2+ causes the release of neurotransmitters
by exocytosis from the presynaptic terminal.
• The neurotransmitters diffuse across the synaptic cleft and
bind to specific receptor molecules on the postsynaptic
membrane.
Synapse 3
• The binding of neurotransmitters to these membrane

receptors causes chemically gated channels for Na+, K+, or
Cl− to open or close in the postsynaptic membrane.
• The specific channel type and whether or not the channel
opens or closes depend on the type of neurotransmitter in
the presynaptic terminal and the type of receptors on the
postsynaptic membrane.
• The response may be either stimulation or inhibition of an
action potential in the postsynaptic cell.
Synapse 4
• If Na+ channels open, the postsynaptic cell becomes

depolarized, and an action potential will result if threshold
is reached.
• If K+ or Cl− channels open, the inside of the postsynaptic
cell tends to become more negative, or hyperpolarized,
and an action potential is inhibited from occurring.
• There are many neurotransmitters, with the best known
being acetylcholine and norepinephrine.
Synapse 5
• Neurotransmitters do not normally remain in the synaptic

cleft indefinitely, thus their effects are short duration.
• These substances become reduced in concentration when
they are either rapidly broken down by enzymes within the
synaptic cleft or are transported back into the presynaptic
terminal.
• An enzyme called acetylcholinesterase breaks down
acetylcholine.
• Norepinephrine is either actively transported back into the
presynaptic terminal or broken down by enzymes.
The Synapse
Figure 8.12
Neuronal Pathway (Converging)
• The CNS has simple to complex neuronal pathways.
• A converging pathway is a simple pathway in which two

or more neurons synapse with the same postsynaptic
neuron.
• This allows information transmitted in more than one
neuronal pathway to converge into a single pathway.
Neuronal Pathway (Diverging)
• A diverging pathway is a simple pathway in which an

axon from one neuron divides and synapses with more
than one other postsynaptic neuron.
• This allows information transmitted in one neuronal
pathway to diverge into two or more pathways.
Neuronal Pathways
Converging pathway Diverging pathway

Figure 8.13
Summation 1
• A single presynaptic action potential usually does not

cause a sufficiently large postsynaptic local potential to
reach threshold and produce an action potential in the
target cell.
• Many presynaptic action potentials are needed in a
process called summation.
• Summation of signals in neuronal pathways allows
integration of multiple subthreshold local potentials.
• Summation of the local potentials can bring the membrane
potential to threshold and trigger an action potential.
Summation 2
• Spatial summation occurs when the local potentials

originate from different locations on the postsynaptic
neuron—for example, from converging pathways.
• Temporal summation occurs when local potentials
overlap in time.
• This can occur from a single input that fires rapidly, which
allows the resulting local potentials to overlap briefly.
• Spatial and temporal summation can lead to stimulation or
inhibition, depending on the type of signal.

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Chapter 8 NS I

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Because learning changes everything.

1. Receiving sensory input

3. Controlling muscles and glands

5. Establishing and maintaining mental activity

Central nervous system (CNS)

Somatic nervous system

Autonomic nervous system

Enteric nervous system

A neuron (nerve cell) has a:

• Dendrite – which is a cytoplasmic extension from the cell

• Multipolar neurons have many dendrites and a single

• Pseudo-unipolar neurons have a single process

• Astrocytes serve as the major supporting cells in the

• Microglial cells act in an immune function in the CNS by

• Myelin sheaths are specialized layers that wrap around the

• Gaps in the myelin sheath, called nodes of Ranvier,

• Myelination of an axon increases the speed and efficiency

• Unmyelinated axons lack the myelin sheaths.

• These axons rest in indentations of the oligodendrocytes

• Nervous tissue varies in color due to the abundance or

• Nervous tissue exists as gray matter and white matter.

• Gray matter consists of groups of neuron cell bodies and

• White matter consists of bundles of parallel axons with

• All cells have electrical properties which are evident at

Leak channels are always open so ions can diffuse across

Gated channels are closed until opened by specific signals.

• In most cells the inside of the membrane has a negative

• A small, but measurable, voltage exists across the

• Membrane potentials are due to differences in

• Leak channels contribute to the difference in ion

• The sodium-potassium pump is also required to maintain

• Nerve cells are excitable.

• The resting membrane potential can change in response

• The stimuli that cause action potentials activate gated

• Action potentials are electrical signals that are conducted

• This movement of Na+, which is called a local current,

• The opening of these channels causes a massive, 600-

• At the end of repolarization, the charge on the cell

Figure 8.9 (1)

Figure 8.9 (2)

Figure 8.9 (3)

• Once an action potential is generated it is conducted

• Action potentials in unmyelinated axons travel more slowly

• The speed of action potential conduction varies widely,

• A neuroneuronal synapse is a junction where the axon of

• The end of the axon forms a presynaptic terminal and the

• Chemical substances called neurotransmitters are stored

• An action potential reaching the presynaptic terminal

• The binding of neurotransmitters to these membrane

• If Na+ channels open, the postsynaptic cell becomes

• Neurotransmitters do not normally remain in the synaptic

• The CNS has simple to complex neuronal pathways.

• A converging pathway is a simple pathway in which two

• A diverging pathway is a simple pathway in which an

Converging pathway Diverging pathway

• A single presynaptic action potential usually does not

• Spatial summation occurs when the local potentials

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