NERVOUS SYSTEM

Objectives
• Describe the organization of the nervous
system
• Describe the nervous tissue
• Draw a diagram of a typical neuron
• Classify the different neuronal types
 Introduction
• It is the master controlling and
communicating system of the body
• It is responsible for all behavior that include
thought ,action and emotion.
• It is composed of the brain,spinal cord and the
nerves.
• It sets us apart from other living things
because of its complexity in functioning.
 Objective 1:Organization of the
Nervous system
Central nervous system (CNS)
• Consists of the brain and spinal cord
• The CNS is the integrating and command
center of the nervous system.
• It interprets sensory input and dictates
motor responses based on past
experience, reflexes, and current
conditions.
Peripheral nervous system (PNS)
• The part of the nervous system outside the
CNS
• Consists mainly of the nerves (bundles of
axons) that extend from the brain and spinal
cord i.e. spinal nerves & cranial nerves
• Spinal nerves carry impulses to and from the
spinal cord
• Cranial nerves carry impulses to and from the
brain
• These peripheral nerves serve as the
communication lines that link all parts of the
body to the CNS
• It has two functional subdivisions i.e. sensory &
motor
• The sensory, or afferent(“carrying toward”) ,
division consists of nerve fibers that convey
impulses to the central nervous system from
sensory receptors located throughout the body.
• Sensory fibers conveying impulses from the skin,
skeletal muscles, and joints are called somatic
afferent fibers (soma = body)
• Those transmitting impulses from the visceral
organs (organs within the ventral body cavity)
are called visceral afferent fibers.
• The sensory division keeps the CNS constantly
informed of events going on both inside and
outside the body.
• The motor, or efferent(“carrying away”),
division of the PNS transmits impulses from
the CNS to effector organs, which are the
muscles and glands.
• These impulses activate muscles to contract
and glands to secrete; that is, they effect
(bring about) a motor response.
 Cont’
• The somatic nervous system is composed of
somatic motor nerve fibers (axons) that
conduct impulses from the CNS to skeletal
muscles.
• It is often referred to as the voluntary
nervous system because it allows us to
consciously control our skeletal muscles.
• The autonomic nervous system (ANS)
consists of visceral motor nerve fibers that
regulate the activity of smooth muscles,
cardiac muscles, and glands.
• Autonomic means we generally cannot
control such activities as the pumping of our
heart or the movement of food through our
digestive tract, the ANS is also referred to as
the involuntary nervous system.
• The ANS has two functional subdivisions, the
sympathetic and the parasympathetic, which
typically work in opposition to each other—
what one subdivision stimulates, the other
inhibits
 Objective 2: Describe the nervous
tissue
• Nervous tissue is made up of just two principal
types of cells:
I. Supporting cells, smaller cells that surround
and wrap the more delicate neurons also
called neuroglia or glial cells
II. Neurons, the excitable nerve cells that
transmit electrical signals.
 Neuroglia
• There are six types of neuroglia—four in the
CNS and two in the PNS
 Neuroglia in the CNS
1. Astrocytes
• The most abundant and most versatile glial
cells.
• Their have numerous processes that cling to
neurons and cover nearby capillaries
Astrocyte clings to neurone
2. Microglia
• Small ovoid cells with relatively long “thorny”
processes.
3. Ependymal cells
• Many are ciliated.
• They line the central cavities of the brain and
the spinal cord.
• The beating of their cilia helps to circulate the
cerebrospinal fluid that cushions the brain and
spinal cord.
4. Oligodendrocytes :
• They produce insulating coverings called
myelin sheaths .
 Neuroglia in the PNS
• The two kinds of PNS neuroglia include :
1.Satellite cells
• Surround neuron cell bodies located in the
peripheral neurons system
• Function is still largely unknown.
2. Schwann cells (also called neurolemmocytes)
• Surround and form myelin sheaths around the
larger nerve fibers in the peripheral nervous
system .
 Neurons
• Also called nerve cells
• They are the structural units of the nervous
system.
• They are highly specialized cells that conduct
messages in the form of nerve impulses from
one part of the body to another.
 characteristics
• They have extreme longevity.
• Given good nutrition, neurons can function
optimally for a lifetime (over 100 years).
• They are amitotic i.e. they lack the ability to
divide or form new nerve cells.
• They have high metabolic rate and require
continuous and abundant supplies of oxygen
and glucose.
• Neurons cannot survive for more than a few
minutes without oxygen.
 Parts of the nerve cell
Cell Body
• Consists of a transparent, spherical nucleus with
a nucleolus surrounded by cytoplasm.
• Except for centrioles, it contains the usual
organelles.
• The rough ER is referred to as Nissl bodies .
• Most neuron cell bodies are located in the
CNS, where they are protected by the bones
of the skull and vertebral column.
• Clusters of cell bodies in the CNS are called
nuclei, whereas those that lie along the
nerves in the PNS are called ganglia
Processes
• Arm-like processes extend from the cell body
of all neurons.
• The brain and spinal cord (CNS) contain both
neuron cell bodies and their processes.
• The PNS, for the most part, consists chiefly of
neuron processes.
• Bundles of neuron processes are called tracts
in the CNS and nerves in the PNS
 Parts of the processes
i. Dendrites:
• Are the main receptive or input regions .
• They provide an enormous surface area for
receiving signals from other neurons.
ii. The Axon:
• The initial region of the axon arises from a
cone-shaped area of the cell body called the
axon hillock
• It then narrows to form a slender process
that is uniform in diameter for the rest of its
length
• A long axon is called a nerve fiber.
• The knoblike distal endings of the terminal
branches are variously called axon terminals,
synaptic knobs, or boutons .
iii. Myelin Sheath and Neurilemma
• A whitish, fatty (protein-lipoid), segmented
portion.
• Myelin protects and electrically insulates
fibers
• Myelin also increases the speed of
transmission of nerve impulses.
• Myelin is formed by Schwann cells
• The portion of the Schwann cell, which
includes the exposed part of its plasma
membrane, is called the neurilemma .
 Cont’
• Adjacent Schwann cells along an axon do not
touch one another, so there are gaps in the
sheath.
• These gaps are called nodes of Ranvier or
neurofibril nodes.
• Myelinated fibers conduct nerve impulses
rapidly.
• Unmyelinated fibers conduct impulses quite
slowly.
• Regions of the brain and spinal cord
containing dense collections of myelinated
fibers are referred to as white matter
• White matter are primarily fiber tracts.
• Gray matter contains mostly nerve cell bodies
and un-myelinated fibers
Objective 3: Typical Neuron

Figure 12.4
 Objective 4:Classification of
Neurons
i. Structural Classification
i. Multipolar neurons have three or more
processes
ii. Bipolar neurons have two processes—an axon
and a dendrite—that extend from opposite sides
of the cell body.
iii. Unipolar neurons have a single short process
that emerges from the cell body and divides T-
like into proximal and distal branches
Comparison of Structural Classes of Neurons
Comparison of Structural Classes
of Neurons
 Functional Classification
• Groups neurons according to the direction in
which the nerve impulse travels relative to
the central nervous system
I. Sensory/afferent neurons: Transmit impulses
from sensory receptors in the skin or internal
organs toward or into the central nervous
system
II. Motor/efferent neurons: Carry impulses away
from the CNS to the effector organs (muscles
and glands) of the body periphery
III. Interneurons/association neurons: Lie between
motor and sensory neurons in neural pathways
and shuttle signals through CNS pathways where
integration occurs.
Neurons Classified by Function

Figure 12.11