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Nervous System Print

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Vinicious Zolasko Szoboszlai
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11 views

Nervous System Print

Uploaded by

Vinicious Zolasko Szoboszlai
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Nervous System

Response and Coordination


Coordination is a process by which an organism’s activities are organized to increase its chances
of survival.
Coordination is enhanced by the nervous system and the endocrine system.
The nervous system has three primary functions;
 To collect information about conditions outside and inside the body
 To process and analyze this information
 To coordinate an appropriate response

Structure of the Nervous System


The nervous system consists of;
Spinal cord
Brain
Nerves (neurons)- Peripheral Nervous System
Sense organs

The nervous system:


 Has the Central Nervous System (CNS) which process, interprets and comes up with a
response to the sensory impulses
 Has millions of nerve cells also called neurons which carry impulses.

Five key events in the Nervous System

I. Receptor cells in sense organ detect a stimulus.


II. Nerve impulse travel through a sensory neurone to the Central Nervous System (CNS)
III. Nerve impulse travel through a relay neurone inside the CNS
IV. Nerve impulse travel through a motor neurone to reach an effector organ
V. The effector organ responds, e.g. muscle contracts

(Brain & Spinal cord)


Stimulus →→→ Receptor→→→ Sensory neurone →→→ CNS →→→ Motor neurone→→→
Effector organ

How do Nerve impulses travel?


A nerve impulse is an electrical charge passing through a nerve. It begins at a sense organ, and
then it travels through neurones to the CNS, rather like a current passing from a battery around a
circuit.

Neurones are not directly connected to each other but are separated by very small gaps called
synapse. A nerve impulse arriving at one side of a synapse cause the secretion of a chemical
transmitter (neurotransmitter) substance which diffuses across the gap and restarts the nerve
impulse in the next neurone.

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A synapse ensures that nerve impulses travel in one direction only.

Peripheral Nervous System


 Impulse – The electrical message carried along the nerve cell.

 Types of nerve cells include:


1) Sensory neurone – This is a nerve cell which receive stimulus and changes it to an
impulse and conveys the impulse to the CNS (CNS – Central Nervous System; brain and
spinal cord)
2) Motor neurone – This is a nerve cell which takes impulses from the CNS to the effector
organs, e.g. muscles and glands
3) Relay neurone – connects the sensory neurone and the motor neurone together.

Structure of a Nerve Cell


1) Cell body – The mass of cytoplasm (containing nucleus) from which the branches of the
cell originates.
2) Axon –An elongated extension from the cell body which conducts impulse away from the
cell body.
3) Dendron – A short extension of a cell body which is involved in receiving stimuli, i.e.
conducts impulses towards the cell body.
4) Myelin sheath – A fatty substance (with protein) which surrounds larger nerve fibres and
act as an insulator.
5) Synapse – areas where nerve cells make close contact with each other. Chemicals called
neurotransmitters are released from the axon to transmit impulses through the synapse

Structure of Motor & Sensory Neurones

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Differences between Sensory & Motor neurones

Feature Sensory Neurone Motor Neurone


Cell body - It is located to the side of the nerve - It is terminal with
fibre dendrites projections from
- It has a smooth surface without its surface
dendrites
Nerve fibre - It has both the Axon-Long nerve - It only has the Axon
fiber that conducts away from the
cell body of the neuron and Dendron

Nerve endings - Its nerve endings are attached to - Its nerve endings are
sensory organs attached to the effector
organ.

Reflex Action and Reflex Arc

1) Reflex action – A quick and automatic response to a stimulus, e.g. sneezing, coughing,
blinking, change of the size of the pupil etc.

2) Reflex arc –The nervous pathway of a reflex action is known as a Reflex arc, and it
allows for a rapid response to a stimulus.

There are two types of nerve pathways;


- Voluntary – using the brain and body to take conscious action
- Reflexes (involuntary) – quick automatic response to a stimulus which requires no
thinking. i.e. the spinal cord and brain are involved in sorting out the best response:
 Cranial reflexes: reflex actions involving parts of the head which are
stimulated by the brain
 Spinal reflexes: reflex actions occurring below the neck which are stimulated
by the spinal cord

Example of the Reflex Arc


 Knee jerk
1. The stimulus is a tap on the knee
2. Receptor cells in the muscle detect the stimulus.
3. An impulse is conveyed along the sensory neurone to the spinal cord
4. In the spinal cord the impulse is on to the motor neurone
5. The motor neurone then conveys the impulse from the spinal cord to the effector organ;
muscles of the leg.
6. The muscles respond by contracting and
so the lower leg jerks up

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Reflex Action Voluntary action


The response is very rapid The response may be slow
Nerve impulses take the shortest route Nerve impulses take a long route
Spinal cord is involved Brain is involved
Effectors are muscles & glands Effectors are muscles only

Functions of the Neurone


 It transmits electrical impulses between all body organs and the central nervous system
(brain and spinal cord)

Functions of the Spinal Cord


 It conducts sensory impulses from the muscles to the brain
 It carries motor impulses from the brain to the trunk limbs
 It is responsible for reflex actions involving body structures below the neck

Functions of the Pituitary Gland


The gland produces many hormones, some of which act on the endocrine glands stimulating
them to produce their own hormones. Examples;
 Anti-diuretic hormone (ADH), Follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) , Thyroid
Stimulating hormone

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