NERVOUS SYSTEMS

Dr. Shayne Verli Cadavedo-Novicio

Instructor
School of Nursing
FUNCTIONS OF THE NERVOUS
SYSTEM
Functions of the Nervous System
• Receiving sensory input
• Integrating information
• Controlling muscles and glands
• Maintaining homeostasis
• Establishing and maintaining mental activity
Divisions of the Nervous Systems
• CNS – central nervous system
• PNS – peripheral nervous system
DIVISIONS OF THE NERVOUS
SYSTEM
 CNS PNS
• Brain and spinal cord • consists of all the nervous
tissue outside the CNS,
including nerves and ganglia
• communication link
between the CNS
• carries information about
the different tissues of the
body → CNS
• delivers commands from the
CNS → body tissues
 CNS

Nervous System Sensory Division

PNS Somatic NS

Motor Division Sympathetic

Autonomic NS

Parasympathetic
 SENSORY DIVISION MOTOR DIVISION
• Afferent (toward) division • Efferent (away) division
• Conducts action potentials • Conducts action potentials
from sensory receptors to from the CNS to effector
the CNS organs (muscles or glands)
• Sensory Neurons – transmit • Motor Neuron – transmit
action potentials from the action potentials from the
periphery → CNS CNS → periphery
 SOMATIC NERVOUS SYSTEM AUTONOMIC NERVOUS
SYSTEM
• Transmits action potentials • Transmits action potentials
from the CNS → skeletal from the CNS to cardiac
muscles muscle, smooth muscle, and
glands
• Sympathetic
• Parasympathetic
Enteric Nervous System
• Unique part of the PNS
• Both sensory and motor neurons contained within the
digestive tract
• Can function without any input from the CNS or other
parts of the PNS
• Although it is normally integrated with the CNS by
sensory neurons and ANS motor neurons
CELLS OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM
Cell of the Nervous System
• NEURONS
• GLIAL CELLS
Neurons or Nerve Cells
• Receive stimuli, conduct action potentials, and
transmit signals to other neurons or effector organs
• Parts of Neuron:
• CELL BODY
• DENDRITES
• AXONS
CELL BODY • (+) single nucleus
• rER, Golgi apparatus and mitochondria
DENDRITES • short, branching cytoplasmic extensions
• Receive infos from other neurons or from
sensory receptors & transmit infos → neuron
cell body
AXON • single long cell process extending from the
neuron cell body
• Axon hillock - area where the axon leaves the
neuron cell body
Axons
• Axons of sensory neurons conduct action potentials
towards the CNS
• Axons of motor neurons conduct action potentials
away from the CNS
Axons
• Conduct action potentials from one part of the brain
or spinal cord to another part
• May remain unbranched or may branch to form
collateral axons
• Can be surrounded by a highly specialized insulating
layer of cells (myelin sheath)
Types of Neurons
• MULTIPOLAR
• BIPOLAR
• PSEUDO-UNIPOLAR
Glial Cells or Neuroglia
• supportive cells of the CNS and PNS – do not conduct
action potentials
• carry out different activities that enhance neuron
function and maintain normal conditions within
nervous tissue
Glial Cells or Neuroglia
GLIAL CELLS OF THE CNS
• Astrocytes
• Ependymal cells
• Microglia
• Oligodendrocytes
GLIAL CELLS OF THE PNS
• Schwann cells
• Satellite cells
Myelin Sheaths
• specialized layers that wrap around the axons of some
neurons
• formed by the cell processes of oligodendrocytes in
the CNS and Schwann cells in the PNS
• excellent insulator that prevents almost all ion
movement across the cell membrane
• Gaps in the myelin sheath (nodes of Ranvier)
 MYELINATED AXONS UNMYELINATED AXONS
• (+) myelin sheath • (-) myelin sheath
• nodes of Ranvier • rest in indentations of the
• conduct action potentials oligodendrocytes in the CNS
more rapidly and the Schwann cells in the
PNS
Organization of Nervous Tissue
GRAY MATTER WHITE MATTER
• groups of neuron cell bodies • bundles of parallel axons
and their dendrites, less with their myelin sheaths
myelin • CNS – nerve tracts
• CNS – cortex and nuclei (conduction pathways)
• PNS - ganglion • PNS – bundles of axons and
associated connective tissue
that form nerves
ELECTRICAL SIGNALS AND
NEURAL PATHWAYS
Resting Membrane Potential
• LEAK CHANNELS
• GATED CHANNELS
• CHEMICALLY GATED CHANNELS
• VOLTAGE-GATED CHANNELS
Resting Membrane Potential
• generated primarily by the uneven distribution of K+,
Na+, and negatively charged proteins across the cell
membrane
Neuron Communication
3 STAGES OF NEURON COMMUNICATION
1) Generation of action potentials
2) Action potential propagation along the cell
membrane
3) Communication with target cell at the synapse
Action Potentials
• electrical signals that are conducted along the cell
membrane from one region of the cell to another
• channels responsible for the action potential are
voltage-gated Na+ and K+ channels
Action Potentials
• Depolarization and repolarization constitute an action
potential.
• At the end of repolarization, the charge of the cell
membrane briefly becomes more negative than the
resting membrane potential (hyperpolarization)
• The elevated permeability to K+ lasts only a very short
time.
Action Potential Conduction
1) Continuous Conduction
2) Saltatory Conduction
Action Potential Conduction
CONTINUOUS CONDUCTION
• Unmyelinated axons
• an action potential in one part of a cell membrane
stimulates local currents in adjacent parts of the cell
membrane
• local currents in the adjacent membrane produce an
action potential
Action Potential Conduction
CONTINUOUS CONDUCTION
• the action potential is conducted along the entire
axon cell membrane
Action Potential Conduction
SALTATORY CONDUCTION
• Myelinated axons
• an action potential at one node of Ranvier causes a
local current to flow through the surrounding
extracellular fluid and through the cytoplasm of the
axon to the next node, stimulating an action potential
at that node of Ranvier
Action Potential Conduction
SALTATORY CONDUCTION
• increases the conduction velocity because the nodes
of Ranvier make it unnecessary for action potentials to
travel along the entire cell membrane
The Synapse
• junction where the axon of one neuron interacts with
another neuron or with cells of an effector organ, such
as a muscle or gland
The Synapse
3 MAJOR COMPONENT OF SYNAPSE
1) the end of the axon forms a presynaptic terminal
2) the membrane of the dendrite or effector cell is the
postsynaptic membrane
3) the space separating the presynaptic and
postsynaptic membranes is the synaptic cleft
The Synapse
• Chemical substances (neurotransmitters) act as these
chemical signals and are stored in synaptic vesicles in
the presynaptic terminal.
The Synapse
1) When an action potential reaches the presynaptic
terminal, voltage-gated Ca2+ channels open, and
Ca2+ moves into the cell.
2) This influx of Ca2+ causes the release of
neurotransmitters by exocytosis from the
presynaptic terminal.
The Synapse
3) The neurotransmitters diffuse across the synaptic
cleft toward the postsynaptic membrane.
4) The neurotransmitters then bind to specific receptor
molecules on the postsynaptic membrane. 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.