th

12 Edition

BIOLOGY
NERVOUS &
SPECIAL SENSE Dr Alaa Badr
02/01223306656
 NERVOUS SYSTEM
ϖ The vertebrate nervous system consists of central and peripheral nervous system

Nervous
System

Central Protected by Skull Peripheral

Nervous and Vertebral Nervous
System column System

ALL nerves
Brain Spinal Cord outside the
CNS

 Outline of peripheral nervous system:

1. Sensory: conveys information from sensory receptors or nerve endings
2. Motor: stimulates voluntary and involuntary muscles
a) Somatic system: controls the voluntary muscles (skeletal muscles EXCEPPT with simple
reflex actions will be voluntary)
b) Autonomic system: controls the involuntary muscles (cardiac muscle, smooth muscle,
and glands)
I. Sympathetic nervous system
II. Parasympathetic nervous system
Sympathetic NS Parasympathetic NS
Fight or flight response Calms the body
Increase heart rate and breathing Decrease heart rate and breathing rate
rate
Liver converts glycogen to glucose Liver builds up glycogen
Bronchi of lungs dilate and increase Bronchi of lungs constrict and return to
gas exchange normal gas exchange rate
Adrenaline raise blood glucose level Normal level of adrenaline
Enhance digestion
 Parts of the brain:
1. Cerebrum:
ϖ forms most of the brain bulk
ϖ it controls voluntary actions, consciousness, memory, feelings
2. Cerebellum:
ϖ Controls body equilibrium (balance) and co-ordinates body movements
3. Brain stem (medulla oblongata):
ϖ Controls involuntary (autonomic) movements
ϖ Contains respiratory centers, blood pressure control, heart rate control centers
ϖ It connects brain to spinal cord
4. Hypothalamus:
ϖ Responsible for homeostasis
ϖ Contains sensors for regulating body temperature (thermoregulation)
ϖ Contains centers for regulating hunger and thirst (water, salt and glucose level)
ϖ Regulate most of hormonal levels

 The neuron (nerve cell):

ϖ The neuron is the basic functional unit of the nervous system
ϖ It consists of: cell body (contains nucleus and organelles), two cytoplasmic extensions
(axon and dendrites)
1. Dendrites:
 Sensory part that receive incoming messages from other cells and carry the electrical
signal to the cell body
 A neuron can have hundreds of dendrites
2. Axon:
 Transmit an impulse from cell body to another cell.
 A neuron has only ONE axon, which can have several feet long in large mammals
 Most axons are wrapped in a myelin sheet that protects the axon and speed the impulse
 Note:
ϖ Myelin sheath is interrupted by node of Ranvier
ϖ The nerve impulse travels as an "electrical signal" along the neuron
ϖ Nerve impulse= depolarization action potential
ϖ Myelin sheath is formed of lipid layer
 The reflex arc:
ϖ It is inborn, autonomic, and protective
1. Simple Reflex Arc:
 It is the simplest nerve response
 Example: knee-jerk reflex, which consists of ONLY sensory and motor neuron (the spinal
cord is NOT involved in this type of reflex)
 Stimulusreceptor sensory neuron (afferent) motor neuron (efferent) effector
response

2. Complex Reflex Arc:

 Consists of: sensory, motor, and interneuron (or associated neuron)
 Example: when you pull your hand when you touch a hot iron, then realizing what
happened
 Stimulus receptor sensory neuron (afferent)INTERNEURON motor neuron
(efferent) effector response
 Types of effector:
1. Muscle: contraction is going to be the response
2. Gland: secretion is going to be the response
 Types of Receptors:
1. Photo-receptors: Sense light as visual pigments "Rods and Cones", found in retina of eye
2. Chemoreceptors: Sense chemicals, As taste buds in tongue and olfactory buds in the nose
3. Thermo-receptors: Sense temperature, Found in the skin
4. Touch receptors: in skin
5. Pain receptors: in skin
6. Basilar membrane:
 Sound receptors in cochlea of inner ear
 The different pitches of sounds are distinguished by the vibration of different sections of
basilar membrane inside the cochlea
 Types of stimulus: any change in the environment
 Note:
ϖ Any damage within any point along the reflex arc will cause NO reflex action
ϖ Involuntary action aiming to protect the body
 How a Neuron Function?
ϖ All living cells exhibit a membrane potential, a difference in electrical charge between the
cytoplasm (negative charge) and extracellular fluid (positive charge)
ϖ The difference in membrane potential to be between -50Mv to -100Mv
1. Resting potential:
 A neuron at rest or un-stimulated is polarized and has membrane potential of about -
70Mv
 The sodium potassium pump maintains this polarization by actively pumping ions out of
the cell that leak inward
 In order for the nerve to fire, a stimulus must be strong enough to overcome the resting
threshold
2. Action potential:
 An action potential, impulse, can only be generated in the axon of a neuron
 When axon is stimulated sufficiently to overcome the threshold, the permeability of the
membrane change
 Sodium channels open and sodium floods INTO the cell
 In response, potassium channels open and potassium floods OUTSIDE of the cell
 This rapid movement of ions (wave of depolarization) reserves the polarity of membrane
and is called "Action Potential"
 The action potential is localized and lasts very short time
3. Refractory Period:
 The sodium-potassium pumps restore the membrane to its original polarized condition
by pumping sodium and potassium ions back to their original positions
 This period of repolarization, which lasts few milliseconds, is called "refractory period"
 During this period, a neuron CANNOT respond to another stimulus
 The refractory period ensures that an impulse moves along an axon in ONE direction
 Note:
 The action potential is an all or none event (either stimulus is strong enough to cause an
action potential or not)
 The Synapse:
ϖ Although an impulse travels along axon electrically, it crosses a synapse chemically
ϖ The cytoplasm at the terminal of neuron contains vesicles, each containing thousands of
neurotransmitters
ϖ Depolarization of the presynaptic membrane causes CA ++ ions to rush into terminal
branch through calcium channels
ϖ This rise in calcium levels stimulate the vesicles to fuse with the presynaptic membrane
and release neurotransmitter by exocytosis into the synapse, which sets up another
action potential to adjacent neuron
ϖ Shortly after neurotransmitter is release in the synapse, it is destroyed by an enzyme that
stops the impulse at that point
ϖ The most common neurotransmitter: acetylcholine, serotonin, epinephrine,
norepinephrine, dopamine, and GABA
ϖ In addition many cells release the gas nitric oxide (NO) to stimulate other cells

Note:
ϖ The synapse between motor neuron and muscle is called "neuro-muscular junction" or
"motor end plate"
ϖ The transmission of nerve impulse across SYNAPSE is CHEMICAL.
ϖ The transmission of nerve impulse across NEURON is ELECTIRCAL
ϖ Peripheral nerve  Nerve fiber Neurons.
 Special Sense
 Eye:

ϖ Cornea: tough, clear covering that protects the eye and allows light to pass
ϖ Humor: fluid that maintain the shape of the eyeball
ϖ Iris: colored part of the eye that controls PUPIL SIZE which controls AMOUNT OF LIGHT
ENTERING THE EYE.
ϖ Lens: focuses light onto the retina
ϖ Pupil: small opening in the middle of the iris
ϖ Retina: converts light into nerve impulses that are carried to the brain. It contains two
type of photo-receptors:
1. Rods: photo-receptors that are extremely sensitive but don’t distinguish different colors
2. Cods: photo-receptors that distinguish different colors
 Visible light spectrum: