Chapter 7 Outline

natomy & Physiology
Chapter 7: Nervous System
Nervous System
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CNS PNS
(brain + spinal cord) (peripheral nerves)
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Autonomic Somatic
(involuntary) (voluntary)
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Sympathetic Parasympathetic
(fight or flight) (normal)
Increase heart rate, decrease digestion everyday functions


A. Functions
a. Sensory imput—gathering information:
i. To monitor changes occurring inside and outside the body
ii. Changes = stimuli
b. Integration
i. To process and interpret sensory input and decide if action is needed
c. Motor output
i. A response to integrated stimuli
ii. The response activateds muscles or glands
B. Structural classification
a. Central nervous system (CNS)
i. Brain
ii. Spinal Cord
b. Peripheral nervous system (PNS)
i. Nerves outside the brain and spinal cord;
ii. Spinal nerves
iii. Cranial nerves
c. Sensory (afferent)
i. Nerve fibers that carry information to the central nervous system from our five senses
d. Motor (efferent)
i. Nerve fibers that carry impulses away from the central nervous system (to muscles or glands)
ii. Two subdivisions:
1. Somatic nervous system = voluntary
2. Autonomimc nervous system = involuntary
C. Nervous tissue
a. Neuroglia
i. Astrocytes
ii. Microglia
iii. Ependymal cells
iv. Oligodendrocytes
v. Satellite cells
vi. Schwann cells
b. Neurons
i. Major regions
1. cell body
2. outside body
a. dendrites
b. axons
i. terminals
ii. synaptic cleft
iii. synapse
iv. myelin sheath
1. Schwann cells
2. Nodes of Ranvier
ii. Locations
1. Gray matter
2. Nuclei
3. Ganglia

Chapter 7: Nervous System
Part 2: Central Nervous System
A. Development
a. CNS develops from the Embryonic neural tube
i. The neural tube becomes the brain and spinal cord
b. The opening of the hollow neural tube becomes the ventricles:
i. Four chambers within the brain
ii. Filled with cerebrospinal fluid
B. Regions of the brain
a. Cerebral hemispheres (cerebrum)
i. Paired (left and right) superior parts of the brain
ii. Mass: includes more than half of the brain mass
iii. Surface, made of gyri and sulci
1. Gyri
a. AKA Ridges
2. Sulci
a. AKA grooves
iv. Lobes
1. Fissures (deep grooves) divide the cerebrum into lobes
2. Surface lobes of the cerebrum (named for adjacent bones):
a. Frontal
b. Parietal
c. Occipital
d. Temporal
v. Specialized areas of the cerebrum:
1. Primary somatic sensory:
a. Receives impulses from the body’s sensory receptors
b. Located in parietal lobe
2. Primary motor
a. Sends impulses to skeletal muscles
b. Located in frontal lobe
3. Broca’s Lobe:
a. Involved in our ability to speak
4. Special senses involved in the cerebral areas
a. Gustatory (taste)
b. Visual
c. Auditory (hearing)
d. Olfactory (smell)
5. Interpretation areas
vi. Layers of the cerebrum:
1. Gray matter
a. Outer layer in the cerebral cotex composed mostly of neuron cell bodies
2. White matter
a. Fiber tracts deep to the gray matter
b. Corpus callosum connects hemispheres
3. Basal nuclei
a. Islands of gray matter buried within the white matter
b. Diencephalon
i. Location
1. Sits on top of the brain stem
2. Enclosed by the cerebral hemispheres
ii. Made of three parts
1. Thalamus
a. Location
i. Surrounds the third ventricle
b. Functions
i. The relay station for sensory impulses
ii. Transfers impulses to the cortex
2. Hypothalamus
a. Location
i. Under the thalamus
b. Functions: autonomic nervous system center
i. Helps regulate body temperature
ii. Controls water balance
iii. Regulates metabolism
iv. An important part of the limbic system (emotions)
c. Pituitary gland: master gland of endocrine system
3. Epithalamus
a. Location
i. Forms the roof of the third ventricle
ii. Houses the pineal body (an endocrine gland)
b. Functions
c. Brain stem
i. Location
1. Attaches to the spinal cord
ii. Parts
1. Midbrain
2. Pons
3. Medulla oblongata
a. Controls
i. Heart rate
ii. Blood pressure
iii. Breathing
b. Control centers
4. Reticular formation
a. Reticular activating system (RAS)
d. Cerebellum
i. Two hemispheres with convoluted surfaces
ii. Provides involuntary coordination of body movements