sign in sign up
<<
Home , Nervous tissue, Neurilemma

Nervous

• Controls and integrates all body activities within limits that maintain life • Three basic functions – sensing changes with sensory receptors • fullness of stomach or sun on your face – interpreting and remembering those changes – reacting to those changes with effectors • muscular contractions • glandular secretions Major Structures of the

• , cranial , , spinal nerves, ganglia, enteric plexuses and sensory receptors Organization of the Nervous System

• CNS is brain and spinal cord • PNS is everything else Nervous System Divisions

• (CNS) – consists of the brain and spinal cord • Peripheral nervous system (PNS) – consists of cranial and spinal nerves that contain both sensory and motor fibers – connects CNS to muscles, glands & all sensory receptors Subdivisions of the PNS • Somatic (voluntary) nervous system (SNS) – from cutaneous and special sensory receptors to the CNS – motor neurons to skeletal • Autonomic (involuntary) nervous systems – sensory neurons from visceral organs to CNS – motor neurons to smooth & cardiac muscle and glands • sympathetic division (speeds up heart rate) • parasympathetic division (slow down heart rate) • (ENS) – involuntary sensory & motor neurons control GI tract – neurons function independently of ANS & CNS Neurons • Functional unit of nervous system • Have capacity to produce action potentials – electrical excitability • body – single nucleus with prominent nucleolus – Nissl bodies • rough ER & free ribosomes for protein synthesis – give cell shape and support – microtubules move material inside cell – lipofuscin pigment clumps (due to aging) • Cell processes = & Parts of a

Neuroglial cells Nucleus with Nucleolus

Axons or Dendrites

Cell body Dendrites

• Conducts impulses towards the cell body • Typically short, highly branched & unmyelinated • Surfaces specialized for contact with other neurons • Contains neurofibrils & Nissl bodies Axons • Conduct impulses away from cell body • Long, thin cylindrical process of cell • Arises at hillock • Impulses arise from initial segment (trigger zone) • Side branches (collaterals) end in fine processes called axon terminals • Swollen tips called synaptic end bulbs contain vesicles filled with Axonal Transport • Cell body is location for most protein synthesis – neurotransmitters & repair proteins • Axonal transport system moves substances – slow axonal flow • movement of in one direction only -- away from cell body • movement at 1-5 mm per day – fast axonal flow • moves organelles & materials along surface of microtubules • at 200-400 mm per day • transports in either direction • for use or for recycling in cell body Functional Classification of Neurons

• Sensory (afferent) neurons – transport sensory information from skin, muscles, joints, sense organs & viscera to CNS • Motor (efferent) neurons – send motor impulses to muscles & glands • (association) neurons – connect sensory to motor neurons – 90% of neurons in the body Structural Classification of Neurons

• Based on number of processes found on cell body – multipolar = several dendrites & one axon • most common cell type – bipolar neurons = one main & one axon • found in retina, inner ear & olfactory – unipolar neurons = one process only(develops from a bipolar) • are always sensory neurons Neuroglial Cells • Half of the volume of the CNS • Smaller cells than neurons • 50X more numerous • Cells can divide – rapid mitosis in tumor formation () • 4 cell types in CNS – , , & ependymal • 2 cell types in PNS – schwann and satellite cells Astrocytes

• Star-shaped cells • Form blood-brain barrier by covering blood capillaries • Metabolize neurotransmitters • Regulate K+ balance- important for nerve impluse • Provide structural support Oligodendrocytes

• Most common glial cell type • Each forms sheath around more than one axons in CNS • Analogous to Schwann cells of PNS Microglia

• Small cells found near blood vessels • Phagocytic role -- clear away dead cells • Derived from cells that also gave rise to & monocytes Ependymal cells

• Form epithelial membrane lining cerebral cavities & central canal • Produce cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) Satellite Cells-PNS

• Flat cells surrounding neuronal cell bodies in peripheral ganglia • Support neurons in the PNS ganglia

• Cells encircling PNS axons • Each cell produces part of the myelin sheath surrounding an axon in the PNS Axon Coverings in PNS • All axons surrounded by a lipid & protein covering (myelin sheath) produced by Schwann cells • is cytoplasm & nucleus of Schwann cell – gaps called nodes of Ranvier • Myelinated fibers appear white – jelly-roll like wrappings made of lipoprotein = myelin – acts as electrical insulator – speeds conduction of nerve impulses • Unmyelinated fibers – slow, small diameter fibers – only surrounded by neurilemma but no myelin sheath wrapping Myelination in PNS

• Schwann cells myelinate (wrap around) axons in the PNS during fetal development • Schwann cell can only myelinate 1 axon • Schwann cell cytoplasm & nucleus forms outermost layer of neurolemma with inner portion being the myelin sheath • Tube guides growing axons that are repairing themselves Myelination in the CNS • Oligodendrocytes myelinate axons in the CNS • Broad, flat cell processes wrap about CNS axons, but the cell bodies do not surround the axons • No neurilemma is formed • Little regrowth after injury is possible due to the lack of a distinct tube or neurilemma Gray and

• White matter = myelinated processes (white in color) • Gray matter = nerve cell bodies, dendrites, axon terminals, bundles of unmyelinated axons and neuroglia (gray color) – In the spinal cord = gray matter forms an H-shaped inner core surrounded by white matter – In the brain = a thin outer shell of gray matter covers the surface & is found in clusters called nuclei inside the CNS Electrical Signals in Neurons

• Neurons are electrically excitable due to the voltage difference across their membrane • Communicate with 2 types of electric signals – action potentials that can travel long distances – graded potentials that are local membrane changes only • In living cells, a flow of ions occurs through ion channels in the cell membrane Multiple Sclerosis (MS) • Autoimmune disorder causing destruction of myelin sheaths in CNS – sheaths becomes scars or plaques – 1/2 million people in the United States – appears between ages 20 and 40 – females twice as often as males • Symptoms include muscular weakness, abnormal sensations or double vision • Remissions & relapses result in progressive, cumulative loss of function