G. KYALYAN R. PETROSYAN HUMAN ANATOMY Adapted
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G. KYALYAN R. PETROSYAN HUMAN ANATOMY Adapted course for foreign students Volume III The control and communication Yerevan 2002 LITERATURE 1. Human Anatomy M.R. Sapin Russian edition, 1993 2. Human Anatomy M. Prives N. Lysenkov V. Bushkovich English edition, 1985 3. Human Anatomy Robert Carola John P. Harley Charles P. Woback English edition, 1992 4. Gray’s Anatomy Edited by Peter L. Williams English edition, 1993 2 THE SCIENCE OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM (NEUROLOGY) GENERAL DATA One of the most important characteristics of living substances is their capacity to respond to stimuli. Every living organism receives stimuli from its environment and responds to such stimuli by corresponding reactions which link the organism to the environment. Metabolic processes within the organism itself, in turn, create a number of stimuli to which the organism must also. react. In higher multicellular organisms the area receiving the stimulus and the reacting organ are connected by the nervous system. Branching into all the organs and tissues, the nervous system binds and integrates all parts of the organism into a single, unified whole. Consequently, the nervous system is “an indescribably complex and fine instrument of relations involving the connection of numerous parts of the organism between one another and with the organism as a whole in a complex system with an infinite number of external influences” (I.P. Pavlov). 3 The basic anatomical element of the nervous system is the nerve cell which, together with all the processes arising from it, is called the neuron. A long axial cylindrical process, called the axon or neurite, arises from the body of the cell in one direction. Short branched processes called dendrites lead in the other direction. Nervous impulse inside the neuron flows from the dendrites to the cell body and from there to the axon; the axons convey the nervous impulse away from the cell body. The conduct of the nerve impulse from one neuron to another is accomplished by means of specially built end apparatuses or synapses (Gk synaptein to join). Axosomatic connections of neurons in which the branches of one neuron approach the cell body of another neuron, can also be distinguished, as can axodendritic connections in which contact is accomplished by the dendrites of nerve cells. The nervous system is composed of a complex of neurons which come into contact with one another but never grow together. Consequently, the nervous impulse that arises in one part of the body is conveyed along the processes of nerve cells from one neuron to a second, from there to a third, and so on. A clear example of the connection established between organs through the neurons is the reflex arc which forms the basis of the reflex, the simplest and at the same time most fundamental reaction of the nervous system (I.M. Sechenov). The simple reflex arc consists of at least two neurons, one of which connects with a sensory surface (the skin, for 4 instance) and the other, which, with its axon, ends in a muscle (or a gland). When the sensory surface is stimulated, the nervous impulse passes centripetally along the neuron connected to it to the reflex centre where the synapse of both neurons is ocated. Here the nervous impulse is transferred to the other neuron and directed centrifugally to the muscle or gland. As a result the muscle contracts or the secretion of the gland changes. Quite often a third in ternuncial neuron, which serves as a transmitting station from the sensory route to the motor route, is included in the simple reflex arc. Besides the simple (three-member) reflex arc there are complex multineuronal reflex arcs passing through different levels of the brain, including the cerebral cortex. In man and other higher animals neurons also form temporary reflex connections of the highest order on the basis of simple and complex reflexes. These temporary reflex connections are known as conditioned reflexes (Pavlov). Thus, the elements of the nervous system may be classified as one of three kinds according to function. 1. Receptors transform the energy of the external stimulus into a nerve process; the receptors are connected with afferent (centripetal or receptor) neurons, which transmit the triggered excitation (nerve impulse) toward the centre; the analysis begins from this phenomenon (Pavlov). 2. Conductors are internuncial or connecting neurons which accomplish the contact, i.e. the transfer of the nerve impulse from the centripetal to the centrifugal neuron and the 5 transformation of the impulse received by the centre into an external reaction. This synthesis “evidently represents the phenomenon of the nerve connector” (Pavlov). This is why Pavlov calls this neuron the connector. 3. Efferent (centrifugal) neurons implement response reactions (motor or secretory) by conducting the nervous impulse from the centre to the effector (the producer of the effect or the action) at the periphery i.e. to the working organ (muscle, gland). This is why this neuron is also called the effector neuron. The receptors are stimulated by three sensory surfaces, or receptor fields, of the organism: (1) the external skin surface of the body (exteroceptive field) through the sense organs which are genetically related to the skin and receive stimuli from the environment; (2) the internal surfaces of the body (interoceptive field) stimulated mostly by chemical substances entering the internal cavities; and (3) the thickness of the walls of the body itself (proprioceptive fields) where the bones, muscles, and other organs are laid out and produce stimuli received by special receptors. The receptors from such fields are connected with afferent neurons which reach the centre and transfer there to various efferent conductors by a very complicated system of conductors. These efferent conductors produce various effects in conjunction with the working organs. Besides the reflex arc, a reflex circle has been found recently which participates as a basic component of nervous system activity. 6 Modern cybernetics has established the common feedback principle of connections in the control and coordination of processes in both modern automatons and living organisms. From this viewpoint a feedback connection can be distinguished in the nervous system between the working organ and the nerve centres. This phenomenon called feedback afferentation (Anokhin) involves the transmission of impulses about the activity of the organ at any given moment from the working organ to the central nervous system. When the centres of the nervous system send efferent impulses to the executive organ, certain actions (movement, secretion) are triggered in this organ. These actions, in turn, stimulate nervous (sensory) impulses which return along afferent routes to the spinal cord and brain signalling that a certain action has just been performed by the working organ. Thus, the essence of feedback afferentation, is, figuratively speaking. a report to the centre that its command has been fulfilled by the periphery. When the hand reaches for an object, for example, the eyes constantly measure the distance between the hand and the object and dispatch the information as afferent signals to the brain. A contact is made in the brain with efferent neurons which convey motor impulses to the muscles of the hand reaching for the object. At the same time the muscles act upon the receptors within them to transmit continuous sensitive signals to the brain and thus report on the position of the hand at every moment. This two-way signalization along the reflex circuits continues until the distance between the hand and the 7 object is, reduced to zero, i.e. until the hand grasps the object. The action of the working organ is thus constantly selfcontrolled by the mechanism of feedback afferentation, which functions as a closed circuit in the following succession: from the centre (the instrument setting the programme of action) to the effector (motor) to the tool (working organ) to the receptor (receiver) and back to the centre. The unified human nervous system is conditionally divided into two parts corresponding to the two principal parts of the organism-vegetative and animal: (1) the vegetative nervous system innervates the internal organs. the endocrine system, and the smooth muscles of the skin, heart, and vessels. i.e. the organs of vegetative life which create the internal media of the organism; (2) the animal nervous system controls the striated musculature of the skeleton and certain internal organs (tongue, larynx, pharynx) and primarily innervates the organs of animal life. The animal nervous system is also inaptly called the somatic system, meaning soma, i.e. the body itself. For the most part it controls the functions connecting the organism with the environment, provides the sensitivity of the organism (through the sense organs), and the movements of the muscles of the skeleton. In addition to this structural classification the nervous system can be classified topographically into central and peripheral systems. The central nervous system consists of the spinal cord and brain made up of grey and white matter; the 8 peripheral system includes all other components, i.e. the nerve roots, ganglia, plexuses, nerves, and peripheral nerve endings. Both the central and peripheral parts of the nervous system contain elements of its animal and vegetative components, thus uniting the nervous system as a whole. Its most highly developed section, which controls all the processes in the body, both animal and vegetative, is the cortex of the brain. GENERAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM Phylogenesis of the nervous system briefly amounts to the following. The single-celled protozoa (the amoeba) have no nervous system and their connection with the environment is accomplished by means of fluids present both in and outside of the organism. This is the humoral, preneural form of control. Later, when the nervous system originates, another form of control, i.e.