THE COURSE DEALS WITH THE ANATOMY OF THE BRAIN

AND THE NERVOUS SYSTEM, THE STRUCTURE AND

FUNCTIONS OF THE BIOMOLECULES MAKING UP THE
SYSTEMS, EXPLAIN THE MECHANISM OF INTERCELLULAR
AND INTRACELLULAR SIGNALLING AND THE MOLECULES
INVOLVED; GROWTH, DEVELOPMENT AND
DIFFERENTIATION, METABOLIC REACTIONS, INHERITED AND
NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASES AND NEURAL PROCESSING
AND BEHAVIOUR.

CHEM 2390

NEUROCHEMISTRY
“Men ought to know that from the brain, and from the
brain only, arise our pleasures, joys, laughters and jests, as
well as our sorrows, pains, griefs and fears. Through it, in
particular, we think, see, hear and distinguish the ugly
from the beautiful, the bad from the good, the pleasant
from the unpleasant” Hippocrates- 5th Century B.C.
CELLULAR NEUROCHEMISTRY AND
NEURAL MEMBRANES

❑ Neurocellular Anatomy
❑ Cell membrane structures and functions

❑ Lipids, Myelin formation, structure and biochemistry

Organization of the
Nervous System

NEUROCELLULAR
ANATOMY
CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM

Acts as body’s control Central Nervous

Made up of brain and
center, coordinates System is yellow in
spinal cord
body’s activities this diagram.

Impulses travel
through the neurons
in your body to reach
the brain
 PERIPHERAL NERVOUS SYSTEM
Made up of all the nerves
that carry messages to
and from the central
nervous system.
Like telephone wires that
connect all our houses in the
community
Central Nervous System Peripheral Nervous
and Peripheral Nervous System is green in this
System work together to diagram.
make rapid changes in
your body in response to
stimuli.
PERIPHERAL NERVOUS SYSTEM: 2 PARTS

• Somatic Nervous System

▪ Relay information between skin, skeletal muscles and central nervous system
▪ You consciously control this pathway by deciding whether or not to move muscles (except
reflexes)
▪ Reflexes: Automatic response to stimulus
• Autonomic Nervous System
▪ Relay information from central nervous system to organs
▪ Involuntary: You do not consciously control these
▪ Sympathetic Nervous System: controls in times of stress, such as the flight or fight response
▪ Parasympathetic Nervous System: controls body in times of rest
THE
BRAIN
THE NEURON
NEURON

Basic functional unit of nervous Unique features of neuron:

system Excitability
Conductivity
ANATOMY
OF
NEURON
 PARTS OF THE NEURON

• Soma (cell body) – contains the nucleus,

cytoplasm, and organelles
• Dendrites – receive info
• Axon – transmit info
• Myelin sheath – covers the axon to increase
transmission speed (cause of sensory and
motor disturbances in multiple sclerosis)
• Axon terminals -
3 TYPES OF NEURONS

• Sensory Neurons: carry impulses from

inside and outside the body to brain and
spinal cord.
• Interneurons: found within brain and spinal
cord, process incoming impulses and pass
them on to motor neurons.
• Motor Neurons: carry impulses away from
the brain and spinal cord.
SO HOW DO THESE NEURONS WORK IF SOMEONE TAPS
YOU ON THE SHOULDER . . .
1. Receptors in the skin sense touch or other stimuli.
2. Sensory neurons transmit the touch message.
3. Information is sorted and interpreted in the brain. A response in
determined by interneurons.
4. Motor neurons transmit a response message to the shoulder
muscles.
5. The shoulder muscles are activated, causing the head to turn.
 HOW IS AN IMPULSE TRANSMITTED?
1. Stimulus excites sensory neuron.
2. Depolarization (a change in charge due to sodium ions)
creates a wave of changing charges down the
axon.
3. Impulse moves across synapse (tiny space between one
neuron’s axon and another’s dendrites) with the help of

neurotransmitters
This is an image of neurons located
in the cerebral cortex of a hamster.
THE BRAIN
THE BRAIN - 3 MAJOR AREAS

• Cerebrum (telencephalon, diencephalon,)

• Cerebellum
• Brainstem (midbrain, pons, medulla
oblongata)
 CEREBRUM

• Composed of Telencephalon (Cerebral Cortex) and Diencephalon

• Cerebral Cortex is gray matter because nerve fibers lack white myelin
coating
CEREBRAL CORTEX - 4 MAJOR LOBES

• Parietal
• Frontal
• Temporal
• Occipital
 FUNCTIONS OF THE
CEREBRAL CORTEX

• Intellectual processes: thought,

intelligence.
• Processes sensory information and
integrates with past experience to
produce appropriate motor response.
 DIENCEPHALON - 2 MAJOR PARTS

• Thalamus
• Relays stimuli received from all sensory neurons to cortex for interpretation
• Relays signals from the cerebral cortex to the proper area for further
processing
• Hypothalamus
• Monitors many parameters
• temperature, blood glucose levels, various hormone levels
• Helps maintain homeostasis
• Signals the pituitary via releasing factors
• Signals the lower neural centers
Diencephalon
 CEREBELLUM

• Located behind the brainstem

• Helps monitor and regulate
movement
• Integrates postural adjustments,
maintenance of equilibrium,
perception of speed, and other
reflexes related to fine tuning of
movement.
BRAINSTEM

• Composed of midbrain, pons, and medulla oblongata

• Maintains vegetative functioning
• Where is respiratory control center?
• Where is cardiovascular control center?
• Reflexes
Brain Stem
SPINAL CORD

• Contains both gray and white matter

• Gray matter is H-shape in core of cord
GRAY MATTER

• Regions of brain and spinal cord made up primarily of

cell bodies and dendrites of nerve cells
• Interneurons in spinal cord
• small nerves which do not leave the spinal cord
• Terminal portion of axons
 WHITE MATTER

• Contains tracts or pathways made up of bundles of myelinated

nerves
• Carry ascending and descending signals
• Ascending nerve tract from sensory receptors through dorsal root, up
cord to thalamus, to cerebral cortex
• Pyramidal tract transmits impulses downward eventually excites
motoneurons control muscles.
• Extrapyramidal originate in brain stem descend to control posture.
DESCENDING NERVE TRACTS

ASCENDING: DORSAL DESCENDING: LATERAL,

VENTRO-MEDIAL TRACTS