NERVOUS SYSTEM

Anatomical Directions & Planes

a. Anterior - toward the nose end (rostral)
b. Posterior - toward the tail end (caudal)
c. Dorsal - toward the surface of the back
or the top of the head
d. Ventral - toward the surface of the chest
or the bottom of the head
e. Medial - toward the midline of the body
f. Lateral - away from the midline
Ipsilateral - same side
Contralateral - opposite side

Major Divisions of the Nervous System

g. Superior - top of the primate head

h. Inferior - bottom of the primate head
i. Proximal - close (closer to the CNS)
j. Distal - far (farther from the CNS)

CNS:
Brain - protected by the skull
Spinal cord - protected by the spinal column

Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)

SOMATIC AUTONOMIC

Interacts with the Regulates the body’s

external environment internal environment

Afferent nerves - Afferent nerves -

k. Sagittal - parallel to the midline, carry sensory signals carry sensory signals
allowing us a side view of brain structure from the skin, skeletal from internal organs
l. Coronal - divide the nervous system muscles, joints, eyes, to the CNS
from front to back ears to CNS
m. Horizontal - divides the brain from top
Efferent nerves - Efferent nerves -
to bottom
carry motor signals carry motor signals
from the CNS to from CNS to internal
skeletal muscles organs

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 NERVOUS SYSTEM
Cranial nerves
Autonomic Nervous System
➢ 12 pairs of cranial nerves project form
Sympathetic Parasympathetic the brain
➢ Purely sensory nerves – I olfactory
Project from the CNS Project from the brain (smell), II optic (vision), and VIII
in the lumbar (small and sacral (lower (auditory)
of the back) and back) region of the ➢ Others are either purely motor or
thoracic (chest area) spinal cord mixtures of motor and sensory fibers
regions of the spinal
cord

Stimulate, organize Act to conserve

and mobilize energy energy
resources in
threatening situations

Psychological arousal Psychological

relaxation

Fight and Flight Digestion,

Defecation, Rest and
Excretion

2 Stage Neural Paths

1. Sympathetic
● project from CNS synapse on
second-stage neurons at substantial
distance
2. Parasympathetic
● project from CNS synapse on very short
second-stage neurons Meninges
**Each autonomic target organ receives ➔ Dura mater (tough mother)
opposing sympathetic and parasympathetic ◆ Outer meninx
input ➔ Arachnoid membrane (spider-web-like
membrane)
◆ Inside the dura mater
◆ Subarachnoid space
● Beneath the arachnoid
membrane
● Space which contains
large blood vessels and
cerebrospinal fluid
➔ Pia mater (pious mother)
◆ innermost meninx
◆ Delicate membrane which
adheres to the surface of the
CNS

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 NERVOUS SYSTEM
Cerebrospinal Fluid
➢ It supports and cushions the brain
➢ Fills the subarachnoid space, central
canal of the spinal cord and the cerebral
ventricles of the brain
➢ Hydrocephalus - draining the fluid
Schizophrenia - have large ventricles
about 80%
Central canal – small central channel that runs
the length of the spinal cord
Cerebral ventricles – four large internal
chambers of the brain: two lateral ventricles,
third and fourth ventricles
➢ Subarachnoid space, central canal and
ventricles interconnected by openings
(aqueducts)
➢ Produced by choroid plexuses –
network of capillaries that protrude into
ventricles from pia mater
➢ Excess CSF absorbed from the
subarachnoid space into dural sinuses,
thin walled veins that run through the
dura mater and drain into the large
jugular veins of the neck
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Blood-Brain Barrier
➢ Mechanism that impedes the passage of
toxic substances from the blood into the
brain
➢ The cells of the blood vessel walls are
tightly packed
➢ Can still be crossed by certain lipid
soluble drugs like anesthetics and
recreational drugs
➢ Allows active passage of large
molecules critical for normal brain
function (glucose)
Anatomy of the Central Nervous System
Spinal Cord
● long cylinder of nerve tissue that
extends like a tail from the medulla, the
most caudal structure of the brain, down
to the first lumbar vertebra (a bone in
the spine, or vertebral column)
● The neurons making up the spinal cord
are found in the upper two thirds of the
vertebral column
● Running down the center of the spinal
cord is the central canal, through which
CSF circulates
● 8 cervical nerves
● 12 thoracic nerves
● 5 lumbar nerves
● 5 sacral nerves
● 1 coccygeal nerves
● White matter – made up of nerve fibers
known as axons
● Gray matter - consists of areas
primarily made up of cell bodies
(butterfly-shaped)
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 NERVOUS SYSTEM
2. Metencephalon
● Pons
○ form connections between the
medulla and higher brain
centers as well as with the
cerebellum
● Cerebellum (Little Brain)
○ contains more neurons than the
rest of the brain combined
○ coordinating voluntary
movements, maintaining muscle
5 Major Divisions of the Brain tone, and regulating balance

3. Mesencephalon
● Tectum
○ Top half part
● Inferior colliculi
○ Hearing or audition
○ Auditory reflexes
● Superior colliculi
○ Visual-motor
1. Myelencephalon ○ Visually guided movements
● most caudal portion of the brain, the ● Tegmentum
medulla ○ bottom half part
● vast majority of all information passing ● Periaqueductal Gray
to and from higher structures of the ○ Integrating autonomic, motor,
brain must still pass through the medulla and pain responses to
● breathing, heart rate, and blood environmental stimuli
pressure ● Red Nucleus
● Reticular formation (Reticular ○ Communicates motor
Activating System) information between the spinal
○ Diffuse mass of gray matter cord and the cerebellum
along the brain stem ● Substantia Nigra
○ regulation of consciousness and ○ participates in circuits involved
arousal, movement, and pain with reward-seeking behaviors

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 NERVOUS SYSTEM
4. Diencephalon
● Thalamus
○ “gateway to the cortex”
○ receives two types
information from other parts of
the brain: sensory input and
regulatory input
○ Also participates in learning and
memory
○ Comprises many different pairs
of nuclei
● Sensory relay nuclei
○ Lateral geniculate nuclei
○ Medial geniculate nuclei
○ Ventral posterior nuclei
of
5. Telencephalon
● Largest division of the human brain
● Voluntary movement, interprets sensory
input, and mediates complex cognitive
processes such as learning, speaking
and problem solving
● Cerebral Cortex
○ Layers of tissue covering the
cerebral hemispheres
○ provides us with our distinctly
human qualities, allowing us to
look to the future and plan, to
reason, and to create
● Fissures – large furrows
● Sulci – small furrows
● Gyri – ridges between fissures and sulci
● Lobes:
a. Frontal - Thinking and reasoning,
planning, and long term memory
b. Parietal - various sensations of touch
and monitoring body positioning
c. Occipital - Integrating and making
sense of visual inputs
d. Temporal - Sights and sounds with long
term memory storage

● Hypothalamus
○ Regulation of several motivated
behaviors
○ plays an important role in
regulating the endocrine system ● Basal Ganglia
and is directly connected to the ○ collection of nuclei within the
pituitary gland, from which cerebral hemispheres that
many important hormones are
released

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 NERVOUS SYSTEM
participate in the control of
voluntary movement
○ selecting and enabling the
execution of motor programs
stored by the cortex

● Limbic System
○ Regulation of motivated
behaviors
○ 4Fs: Fleeing, Feeding, Fighting,
Sexual Behavior
● Hippocampus
○ learning and memory
● Amygdala
○ connecting stimuli to their
emotional meanings, both
positive and negative
● Cingulate Cortex
○ Anterior Cingulate Cortex
(ACC)
- Cognitive influence over
emotion
○ Posterior Cingulate Cortex
(PCC)
- eye movements, spatial
orientation, and memory
● Septum
○ participates in reward

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