CHAPTER 7: NERVOUS SYSTEM PART 1
of the brain and spinal cord, which occupy
• The nervous system is the master control
and communication system of the body.
Every thought, action, and emotion reflect its
activity. It communicates with body cells
using electrical impulses, which are rapid
and specific and cause almost immediate
responses.
It uses its millions of sensory receptors to
monitor changes occurring both inside and
outside the body. These changes are called
stimuli, and the gathered information is called
sensory input. (2) It processes and interprets the
sensory input and decides what should be done
at each moment—a process called integration.
(3) It then causes a response, or effect, by
activating muscles or glands (effectors) via
motor output.
Organization of the Nervous System
Structural Classification
The structural classification, which includes all
nervous system organs, has two subdivisions—the
central nervous system and the peripheral nervous
system.
• The central nervous system (CNS) consists
the dorsal body cavity and act as the
integrating and command centers of the
nervous system.
• The peripheral (p˘e-rif′er-al) nervous system
(PNS) includes all parts of the nervous
system outside the CNS. It consists mainly
of the nerves that extend from the spinal cord
and brain. Spinal nerves carry impulses to
and from the spinal cord. Cranial (kra′ne-al)
nerves carry impulses to and from the brain.
Functional Classification
The functional classification scheme is
concerned only with PNS structures. It divides
them into two principal subdivisions.
• The sensory division, or afferent (af′er-
ent; literally “to go toward”) division,
consists of nerves (composed of many
individual nerve fibers) that convey
impulses to the central nervous system
from sensory receptors located in various
parts of the body.
• The motor division, or efferent (ef′er-rent)
division, carries impulses from the CNS
to effector organs, the muscles, and
glands. These impulses activate muscles
and glands; that is, they effect (bring
about or cause) a motor response.
• The somatic (so-mat′ik) nervous system
allows us to consciously, or voluntarily,
control our skeletal muscles. Hence, we
often refer to this subdivision as the
voluntary nervous system.
• The autonomic (aw″to-nom′ik) nervous
system (ANS) regulates events that are
automatic, or involuntary, such as the
activity of smooth muscle, cardiac
muscle, and glands. This subdivision, is
commonly called the involuntary nervous
system.
 • The sympathetic nervous system is • Ependymal (˘e-pen′d˘ı-mal) cells: neuroglia
responsible for the ‘flight or fight’ that line the central cavities of the brain and
responses… increased alertness, the spinal cord.
metabolic rate, respiration, blood
pressure, heart rate, and sweating and a
decrease in digestive and urinary
function.

• The parasympathetic nervous system

counteracts the responses of the
sympathetic system… restoring
homeostasis. • Oligodendrocytes (ol″˘ı-go-den′dro-sıˉtz):
neuroglia that wrap their flat extensions
Nervous Tissue: Structure and (processes) tightly around the nerve fibers,
Function producing fatty insulating coverings called
myelin sheaths.
Supporting Cells
Supporting cells in the CNS are “lumped
together” as neuroglia (nu-rog′le-ah), literally, “nerve
glue,” also called glial cells or glia. Neuroglia
includes many types of cells that support, insulate,
and protect the delicate neurons.

• Astrocytes: abundant star-shaped cells that
account for nearly half of neural tissue. Their
numerous projections have swollen ends
that cling to neurons, bracing them and
anchoring them to their nutrient supply lines,
the blood capillaries.
• Schwann cells form the myelin sheaths
around nerve fibers in the PNS. Satellite cells
act as protective, cushioning cells for
peripheral neuron cell bodies.

NEURONS
Neurons, also called nerve cells, are highly
• Microglia (mi-krog′le-ah): spiderlike
specialized to transmit messages (nerve impulses)
phagocytes that monitor the health of nearby
from one part of the body to another.
neurons and dispose of debris, such as dead
brain cells and bacteria. • Cell Body The cell body is the metabolic
center of the neuron. Its transparent nucleus
contains a large nucleolus.

• The rough ER, called Nissl (nis′l) bodies, and

neurofibrils (intermediate filaments that are
important in maintaining cell shape) are
particularly abundant in the cell body.
Processes The armlike processes, or fibers, vary in
length from microscopic to about 7 feet in the tallest
humans. The longest ones in humans reach from the
lumbar region of the spine to the great toe.

• Neuron processes that convey incoming

messages (electrical signals) toward the cell
body are dendrites (den′drıˉtz), whereas
Homeostatic Imbalance 7.1
those that generate nerve impulses and
typically conduct them away from the cell The disease multiple sclerosis (MS) gradually
body are axons (ak′sonz). destroys the myelin sheaths around CNS fibers by
• Conelike region of the cell body called the converting them to hardened sheaths called
axon hillock. scleroses.
• An occasional axon gives off a collateral
• Terminology Clusters of neuron cell bodies
branch along its length, but all axons branch
and collections of nerve fibers are named
profusely at their terminal end, forming
differently in the CNS and in the PNS. For the
hundreds to thousands of axon terminals.
most part, cell bodies are found in the CNS
• These terminals contain hundreds of tiny
in clusters called nuclei.
vesicles, or membranous sacs, that contain
chemicals called neurotransmitters.
Each axon terminal is separated from the next
neuron by a tiny gap called the synaptic
(s˘ınap′tik) cleft. Such a functional junction,
where an impulse is transmitted from one neuron
to another, is called a synapse (syn = to clasp or
join).

• Myelin Sheaths- Most long nerve fibers

are covered with a whitish, fatty material
called myelin (mi′˘e-lin), which has a
waxy appearance.

• Schwann cells, it has gaps, or • Small collections of cell bodies called

indentations, called nodes of Ranvier ganglia (gang′le-ah; ganglion, singular) are
(rahn-vˉer), at regular intervals. found in a few sites outside the CNS in the
PNS.

• Bundles of nerve fibers (neuron processes)

running through the CNS are called tracts,
whereas in the PNS they are called nerves.

• White matter consists of dense collections of

myelinated fibers (tracts), and gray matter
contains mostly unmyelinated fibers and cell
bodies.

Functional Classification
Functionally, neurons are grouped according
to the direction the nerve impulse travels relative to
the CNS. On this basis, there are sensory, motor,
and association neurons (interneurons).
• Neurons carrying impulses from sensory neurons are multipolar, this is the most
receptors (in the internal organs or the skin) common structural type.
to the CNS are sensory neurons, or afferent
neurons. (Recall that afferent means “to go
toward.”)
• The dendrite endings of the sensory neurons
are usually associated with specialized
receptors that are activated by specific
changes occurring nearby. • Bipolar neurons are rare in adults, found only
• The simpler types of sensory receptors in the in some special sense organs (eye, nose),
skin are cutaneous sense organs, and those where they act in sensory processing as
in the muscles and tendons are receptor cells.
proprioceptors.

• Unipolar neurons have a single process

emerging from the cell body as if the cell
body were on a “cul-de-sac” off the “main
road” that is the axon.

Physiology: Nerve Impulses

• Neurons carrying impulses from the CNS to
the viscera and/or muscles and glands are
motor neurons, or efferent neurons (see
Figure 7.6). The cell bodies of motor neurons
are usually located in the CNS.
• The third category of neurons consists of the
interneurons, or association neurons.
Electrical Conditions of a Resting
Neuron’s Membrane The plasma membrane of a
resting, or inactive, neuron is polarized, which
means that there are fewer positive ions sitting on
the inner face of the neuron’s plasma membrane
than there are on its outer face.
Action Potential Initiation and Generation
Many different types of stimuli excite neurons to
become active and generate an impulse.

Structural Classification
Structural classification is based on the
number of processes, including both dendrites
and axons, extending from the cell body.

• If there are several, the neuron is a multipolar

neuron. Because all motor and association
 3. The nerve impulse is an all-or-none response, like
starting a car. It is either propagated (conducted, or
1. The major positive ions inside the cell are
sent) over the entire axon
potassium (K+), whereas the major positive ions
outside the cell are sodium (Na+). As long as the
inside remains more negative (fewer positive ions)
4. Or it doesn’t happen at all. The nerve impulse
than the outside, the neuron will stay inactive.
never go partway along an axon’s length, nor does it
• This inward rush of sodium ions changes the die out with distance, as do graded potentials.
polarity of the neuron’s membrane at that
• This outflow of positive ions from the cell
site, an event called depolarization.
restores the electrical conditions at the
2. Locally, the inside is now more positive, and the membrane to the polarized, or resting, state,
outside is less positive, a local electrical situation an event called repolarization.
called a graded potential. However, if the stimulus is
5. After repolarization of the electrical conditions, the
strong enough and the sodium influx is great
sodium-potassium pump restores the initial
enough, the local depolarization (graded potential)
concentrations of the sodium and potassium ions
activates the neuron to initiate and transmit a long-
inside and outside the neuron.
distance signal called an action potential, also called
a nerve impulse in neurons.
6. This pump uses ATP (cellular energy) to pump
excess sodium ions out of the cell and to bring
potassium ions back into it. Until repolarization
occurs, a neuron cannot conduct another impulse.
Homeostatic Imbalance 7.2
Transmission of the Signal at Synapses
• So far we have explained only the irritability
aspect of neuronal functioning.
1. The electrical change opens calcium channels.
Calcium ions, in turn, cause the tiny vesicles
containing neurotransmitter to fuse with the axonal
membrane.
2. And porelike openings form, releasing the
neurotransmitter into the synaptic cleft.
3. The neurotransmitter molecules diffuse across the
synaptic cleft* and bind to receptors on the
membrane of the next neuron.
5. If enough neurotransmitter is released, the whole
series of events described above (sodium entry,
depolarization, etc.)
6. Either by diffusing away, by reuptake into the
axon terminal, or by enzymatic breakdown. This
limits the effect of each nerve impulse to a period
shorter than the blink of an eye.
Physiology: Reflexes
• Reflexes are rapid, predictable, and
involuntary responses to stimuli. They are
much like one-way streets— once a reflex
begins, it always goes in the same direction.
• Reflexes occur over neural pathways called
reflex arcs and involve both CNS and PNS
structures. Think of a reflex as a
preprogrammed response to a given
stimulus.
• Somatic reflexes include all reflexes that
stimulate the skeletal muscles; these are still
involuntary reflexes even though skeletal
muscle normally is under voluntary control.
• Autonomic reflexes regulate the activity of
smooth muscles, the heart, and glands.
All reflex arcs have a minimum of five
elements (Figure 7.11a,) a receptor (which
reacts to a stimulus), an effector (the muscle or
gland eventually stimulated), and sensory and
motor neurons to connect the two. The synapse
or interneurons between the sensory and motor
neurons represents the fifth element—the CNS
integration center.

The simple patellar (pah-tel′ar), or knee-jerk,
reflex is an example of a two-neuron reflex arc, the
simplest type in humans (Figure 7.11b). The patellar
reflex (in which the quadriceps muscle attached to
the hit tendon is stretched) is familiar to most of us.
It is usually tested during a physical exam to
determine the general health of the motor portion of
our nervous system.
The flexor, or withdrawal, reflex is a three-neuron
reflex arc in which the limb is withdrawn from a
painful stimulus (see Figure 7.11c). A three-neuron
reflex arc also consists of five elements—receptor,
sensory neuron, interneuron, motor neuron, and
effector.
Central Nervous System
Functional Anatomy of the Brain
• Cerebral Hemispheres
The paired cerebral (suh re′bral)
hemispheres, collectively called the
cerebrum, are the most superior part of the
brain and together are a good deal larger
than the other three brain regions combined.
The entire surface of the cerebrum exhibits
elevated ridges of tissue called gyri (ji′re; gyrus,
singular; “twisters”), separated by shallow grooves
called sulci (sul′ki; sulcus, singular; “furrows”). Less
numerous are the deeper grooves called fissures
(Figure 7.13a, p. 267), which separate large regions
of the brain.
• Cerebral Cortex
Speech, memory, logical and emotional
responses, consciousness, the interpretation of
sensation, and voluntary movement are all functions
of the cerebral cortex. Many of the functional areas
of the cerebral hemispheres have been identified
(Figure 7.13c).
• The primary somatic sensory area is located
in the parietal lobe posterior to the central
sulcus.
(see Figure 7.13b and c). For example, the visual
area is located in the posterior part of the occipital
lobe, the auditory area is in the temporal lobe
bordering the lateral sulcus, and the olfactory area is
deep inside the temporal lobe.
• The primary motor area, which allows us to
consciously move our skeletal muscles, is
anterior to the central sulcus in the frontal
lobe.
• the pyramidal tract, or corticospinal (kor″t˘ı-
ko-spi′nal) tract, which descends to the cord.
(see Figure 7.14). The body map on the motor
cortex, as you might guess, is called the motor
homunculus.
A specialized cortical area that is very involved in our
ability to speak, Broca’s (bro′kahz) area, or motor
speech area (see Figure 7.13c).
 Areas involved in higher intellectual
reasoning and socially acceptable behavior are
believed to be in the anterior part of the frontal lobes, • Speech area, located at the junction of the
the anterior association area. temporal, parietal, and occipital lobes

• The posterior association area encompasses • Cerebral White Matter Most of the remaining
part of the posterior cortex cerebral hemisphere tissue—the deeper
cerebral white matter.
Basal Nuclei

• Although most of the gray matter is in the

cerebral cortex, there are several “islands” of
gray matter, called the basal nuclei, buried
deep within the white matter of the cerebral
hemispheres (see Figure 7.15).
• The basal nuclei help regulate voluntary
motor activities by modifying instructions
(particularly in relation to starting or stopping
movement) sent to the skeletal muscles by
the primary motor cortex.

DIENCEPHALON
The diencephalon, or interbrain, sits atop the brain • The pituitary gland hangs from the anterior
stem and is enclosed by the cerebral hemispheres floor of the hypothalamus by a slender stalk.
(see Figure 7.12. • The mammillary bodies, reflex centers
involved in olfaction (the sense of smell),
• The hypothalamus (literally, “under the
bulge from the floor of the hypothalamus
thalamus”) makes up the floor of the
posterior to the pituitary gland.
diencephalon.
• The epithalamus (ep″˘ı-thal′ah-mus) forms
• The hypothalamus is also the center for
the roof of the third ventricle. Important parts
many drives and emotions, and as such it is
of the epithalamus are the pineal gland (part
an important part of the so-called
of the endocrine system) and the choroid
limbic system, or “emotional-visceral brain.”
(ko′roid) plexus of the third ventricle.
For example, thirst, appetite, sex, pain, and
pleasure centers are in the hypothalamus
BRAIN STEM
• The brain stem is about the size of a thumb
in diameter and approximately 3 inches
(approximately 7.5 cm) long. Its structures
are the midbrain, pons, and medulla
oblongata.
MIDBRAIN
• A relatively small part of the brain stem, the
midbrain extends from the mammillary
bodies to the pons inferiorly.
• The cerebral aqueduct, a tiny canal that
travels through the midbrain, connects the
third ventricle of the diencephalon to the
fourth ventricle below.
• Anteriorly, the midbrain is composed
primarily of two bulging fiber tracts, the
cerebral peduncles (pe′dun klz) (literally,
“little feet of the cerebrum”).
• The fourth ventricle lies posterior to the
pons and medulla and anterior to the
cerebellum.
Reticular Formation
• Extending the entire length of the brain stem
is a diffuse mass of gray matter, the reticular
formation.
• A special group of reticular formation
neurons, the reticular activating system
(RAS), plays a role in consciousness and the
awake/sleep cycle.
CEREBELLUM
• The large, cauliflower-like cerebellum
(ser″ebel′um) projects dorsally from under
the occipital lobe of the cerebrum. Like the
cerebrum, the cerebellum has two
hemispheres and a convoluted surface.
• If the cerebellum is damaged (for example,
by a blow to the head, a tumor, or a stroke),
movements become clumsy and
disorganized—a condition called ataxia (uh
tax′e uh).

• Corpora quadrigemina (kor′por-ah

kwah″dr˘ıjem′˘ı-nah) because they reminded
some anatomist of two pairs of twins
(gemini).

• Pons The pons (ponz) is the rounded

structure that protrudes just below the
midbrain. Pons means “bridge,” and this area
of the brain stem is mostly fiber tracts.
Medulla Oblongata

• The medulla oblongata (m˘e-dul′ah

ob″long-g˘a′tah) is the most inferior part
of the brain stem. It merges into the
spinal cord below without any obvious
change in structure. Like the pons, the
medulla is an important fiber tract area.