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21 - Peripheral Nervous System
21 - Peripheral Nervous System
sense organs
association neurons
Nerve cells (neurons) are the basic units of the nervous system. Bundles of neurons are called nerves in the peripheral nervous system or tracts in the central nervous system.
At least 3 neurons are involved in going from sensory information (stimulus) to muscle response. Such a circuit from sensor to effector is called a reflect arc.
Embryological Origins
CNS The brain and spinal cord are derived from the neural tube (neurectoderm). PNS Motor nerves have their cell bodies in the CNS, and their axons grow out of the CNS to targeted muscles and organs.
The dorsal root ganglia containing the cell bodies of sensory nerves are derived from the neural crests. Bipolar axons grow towards the CNS and towards their target sense organs.
KK 16.9
B) Visceral Nerves
- sensory - information from receptors in the viscera - motor - information to visceral muscles (gut, heart)
Visceral motor nerves comprise autonomic system. They are of two sets that act in opposition to each other. One type comprises the sympathetic nervous system and the other the parasympathetic nervous system.
Note that the sympathetic nerves are thoracic and lumbar, whereas the parasympathetic nerves are cranial and sacral. KK 16.21, H&G 17.16
Again :
Sensory neurons travel via dorsal root into the spinal cord. Their cell bodies are in the dorsal root ganglia. Motor neurons travel via ventral root out of the spinal cord. Their cell bodies are in the grey matter of the cord. Somatic neurons (sensory or motor) use somatic or dorsal ramus. Visceral neurons use visceral or ventral ramus.
A complication: The previous diagram illustrates the pattern for spinal nerves in amniotes, but in lampreys only somatic motor fibres use the ventral root.
Non-amniotes may have visceral motor neurons using either root, as below left. Knowing this helps us understand the cranial nerves (which are not so neatly arranged as spinal nerves!)
Fig. 17-12
Special Sensory Nerves. Three cranial nerves are associated with the special sense organs. They are not serially homologous with the rest of the peripheral nervous system. These are the olfactory nerve (I), the optic nerve (II) and the auditory (statoacoustic) nerve (VIII). Dorsal Root Cranial Nerves. These cranial nerves are sensory and visceral motor in function, and serially homologous with dorsal roots of spinal nerves.
Ventral Root Cranial Nerves. These are somatic motor in function, and serially homologous with the ventral roots of spinal nerves.
Special Dorsal Root (sensory or visceral motor) Visceral Root (somatic motor) KK 16.14, H&G 17.14
Cranial nerves help us understand the segmentation of the vertebrate head, which has been highly modifed and no longer appears segmented.
The diagram illustrates the hypothesized ancestral situation of the dorsal roots, and the dorsal root cranial nerves of a fish. The vertebrate head has at least 7 segments (see Table 16.2 in Kardong) but if the upper diagram is correct it would be 8 or more.
KK 16.16, H&G 10.7