Wednesday,

November 4, 2020

ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY

C
OF
PERIPHERAL NERVOUS SYSTEM
Amyn Khan CNP. Technologist AKU

AM 1
 Contents:
• Nervous System
• Peripheral Nervous System
• Divisions of PNS
• Autonomic Nervous System ( Sympathetic & Para Sympathetic )
• Somatic Nervous System (Afferent & Efferent )
• Spinal Cord & Spinal Nerves
• Cranial Nerves
• Cross Section and Motor Neuron ( Nerve Roots)
• Cranial Nerves

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 Nervous System

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 The peripheral nervous system consists of the nerves that branch out from the brain and spinal cord.
These nerves form the communication network between the CNS and the body parts. The peripheral
nervous system is further subdivided into the somatic nervous system and the autonomic nervous
system
The peripheral nervous system (PNS) consists of all the nervous tissue that lies outside of the central
nervous system (CNS). The main function of the PNS is to connect the CNS to the rest of the organism.
It serves as a communication relay, going back and forth between the CNS and muscles, organs, and
glands throughout the body.

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 Divisions of the Peripheral Nervous System

• The PNS is divided into two major systems, called

• The autonomic nervous system
•  The somatic (or sensory-somatic) nervous system
• Both systems of the PNS interact with the CNS and include sensory and motor neurons, but they use
different circuits of nerves and ganglia.

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 The Autonomic Nervous System

• The autonomic nervous system controls specific body processes, such as circulation of blood, digestion,
breathing, urination, heartbeat, etc. The autonomic nervous system is named so, because it works
autonomously, i.e., without a person’s conscious effort.
• The primary function of the autonomic nervous system is homeostasis. Apart from maintaining the
body’s internal environment, it is also involved in controlling and maintaining the following life
processes:

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 Efferent Neuron
• Smooth Muscles
• Cardiac Muscles
• Glands celss

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 Autonomic System:
also involved in controlling and maintaining the following life processes:

• Digestion
• Metabolism
• Urination
• Defecation
• Blood pressure
• Sexual response
• Body temperature
• Heartbeat
• Breathing rate
• Fluid balance

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 Sympathetic Nervous System?

• It is the part of the autonomic nervous system, located near the thoracic and lumbar regions in the spinal
cord.
• Its primary function is to stimulate the body’s fight or flight response. It does this by regulating the heart
rate, rate of respiration, pupillary response and more.
• The sympathetic nervous system prepares the body for the “fight or flight” response during any potential
danger. the parasympathetic nervous system inhibits the body from overworking and restores the body to
a calm and composed state.

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 Parasympathetic Nervous System?

• It is located in between the spinal cord and the medulla.

• It primarily stimulates the body’s “rest and digest” and “feed and breed” response.
• the parasympathetic nervous system inhibits the body from overworking and restores the body to a calm
and composed state

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Wednesday, November 4, 2020 AM 12
 Somatic Nervous System
• The somatic nervous system primarily senses the external environment and controls voluntary activities
in which decisions and commands come from the cerebral cortex
 of the brain
• . For example, when you feel too warm, decide to turn on the air conditioner, and walk across the room
to the thermostat, you are using your somatic nervous system
• . In general, the somatic nervous system
•  is responsible for all of your conscious perceptions of the outside world and all of the voluntary motor
activities you perform in response. Whether it’s playing a piano, driving a car, or playing basketball, you
can thank your somatic nervous system
•  for making it possible.

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 • Spinal nerves of the somatic nervous system emanate from the spinal column between vertebrae. All of
the spinal nerves are mixed nerves, containing both sensory and motor neurons
• The areas of skin innervated by the 31 pairs of spinal nerves are shown in the figure below. These include
sensory nerves in the skin that sense pressure, temperature, vibrations, and pain. Other sensory nerves are
in the muscles, and they sense stretching and tension. Spinal nerves also include motor nerves that
stimulate skeletal muscles contract, allowing for voluntary body movements.

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 • Structurally, the somatic nervous system
 consists of 12 pairs of cranial nerves and 31 pairs of spinal nerves. Cranial nerves are in the head and
neck and connect directly to the brain
. Sensory cranial nerves sense smells, tastes, light, sounds, and body position. Motor cranial nerves
control muscles of the face, tongue, eyeballs, throat, head, and shoulders. The motor nerves also control
the salivary glands and swallowing. Four of the 12 cranial nerves participate in both sensory and motor
functions as mixed nerves, having both sensory and motor neurons.

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 Nerve
• A neuron is a nerve cell. It is estimated that the human brain possesses about 25 billion neurons
• Structure of a nerve:
• A peripheral nerve is arranged much like a muscle in terms of its connective tissue. It has an outer covering
which forms a sheath around the nerve, called the epineurium. Often a nerve will run together with an artery
and vein and their connective coverings will merge. Nerve fibers, which are axons, organize into bundles
known as fascicles with each fascicle surrounded by the perineurium. Between individual nerve fibers is an
inner layer of endoneurium
• The myelin sheath in peripheral nerves consists of Schwann cells wrapped in many layers around the axon
fibers
• Gaps between the Schwann cells are called nodes of Ranvier. These nodes permit an impulse to travel faster
because it doesn't need to depolarize each area of a membrane, just the nodes. This type of conduction is
called saltatory conduction and means that impulses will travel faster in myelinated fibers than in
unmyelinated ones.

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 Peripheral Nerve

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 NEURON STRUCTURE AND CLASSIFICATION

• Cell body or soma: The cell body is the portion of the cell that surrounds the nucleus and plays a major
role in synthesizing proteins.
• Dendrites: Dendrites are short, branched processes that extend from the cell body. Dendrites function to
receive information, and do so through numerous receptors located in their membranes that bind to
chemicals, called neurotransmitters.
• Axon: An axon is a large process that extends from the cell body at a point of origin-called the axon
hillock-and functions to send information. In contrast to the shorter dendrites, the axon can extend for
more than a meter. Because of this length, the axon contains microtubules and is surrounded by myelin.
• Axon terminals: Once an axon reaches a target, it terminates into multiple endings, called axon
terminals. The axon terminal is designed to convert the electrical signal into a chemical signal in a
process called synaptic transmission

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 Types of Neuron
• Nerves are cable-like bundles of axons that make up the majority of PNS tissues. Nerves are generally
classified on the basis of the direction in which they carry nerve impulses as sensory, motor, or mixed
nerves.
• Sensory nerves transmit information from sensory receptors in the body to the CNS. Sensory nerves are
also called afferent nerves.
• afferent: The conduction of impulses inwards to the brain or spinal cord.
• Motor nerves transmit information from the CNS to muscles, organs, and glands. Motor nerves are also
called efferent nerves.
• efferent: The conduction of impulses outward from the brain or spinal cord.
• Mixed nerves contain both sensory and motor neurons, so they can transmit information in both
directions. They have both afferent and efferent functions.

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 Structural Types of neurons
 Unipolar or Pseudo bipolar Neurons: One branches into two found in the spinal
ganglions.

 Bipolar Neuron: One axon two dendrites

(Found in Retina and Nose: Olfactory receptors)

 Multipolar Neurons: One axon with many dendrites

Found in Cerebrum and Motor Pyramidal neurons in Cerebral cortex

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 Nerve Fibers: Based On Diameter
A fibers, B fibers, and C fibers. classifications are based on t diameters,

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 Synapses
• Axoaxonic
• Axodendritic
• Axosomatic

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 Glial Cells

Glial Cells
• The myelin sheath is not actually part of the neuron. Myelin is produced by glial cells (or simply glia, or
“glue” in Greek), which are non-neuronal cells that provide support for the nervous system.
• Glia function to hold neurons in place (hence their Greek name), supply them with nutrients, provide
insulation, and remove pathogens and dead neurons.
• In the central nervous system, the glial cells that form the myelin sheath are called oligodendrocyte;
• in the peripheral nervous system, they are called Schwann cells.

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 Spinal Cord and Spinal Nerves
• The peripheral nervous system includes that part of the nervous system in which the Schwann cell is the
major supporting cell, as opposed to the central nervous system in which the glial cells are the major
support cells. The peripheral nervous system includes the nerve roots, peripheral nerves, primary sensory
neurons, neuromuscular junctions (NMJs), and muscles

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 Motor Neuron
• The primary motor neurons (i.e., anterior horn cells), which are located in the spinal cord, are often
included as part of the peripheral nervous system .
• In addition, cranial nerves III through XII are also considered to be part of the peripheral nervous system,
being essentially the same as peripheral nerves, except that their primary motor neurons are located in
the brainstem rather than the spinal cord.

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Wednesday, November 4, 2020 AM 30
 • The primary motor neurons, the anterior horn cells, are located in the ventral gray matter of the spinal
cord. The axons of these cells ultimately become the motor fibers in peripheral nerves. Their projections
first run through the white matter of the anterior spinal cord before exiting ventrally as the motor roots.
• In contrast to the anterior horn cell, the primary sensory neuron, also known as the dorsal root
ganglion (DRG), is not found within the substance of the spinal cord itself but rather lies outside the
spinal cord, near the intervertebral foramen. The dorsal root ganglia are bipolar cells with two separate
axonal projections. Their central projections form the sensory nerve roots. The sensory roots enter the
spinal cord on the dorsal side to either ascend in the posterior columns or synapse with sensory neurons
in the dorsal horn. The peripheral projections of the DRGs ultimately become the sensory fibers in
peripheral nerves.

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 • Motor and sensory roots at each spinal level unite distal to the DRG to become a mixed spinal nerve.
• There are 31 pairs of spinal nerves (8 cervical, 12 thoracic, 5 lumbar, 5 sacral, 1 coccygeal; .
• Each spinal nerve divides into a dorsal and ventral ramus Unlike the dorsal and ventral nerve roots, the
dorsal and ventral rami both contain motor and sensory fibers.
• The dorsal ramus runs posteriorly to supply sensory innervation to the skin over the spine and muscular
innervation to the Para spinal muscles at that segment.
• The ventral ramus differs, depending on the segment within the body. In the thoracic region, each ventral
ramus continues as an intercostal nerve. In the lower cervical to upper thoracic (C5–T1) region, the ventral
rami unite to form the brachial plexus.
• In the mid-lumbar to sacral regions, the ventral rami intermix to form the lumbosacral plexus

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Wednesday, November 4, 2020 AM 33
 Physiology
• The primary role of nerve is to transmit information reliably from the anterior horn cells to muscles for
the motor system and from the sensory receptors to the spinal cord for the sensory system. Although
functionally nerves may seem similar to electrical wires, there are vast differences between the two.
• At the molecular level, a complex set of chemical and electrical events allows nerve to propagate an
electrical signal.

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 • The axonal membrane of every nerve is electrically active. This property results from a combination of a
specialized membrane and the sodium/potassium (Na +/K+) pump.
• The specialized axonal membrane is semipermeable to electrically charged molecules (anions and
cations).
• The membrane is always impermeable to large negatively charged anions, and it is relatively impermeable
to sodium in the resting state. This semipermeable membrane, in conjunction with an active Na +/K+ pump
that moves sodium outside in exchange for potassium, leads to concentration gradients across the
membrane.
• The concentration of sodium is larger outside the membrane, whereas the concentration of potassium and
larger anions is greater inside. The combination of these electrical and chemical gradients results in forces
that create a resting equilibrium potential.
• At the nerve cell soma, this resting membrane potential is approximately 70 mV negative inside
compared with the outside; distally in the axon it is approximately 90 mV negative.

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 • The membrane of the axon is lined with voltage-gated sodium channels .These structures are essentially
molecular pores with gates that open and close. For many ion channels, gates open in response to
molecules that bind to the channel. I
• n the case of the voltage-gated sodium channel, the gate is controlled by a voltage sensor that responds to
the level of the membrane potential.
• If current is injected into the axon, depolarization occurs (i.e., the axon becomes more positive
internally). Voltage sensors within the sodium channel respond to the depolarization by opening the gate
to the channel and allowing sodium to rush into the axon, driven both by concentration and by electrical
gradients. Every time a depolarization of 10 to 30 mV occurs above the resting membrane potential
(i.e., threshold), it creates an action potential and a cycle of positive feedback; further depolarization
occurs and more sodium channels open .

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 • Action potentials are always all-or-none responses, which then propagate away from the initial site of
depolarization. The axon does not remain depolarized for long, however, because the opening of the
sodium channels is time limited. Sodium channels have a second gate, known as the inactivation gate.
Inactivation of the sodium channel occurs within 1 to 2 ms. During this time, the membrane is not
excitable and cannot be opened (i.e., refractory period). The inactivation gate of the sodium channel has
been modeled as a “hinged lid.” From a practical point of view, the refractory period limits the frequency
that nerves can conduct impulses. It also ensures that the action potential continues to propagate in the
same direction (i.e., the area of nerve behind the depolarization is refractory when the area ahead is not,
so that the impulse will continue forward and will not return backwards).

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 Cranial Nerves (12 pairs)
CNs arising from Brain
CN I is the olfactory nerve (Sensory) and arises from the base of the brain.
CN II is the optic nerve (Sensory) and passes between the base of the brain and brainstem).

CNs arising from Brain stem (MID BRAIN)

CN III The oculomotor nerve (M))
CN IV trochlear nerve (M) exit from the midbrain.
Both of these cranial nerves control eye movement. CN III also functions in the pupillary reflex.

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 Cranial Nerves arising from (Pon or Mid Pons )
The trigeminal nerve (CN V), which receives facial sensation and controls masticatory muscles, enters and
exits from midpons.
The abducens nerve (CN VI, controls eye movements), 
 Facial Nerve (CN VII, controls facial muscles), and 
acoustic or vestibulocochlear nerve (CN VIII, receives hearing input) emerge from the border of the pons and
medulla.

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 Cranial nerves exist from the medulla
oblongata
 CN IX, glossopharyngeal nerve controls oropharyngeal muscles;
 CN X, Vagus nerve controls autonomic function;
 CN XI, accessory nerve controls sternocleidomastoid and trapezius muscles;
 CN XII, hypoglossal nerve controls tongue movement)

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 •Thank You
•Have a good day…
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