Lecture 5-Organization of the

nervous system
p. 218-222, 229-238, 304-308
 The nervous system
 Collects information about the environment (internal and external),
analyzes it, and initiates the appropriate response
3 Functions of the nervous system
1) Monitor sensory input
• respond to stimuli (changes) occurring inside and outside the body
• Job performed by sensory neurons

2) Integration
• process sensory information and initiate responses
• Job performed by interneurons

3) Motor output
• send messages to muscles/glands to respond to original stimuli
• Job performed by motor neurons
 Nervous System
Integrating effector
receptor
centre

Stimulus Response

The nervous system has 3

overlapping functions:
1. Sensory input
- Gathered information
2. Integration
- Processes and
interprets sensory input
- Decides what should be
done at each moment
- Causes a response
called 3. Motor output

- See the glass of water

that you want to drink
- Your nervous system
integrates the
information (the water
means drink)
- Your arm reaches for
the glass of water
 Divisions of the Nervous System (Fig.7.1)

Joints, Muscles etc.

Vision, Hearing, etc.

Internal environment

Voluntar
y
involuntary
Somatic = voluntary, skeletal muscle
Autonomic = involuntary, smooth
muscle, cardiac muscle, glands
Sensory = afferent
Motor = efferent
The Central Nervous System
 CNS facts
• 15% of resting CO
• 2% of BW
• 20% of oxygen consumed at rest
• 50% of glucose consumed at rest
• Glucose is main energy supply (Can not burn
protein or fat for energy)
• Can use ketone bodies for energy
 3 sources Protection for CNS
1. Bone
• Cranium
• Vertebral column
2. Connective tissue (also called ‘the
meninges’)
• 3 layers of meninges
(Duramater, Arachnoid mater,
pia mater)
• Cover both the brain and
spinal cord
3. Fluid
• Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)
• Bathes the brain and
spinal cord
• Can be found in
subarachnoid space
• Provides nutrients for
brain function
Practical application**
• What is a concussion?
CSF-homeostasis and the
blood brain barrier
 Blood Brain Barrier**
• Is a protective mechanism that helps maintain
a stable environment for the brain.
• Formed by tight junctions between the
endothelial cells of the capillaries in the brain.
• Many drugs can not pass the blood brain
barrier, thus they may not have an effect on
the CNS.
 Cerebral Hemispheres**
• Form the superior part of the brain and make up
83% of its mass
• Contain ridges (gyri (ji-ri)) and shallow grooves
(sulci (sul-ki))
• Contain deep grooves called
fissures
• Are separated by the
longitudinal fissure

Each cerebral hemisphere

has 3 basic regions:
-Cerebral cortex
-Cerebral white matter
-Basal nuclei
 The Cerebrum: Cerebral white and gray matter

• Cerebral white matter is made up

primarily of myelinated neurons
– Fast communication
• Gray matter (cerebral cortex) is made
up primarily of internereurons
(nonmyelinated), and axon cell bodies.
 Gray vs. white matter
Gray White
Matter Matter
40% of CNS 60% of CNS

Myelinated
Inteneurons
axons

Synapses
 Major Lobes, Gyri, and Sulci of the Cerebral
Hemisphere

• Deep sulci divide

the hemispheres
into 5 lobes:
– Frontal
– Parietal
– Temporal
– Occipital
– Insula
 Cerebral Cortex
• The cortex – superficial gray
matter; accounts for 40% of
the mass of the brain
• It enables sensation,
communication, memory,
understanding, and voluntary
movements
• Each hemisphere acts
contralaterally (controls the
opposite side of the body)
• Hemispheres are not equal in
function
 Functional Areas of the Cerebral Cortex

• The 3 types of functional areas are:

1) Motor areas – control voluntary movement
2) Sensory areas – conscious awareness of sensation
3) Association areas – integrate information
Areas of note
Homunculi
 Cortex: Sensory Areas of Note
1. Primary somatosensory cortex
– Receives information from skin and skeletal muscles
2. Somatosensory association cortex
– Receives sensory inputs (temperature, pressure, etc)
3. Visual and auditory areas
– Visual: Receives visual info from the eye
– Auditory: Sound stimulus
4. Olfactory, gustatory, and vestibular cortices
– Olfactory: Sense different odours
– Gustatory: taste
– Vestibular: conscious awareness of balance (located in insula)
 The peripheral NS:
The somatic nervous system
 Anatomy and functional arrangement of the
spinal cord
• Cylinder of nervous tissue (mostly tracts) surrounded by vertebral column
• Continuous with the lower brain (brainstem)
• 44 cm long, 1.2 cm in diameter
 The Somatic NS-Sensory Information
Somatic-
• refers to skeletal muscles
• For the most part under voluntary control
• Afferent information carried to CNS through dorsal root
 The Somatic NS-Sensory Information

• Efferent information carried to effector organs,

muscle via ventral root
• Information can also be relayed to brain for
interpretation.
Application-Herniated Disc
 Reflex Arcs
• Autonomic response to a stimulus
• Always predictable (the same)
• No conscious integration required by the brain.
 The
withdrawal
reflex
Muscle spindles-practical application
The stretch
reflex
The autonomic NS
 The peripheral nervous system

Autonomic nervous system

– Sympathetic nervous system (Fight-or-Flight)
• Role is to get an organism ready to get away from
danger. Places us on high alert. (Name some of the
effects)
– Parasympathetic nervous system (Resting and
Digesting)
• Role is to keep energy use low.
• Associated with relaxed state, digestion, reading book,
etc.
– These two systems usually work in opposition
Sympathetic: thoracic
and upper lumbar
region
Parasympthetic:
Brain Stem, and
sacral region
The autonomic NS and visceral functions

• The ANS controls visceral functions

• Just like the somatic NS which has reflexive
actions, most of the functions associated with
the ANS are reflexive
• Specific receptors: Baroreceptors,
Chemoreceptors
Sensory and motor pathways
Baroreceptors
Chemoreceptors