Gross Organization of the Nervous System
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24 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 nervous system | organ system responsible for producing, controlling, and guiding our actions, thoughts, and responses to the world around us |
| peripheral nervous system (PNS) | consists of the nerves which directly connect to the skin, muscles, blood vessels, and organs of the body |
| somatic nervous system | connects the muscle and connective tissue to the skeleton and our skin; responsible for voluntary movements and physical sensations we experience |
| afferent nerves | conduct sensory information towards nervous system |
| efferent nerves | generate motor movements; go away from the nervous system |
| autonomic nervous system | responsible for sensory and motor functions outside our voluntary control; made of two and neither is completely inactive but may overshadow one or the other |
| sympathetic | fight of flight; prepares us for the expenditure of energy; causes rise in blood flow to the skeletal muscles, increase in heart rate, blood pressure, and respiration rate and decrease on blood flow to tissues on surface and gastrointestinal tract |
| parasympathetic | involved in acquiring and storing energy and restoration of the body |
| central nervous system (CNS) | those that are encased in bone for protection, namely the brain and spinal cord |
| meninges | three protective layers of membranes within the CNS; these help to isolate the CNS from the rest of the body and protect it from possible infection |
| outer dura mater | "hard mother", a tough plastic like covering |
| arachnoid membrane | acts lie cushioning and has spider web-like appearance |
| inner pia mater | "soft mother", a thin, relatively fragile covering |
| cerebrospinal fluid | a thin layer of liquid between the meninges that the spinal cord and brain float on, this protects the 2 lower meninges from touching the bones |
| blood brain barrier | exceptionally tight forms of gap junctions between the cells which make up vessels in the brain and closely regulate the types of materials and substances in which can cross from the circulatory system into CNS. |
| spinal cord | conducts nerve impulses from the afferent (sensory) nerves to the brain and efferent (motor) impulses to the peripheral nervous system. |
| interneurons | cell bodes of motor nerve cells as well as a special class of nerve cells found throughout the CNS |
| brain | organ responsible for guiding and controlling behavior; does so by processing sensory info, storing info about past experiences (i.e., learning and memory), and executing actions based on those processes sensations and/or memories. |
| ventricles | a system of interconnected fluid filled chambers in the brain that are attached to the central canal of the spinal cord |
| cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) | a clear, colorless bodily fluid that occupies the system around inside the brain and spinal cord; the brain "floats on it" |
| hemispheres | brain is divided into two symmetrical structurally identical hemispheres, right and left, connected by several fiber pathways |
| corpus callosum | largest and most important pathway between the hemispheres, allowing the 2 hemispheres to communicate |
| right hemisphere | specializes in emotional processing, math, music, and synthetic processing; perceiving "wholes" or "patterns' out of individual components |
| left hemisphere | predominantly involved in analytical tasks, breaking down problems, and in language production and comprehension |
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