Chapter 19 Terms to know XP2

Central Nervous System

Brain, spinal cord, integrative/control centers. Controls thoughts, emotions, memory, movement, bodily functions, and the spinal cord in like a communication highway.

Peripheral Nervous System

Cranial nerves (12). Spinal nerves. (31). nerves that transmit information to and from the CNS

Ascending nerve tracts

forwards sensory information from the peripheral receptors to the brain for processing.

Descending nerve tracts

transmits information via axons from the brain down the spinal cord to target organs:

• pyramidal tract activates skeletal musculature

• extrapyramidal tract controls posture and muscle tone

Sensory receptors

• Conscious

• Subconscious

sensory receptors: structures in the nervous system that detect stimuli and send signals to the brain.

• conscious: receptors that detect stimuli that we are aware of and we can process that information (mechanoreceptors, thermoreceptors, photoreceptors)

• subconscious: receptors that detect stimuli that we are not aware of and regulate involuntary bodily functions (baroreceptors [pressure changes], chemoreceptors [chemical changes in body])

Afferent Neurons

enter the spinal cord and transmit sensory input from peripheral receptors

Efferent Neurons

transmit information through the spinal cord to the effector organs (skeletal muscle)

Somatic Nerves

(motor nerves) innervate skeletal muscle

Autonomic nerves

(involuntary) produce either excitatory or inhibit movement

Motor Nerves

nerve that carry signals from the brain and spinal cord to muscles and glands, enabling movement. can be controlled or involuntary.

Neuromuscular Junction

transmits nerve impulses to initiate muscle action

Golgi Tendon Organs