Endocrine System
Chemicals (hormones)
Slow and is carried by the bloodstream
Nervous System
A series of electrical impulses
Rapid and is carried by nerves
What is the purpose of the endocrine and nervous system?
Increase/decrease body activities to maintain homeostasis
Central Nervous System (CNS)
Brain and Spinal Cord
Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)
Nerves connecting CNS to other body parts
Autonomic Nervous System
Division of the PNS that controls automatic body functions
Somatic Nervous System
Division of the PNS that control voluntary body functions
Dendrites
Branches of the neuron that receive input (stimulus)
“__________ Listen”
Can be hundreds per neuron
Send nerve impulses toward cell body
Cell Body (Soma)
Contains nucleus and organelles
Cytoplasm, mitochondria, etc.
Nissl Bodies
Make proteins
repair/maintain neuron
neurotransmitters
Neuroglobin (stores O2)
Axon
Send impulses away from cell body
“________ Speak”
One axon per neuron
Terminal Branches
Myelin Sheath
White matter surrounding parts of axon (not the dendrites or cell body)
Consists of lipids, proteins, water
Insulates axon and increases impulse speed
When does myelination begin in human?
During the third trimester
Nodes of Ranvier
Gaps in myelin sheath
Allows impulse to travel faster
Impulse “jumps” from node to node
Neurons
Nerve cells
Transmit impulses
Sensory/Afferent Neurons
Impulses to the CNS
“__A__rriving at the CNS”
Motor/Efferent Neurons
Impulse away from the CNS
“__E__xiting the CNS”
Interneurons
Neurons found in CNS that connect two sections of the brain
Glia Cells
“Glue”
Don’t transmit impulses
Provide structural support and nutrient
Microglia
A type of glia cells that are the immune system of the CNS (microbe eater)
What causes Multiple Sclerosis?
Microglia eat away at myelin causing a bumpy transmission of impulse
Driving on a road with potholes
Oligodendrocytes
Glia cell that produces myelin in the CNS
One cell that branches out to myelinate many axons
Schwann Cells
Produce myelin in PNS
Only found on individual axons
Not branched
Astrocytes
Star Cells
Keep neurons near blood supply (access to nutrients)
Make up the Blood Brain Barrier
Glioma
Most common type of brain tumor
Tumor of a glia cell
Action Potential
Nerve impulse that travels along the axon
When a neuron is at rest it is…
Positive outside and negative inside
Polarized
Excess of Na+ on the outside
Explain a nerve impulse
Stimulus at dendrites triggers the opening of Na+ channels
Na+ rushes in and depolarizes the membrane (inside is more positive than the outside at stimulated point)
This then travels down the neuron and the impulse is complete
Saltatory Conduction
Impulse jumps from one Node of Ranvier to the next
Latin for jump
Much faster than impulse in non-myelinated section
Synapse
The place where impulses are transmitted from one neuron to another