DHO Health Science: Anatomy and Physiology - The Nervous System

What is a complex, highly organized system that coordinates all the activities of the body?

Nervous system

Which system enables the body to respond and adapt to changes that occur both inside and outside the body?

Nervous system

What is the basic structural unit of the nervous system?

Neuron

What are the nerve fibers of a neuron called?

Dendrites

What carries impulses toward the cell body of a neuron?

Dendrites

What carries impulses away from the cell body?

Axon

What is the single nerve fiber of a neuron?

Axon

What is the lipid covering of an axon?

Myelin sheath

What is the myelin sheath made of?

Lipids

What increases the rate of impulse transmission and insulates and maintains the axon?

The myelin sheath

What is the space between two axons?

Synapses

What are the special chemicals located at the end of each axon that allow the nerve impulses to pass from one neuron to another?

Neurotransmitters

What are sensory nerves that carry messages from all parts of the body to the brain and spinal cord called?

Afferent

What are motor nerves that carry messages from the brain and spinal cord to the muscles and glands?

Efferent

What are nerves that carry both sensory and motor messages?

Associative (or internuncial)

What is another name for associative nerves?

Internuncial nerves

What is another name for internuncial nerves?

Associative

What are the two main divisions of the nervous system?

The central nervous system and the peripheral nervous system

What consists of the brain and spinal cord?

Central nervous system

What does CNS stand for?

Central nervous system

What does the central nervous system consist of?

Brain and spinal cord

What consists of the nerves and has two divisions?

Peripheral nervous system

What does PNS stand for?

Peripheral nervous system?

What does the peripheral nervous system consist of?

Nerves

What are the two divisions of the PNS?

Somatic and autonomic

What carries messages between the CNS and the body?

Somatic nervous system

What contains the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems, which work together to control involuntary body function?

Autonomic nervous system

What are the two divisions of the autonomic nervous system?

Sympathetic and parasympathetic

What do the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems work together to control?

Involuntary body functions

What is a mass of nerve tissue well protected by membranes and the cranium?

Brain

What is the largest and highest section of the brain?

Cerebrum

The cerebrum is separated into what?

Lobes

What are the lobes of the cerebrum?

* Frontal
* Parietal
* Temporal
* Occipital

Which part of the brain is responsible for reasoning, thought, memory, judgment, speech, sensation, sight, smell, hearing, and voluntary body movement?

Cerebrum

What is the section below the back of the cerebrum?

Cerebellum

What is responsible for muscle coordination, balance, posture, and muscle tone?

Cerebellum

What is the section located between the cerebrum and the midbrain?

Diencephalon

Which two structures are contained by the diencephalon?

Thalamus and hypothalamus

What acts as a relay center and directs sensory impulses to the cerebrum?

Thalamus

What regulates and controls the autonomic nervous system, temperature, appetite, water balance, sleep, and blood vessel constriction and dilation?

Hypothalamus

What is involved in emotions such as anger, fear, pleasure, pain, and affection?

Hypothalamus

What is the section located below the cerebrum at the top of the brainstem?

Midbrain

What is responsible for conducting impulses between brain parts and for certain eye and auditory reflexes?

Midbrain

What is the section located below the midbrain and in the brainstem?

Pons

What is responsible for conducting messages to other parts of the brain; for certain reflex actions including chewing, tasting, and saliva production; and for assisting with respiration?

Pons

What is in the lowest part of the brainstem?

Medulla oblongata

What is responsible for regulating heartbeat, respiration, swallowing, coughing, and blood pressure?

Medulla oblongata

What part of the brainstem connects with the spinal cord?

Medulla oblongata

What continues down from the medulla oblongata and ends at the first or second lumbar vertebrae?

Spinal cord

Where does the spinal cord start?

Medulla oblongata

Where does the spinal cord end?

First or second lumbar vertebrae

What is responsible for many reflex actions and for carrying sensory messages up to the brain and motor messages from the brain to the nerves that go to the muscles and glands?

Spinal cord

What are the three membranes that cover and protect the brain and spinal cord?

Meninges

What is the thick, tough, outer layer of the meninges?

Dura mater

What is the delicate and weblike middle layer of the meninges?

Arachnoid membrane

What is loosely attached to the other meninges to allow space for fluid to flow between the layers?

Arachnoid membrane

What is the innermost layer of the meninges that is closely attached to the brain and spinal cord, and contains blood vessels that nourish the nerve tissue?

Pia mater

What are the hollow spaces that connect with each other and with the space under the arachnoid membrane?

Ventricles

What is the term meaning below the arachnoid membrane?

Subarachnoid space

What are the ventricles filled with?

Cerebrospinal fluid

What circulates continually between the ventricles and through the subarachnoid?

Cerebrospinal fluid

What serves as a shock absorber to protect the brain and spinal cord?

Cerebrospinal fluid

What carries nutrients to some parts of the brain and spinal cord and helps remove metabolic products and wastes?

Cerebrospinal fluid

What is cerebrospinal fluid produced by?

The choroid plexus

How does CSF return to the bloodstream?

Through the arachnoid villi

What consists of 12 pairs of cranial nerves and their branches, and 31 pairs of spinal nerves and their branches?

Somatic nervous system

How many cervical nerves are there?

8

How many thoracic nerves are there?

12

How many lumbar nerves are there?

5

How many sacral nerves are there?

5

How many pairs of coccygeal spinal nerves are there?

1

What helps maintain a balance in the involuntary functions of the body and the body to react in times of emergence?

Autonomic nervous system

What contains the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems?

Autonomic nervous system

What prepares the body to act in times of emergency by increasing heart rate, respiration, and blood pressure, and by slowing activity in the digestive tract?

Sympathetic nervous system

What slows heart rate, decreases respiration, lowers blood pressure, and increases activity in the digestive tract after an emergency?

Parasympathetic nervous system

What is the process of the sympathetic nervous system preparing the body to act in times of emergency also called?

Fight or flight response

What is also known as Lou Gehrig's disease?

ALS

What does ALS stand for?

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

What is ALS also known as?

Lou Gehrig's disease

What occurs when nerve cells in the CNS that control voluntary movement degenerate, resulting in a weakening and atrophy of the muscles they control?

ALS

Riluzole may slow the progress for which disease?

ALS

Which disease has initial symptoms such as muscle weakness, abnormal reflexes, tripping and falling, impaired hand and arm movement, and difficulty in speaking or swallowing?

ALS

As it progresses, which disease has symptoms such as total body paralysis and inability to communicate, breathe, eat, and move?

ALS

Which disease traps an active mind inside a paralyzed body?

ALS

What is the life expectancy of someone with ALS from the time of diagnosis?

2-5 years

What is a progressively painful hand and arm condition that occurs when the medial nerve and tendons that pass through a canal on their way from the forearm to the hands and fingers are pinched?

Carpal tunnel syndrome

What occurs when the repetitive movement of the wrist causes swelling around the tunnel in the forearm, putting pressure on the nerves and tendons?

Carpal tunnel syndrome

What is the classic symptom of carpal tunnel syndrome?

Pain, numbness, and tingling in the thumb, ring fingers, and middle finger.

What is a nonprogressive, noncontagious disturbance in voluntary muscle action that is caused by brain damage?

Cerebral palsy

What is the first cranial nerve?

Olfactory

Which cranial nerve is the olfactory nerve?

I

What is the second cranial nerve?

Optic

Which cranial nerve is the optic nerve?

II

What is the third cranial nerve?

Oculomotor

Which cranial nerve is the oculomotor nerve?

III

What is the fourth cranial nerve?

Trochlear

Which cranial nerve is the trochlear nerve?

IV

What is the fifth cranial nerve?

Trigeminal

Which cranial nerve is the trigeminal nerve?

V

What is the sixth cranial nerve?

Abducens