Nervous System Key Terms Review

These flashcards cover key terms and concepts related to the nervous system, helping to reinforce understanding for exam preparation.

What are afferent nerves?

Sensory transmitters that send impulses from receptors in the skin, muscles, and joints to the central nervous system.

What role do astrocytes play in the nervous system?

Glial cells that link neurons to capillaries and control the chemical environment to protect neurons from harmful substances in the blood.

What does the autonomic nervous system control?

It controls involuntary body functions.

What are the components of the central nervous system (CNS)?

The brain and spinal cord.

What function do dendrites serve?

They collect stimuli and transport them to the cell body.

What are efferent nerves?

Motor transmitters that carry impulses from the central nervous system out to the muscles and glands.

What do ependymal cells do?

They form a protective covering around the spinal cord and central cavities within the brain.

What are interneurons?

Neurons that form bridges to transmit nerve impulses between afferent and efferent neurons.

What function do microglia serve?

They absorb and dispose of dead cells and bacteria.

What is the myelin sheath?

The fatty bands of insulation surrounding axon fibers.

What is neuroglia?

Non-neural tissue that forms the interstitial or supporting elements of the CNS, also known as glial cells.

What are neurotransmitters?

Chemicals that act as messengers between an axon of one neuron and a dendrite on another, or between an axon and a muscle fiber.

What function do oligodendrocytes perform?

They wrap around nerve fibers and produce a fatty insulating material called myelin.

What is the peripheral nervous system (PNS)?

All parts of the nervous system external to the brain and spinal cord.

What is the role of satellite cells?

They serve as cushioning support cells within the PNS.

What does the somatic nervous system stimulate?

It stimulates the skeletal muscles.

What are Schwann cells?

Glial cells that wrap around the axons of some neurons in the PNS, providing them with a myelin sheath that speeds up their rate of transmission.

What is a synapse?

The intersection between a neuron and another neuron, a muscle, a gland, or a sensory receptor.