Central nervous system
Brain and spinal cord
Planes of the brain
Coronal: Slice brain from eyes moving back; Sagittal: Slice from left to right or vice versus; Axial/horizontal: Closer to spinal cord/up, Slice from top
Peripheral nervous system
Autonomic and somatic
How are central and peripheral nervous systems different?
The central nervous system (CNS) consists of the brain and spinal cord, acting as the body’s command center to process information, while the peripheral nervous system (PNS) includes all nerves outside the CNS, acting as a communication network connecting the brain and spinal cord to limbs and organs
Autonomic nervous system
controls self-regulated action of internal organs and glands; Autonomic nervous system contains the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system.
Somatic nervous system
controls voluntary movements of skeletal muscles.
How are autonomic and somatic systems different?
the somatic system governs voluntary muscle movements and conscious sensory perception, while the autonomic system manages involuntary, automatic, and reflexive functions (like digestion and heart rate). Somatic uses one neuron; autonomic uses two
Parasympathetic nervous system
Long synaptic connection hitting the brain. Close to the organs; Rest and digest; calming. Increasing digestion
Sympathetic nervous system
Fight or flight; arousing. Ex. Decreasing digestion. Anything thats going on internally that will allow you to respond or react
How are parasympathetic and sympathetic systems different?
Differ in the neurotransmitter release
Norepinephrine in sympathetic; Acetylcholine and nitric oxide are in parasympathetic
Spinal cord
Part of the central nervous system within the spinal column; Communicates with the sense organs and muscles, except those of the head; Entering dorsal roots carry sensory information and exiting ventral roots carry motor information; Cell bodies of the sensory neurons are located in clusters of neurons outside the spinal cord – the dorsal root ganglia; Cell bodies of the motor neurons are located inside the spinal cord—the ventral roots.
Consists of two types of matter
Grey matter: located in the center of the spinal cord and is densely packed with; White matter: composed mostly of myelinated axons that carries information from the gray matter to the brain or other areas of the spinal cord
Dorsal
Dorsal root ganglion - Carries info to spinal cord; Toward the back: away from the ventral(stomach) side. The top of the brain is considered dorsal because it has that position in four legged animals; Ventral roots: toward the stomach, away from the dorsal(back)side
Dorsal roots vs. ventral roots (do sensory or motor neurons go through these?)
Hindbrain structures
Major structure: medulla, pons, cerebellum; Medulla oblongata – blood pressure/heart rate/breathing; Pons – movement/sleep/breathing; Reticular formation – arousal/attention; Cerebellum – coordinates movement
Midbrain structures
Major structures: tectum, tegmentum, inferior colliculus, superior colliculus, substantia nigra; Superior colliculus – vision; Inferior culliculus – hearing; Substantia nigra (black substance) - major dopamine area of the brain
Forebrain structures
Prosencephalon (forward brain); Diencephalon (between brain); Telencephalon (end brain); Major structures: thalamus; Limbic system – olfactory bulb – olfaction; Hypothalamus – eating/drinking/temperature; Hippocampus – learning/memory; Amygdala – emotion; Cingulate gyrus – error monitoring/detection; Thalamus – relays incoming sensory information
Limbic system and its importance
Limic system contains; Cingulate gyrus; Thalamus; Hypothalamus; Mamillary body; Hippocampus; Amygdala; Olfactory bulb; Important for motivation and emotional behavior
Thalamus and its importance
Circular oval; Vision, taste, touch; Sends this(vision etc) information to cerebral cortex; Touch sent to frontal cortex; Many different functions
