ORGANIZATION OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM

SYNAPSES AND TRANSMITTER SUBSTANCES

IN GENERAL
The NERVOUS SYSTEM controls the rapid activities of the body such as muscle contractions, rapidly changing visceral events, and rates of secretion of major endocrine organs It receives millions of bits of information from the different sensory organs and integrates all these to determine the response to be made by the body

ON THE OTHER HAND.

The

ENDOCRINE SYSTEM regulates principally the metabolic functions of the body

NEURONS
The basic functional unit of the CNS Incoming signal =) enters the neuron through the SYNAPSES on the dendrites or cell body The synapses can be as many as hundreds to 200,000 from the input fibers The output signals =) travels by way of single axon leaving the neuron This axon has many separate branches to other parts of the nervous system or peripheral body

NEURON

TWO MAJOR DIVISIONS

Sensory

Division- carried out by the SENSORY RECEPTORS Motor Division carried out by the EFFECTORS

SENSORY DIVISION
Activities of the NS start form inputs emanating from the sensory receptors The input can either bring or cause an immediate reaction, or its memory can be stored in the brain for minutes, weeks, or years and eventually can help determine bodily reactions at some future date

SENSORY DIVISION
1. 2.

3. 4. 5.

The somatic portion of the neuron transmits the sensory information from the receptors The information then enters the CNS thru the peripheral nerves conducted to multiple sensory areas in the: Spinal cord at all levels Reticular substance of the medulla, pons, pons, mesencephalon Cerebellum Thalamus Somesthetic areas of the cerebral cortex

MOTOR DIVISION
Carried out by the EFFECTORS which are the muscles and the glands Primary and ultimate role of the NS: control the various bodily activities Achieved thru : 1) Contraction of skeletal muscles throughout the body 2) Contraction of the smooth muscle in the internal organs 3) Secretion of both exocrine and endocrine glands

MOTOR DIVISION

This division operates in parallel also to another similar system: the AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM WHICH ALSO ACTS TO CONTROL THE SMOOTH MUSCLE, GLANDS AND OTHER INTERNAL ORGANS

MOTOR DIVISION
The Skeletal Muscle can be controlled from many levels of the CNS: a) Spinal cord b) Reticular substance of the pons, medulla, and mesencephalon c) Basal ganglia d) Cerebellum e) Cerebral motor cortex

MOTOR DIVISION
The lower regions/level of the CNS (a, b, c, d) are concerned primarily with the automatic, instantaneous motor responses of the body to the sensory stimuli The higher region/level (cerebrum) are concerned with the deliberate movements controlled by the thought process

MAJOR LEVELS OF THE CNS

The SPINAL CORD level The LOWER BRAIN level The HIGHER BRAIN LEVEL  Each level has a specific functional attributes

SPINAL CORD LEVEL

Neuronal circuits in the cord can cause the following: 1. Walking movements 2. Reflexes that withdraw portions of the body from painful objects 3. Reflexes that stiffen the legs to support the body against gravity 4. Reflexes that control local blood vessels and GIT movements

LOWER BRAIN LEVEL

Composed of the: MEDULLA, PONS, MESENCEPHALON, HYPOTHALAMUS, THALAMUS, CEREBELLUM, and BASAL GANGLIA Functions: generally controls all the subconscious activities

SPECIFIC FUNCTIONS OF THE LOWER BRAIN

a) b)

c)

d)

Control of the arterial pressure and respiration in the medulla and pons Control of equilibrium combined function of the cerebellum and the reticular substance of the pons and medulla Feeding reflexes (e.g. salivation in response to the food and licking of the lips) controlled by areas in the pons, medulla, amygdala, hypothalamus Emotional patterns like anger, excitement, sexual response, reaction to pleasure

LOWER BRAIN

HIGHER BRAIN LEVEL OR CORTICAL LEVEL

Predominantly the CEREBRAL CORTEX The cerebral cortex is an extremely large memory storehouse The cerebral cortex is essential for most of our thought processes However, the cerebral cortex never functions alone but always in association with the lower centers (the functions of the lower brains are often IMPRECISE), and it is the cortex that converts these functions to determinative and precise operations

CEREBRAL CORTEX

PROCESSING OF INFORMATION
The NS needs to process incoming information in such a way that appropriate motor responses occur Sensory information that are the brain receives are all filtered and selected after the IMPORTANT sensory information has been selected channeled into the proper motor regions of the brain to cause the desired responses This channeling of information is the INTEGRATIVE FUNCTION of the NS

ROLE OF SYNAPSES.
In processing information Junction point from one neuron to another => advantageous site for control of signal transmission Synapses determine the directions that the nervous signals spread in the NS Some synapse can transmit signals with ease while others with difficulty Also there are facilitatory and inhibitory signals from other areas of the NS that can control synaptic transmission

ROLE OF SYNAPSE
Generally Synapse perform a selective action, often blocking the weak signals, while allowing the strong signals to pass, often selecting and amplifying certain weak signals, and channeling the signals in many directions rather than in one direction

SPECIAL FEATURE OF THE SYNAPSE

FOR MOST SYNAPSE, the signal normally passes only in the forward direction except in rare conditions This allows the signals to be conducted in the required directions for performing necessary nervous functions Neurons are organized into a great multitude of NEURAL NETWORKS that determine the functions of the nervous system