NERVOUS SYSTEM
ORGANIZATION OF NERVOUS SYSTEM, STRUCTURE,
CLASSIFICATION AND FUNCTIONS OF NERVOUS AND
NEUROGLIA
CELLS
AREEBA ASLAM
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NEUROLOGY
Neurology deals with normal functioning and disorders
of the nervous system. A neurologist is a physician who
diagnoses and treats disorders of the nervous system.
ORGANIZATION OF NERVOUS SYSTEM
With a mass of only 2 kg, about 30 % of the total body
weight, the nervous system is one of the smallest and
yet more complex of the 11 body systems. This intricate
network of billions of neurons and even more neuroglia
is organized into two main sub-division: the central
nervous system and peripheral nervous system
CENTRAL NERVOUS SYTEM
• The central nervous system (CNS) consist of the brain and
spinal cord.
• Brain located in skull and contains about 85 billion neurons.
• The spinal cord is connected to brain through the foramen
magnum of the occipital bone and is encircled by the bones of
the vertebral column.
• the spinal cord contain about 100 million neuron.
• The CNS processes many different kind of incoming sensory
information. It is also the source of thoughts, emotions and
memories.
• Most signals the stimulate muscles to contract and gland to
secrets in the CNS.
PERIPHERAL NERVOUS SYSTEM
• The peripheral nervous system (PNS) consists of all the
nervous tissues outside the CNS.
• Components of PNS includes nerves, enteric plexuses and
sensory receptors.
NERVES
• A nerve is a bundle of hundreds to thousands of axons plus
associated connective tissue and blood vessels that lies
outside the brain and spinal cord
• 12 pairs of cranial nerves emerge from brain and 31 pairs of
spinal nerves emerge from spinal cord. Each nerve followed
a defined path and serves a specific region of the body
• GANGLIA
Ganglia are small masses of nervous tissues, consisting of
primarily of the neuronal cell bodies, that are located outside
of the brain and spinal cord.
ENTERIC PLEXUSES
These are extensive networks of neurons located in the wall of
the gastrointestinal tract.
The neurons of these plexuses helps regulate the digestive
system.
SENSORY RECEPTORS
The term sensory receptors refers to a structure of the nervous
system that monitors changes in the external or internal
environment. Examples are touch receptors in skin,
photoreceptors in eyes, and olfactory receptors in nose e.t.c.
CLASSIFICATION OF PERIPHERAL
NERVOUS SYTEM
The PNS is divided into a
1. Somatic nervous system (SNS) and
2. Autonomic nervous system (ANS) and
3. Enteric nervous system (ENS).
SOMATIC NERVOUS SYTEM
The SNS consists of sensory neurons that convey information to
the CNS from somatic receptors in the head, body wall and limbs
and from receptors for the special senses of vision, hearing, taste
and smell and motor neurons that conduct impulses from the CNS
to skeletal muscles only. Because these motor responses can be
consciously controlled, the action of this part of the PNS is
voluntary.
AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYTEM
• The ANS consists of 1-sensory neurons that
convey information to the CNS from
autonomic sensory receptors, located primarily
in visceral organs such as the stomach and
lungs and 2- the motor neurons that conduct
nerves impulses from the CNS to smooth
muscles, cardiac muscles and glands because
its motor responses are not normally
consciously controlled. These are involuntary
CLASSIFICATION OF ANS
• It consist of two branches
1. Sympathetic division
2. Parasympathetic division
With a few exceptions, effectors receives nerves from both
division and usually the two divisions have opposing
actions. For example sympathetic neurons increases heart
rate and parasympathetic neurons slow it down. In general,
the sympathetic division helps support exercise and
emergency actions the fight-or-flight response. And the
parasympathetic division take care of rest-and-digest
activities
ORGANIZATION OF NERVOUS SYTEM
ENTERIC NERVOUS SYSTEM
• The enteric nervous system is involuntary. It is
consider as the part of ANS. The ENS consists of
100 millions of neurons in enteric plexus that
extend most of the length of gastrointestinal tract.
• They communicate with CNS via sympathetic
and parasympathetic neurons.
• ENS neurons governs contractions of GI tract
smooth muscles to propel the food, secretion of
GIT organs etc.
FUNCTIONS OF NERVOUS SYTEM
• The nervous system carry out the complex array of
tasks. It allows us to sense various smells, produce
speech, and remember past events, in addition, it
provides signals that control body movements and
regulates the operation of internal organs. These
activities grouped into three basic functions
• Sensory (input)
• Integrative (process)
• Motor (output)
• SENSORY FUNCTIONS
Sensory receptors detect internal stimuli such as
an increase in blood pressure or external stimuli
for example a raindrop landing on your arm.
This sensory information is then carried into the
brain and spinal cord through cranial and spinal
nerves
• INTEGRATIVE FUNCTIONS
The nervous system processes sensory
information by analyzing it and making decision
for appropriate response, an activity known as
integration
• MOTOR FUNCTIONS
Once sensory information is integrated, the
nervous system may elicit an appropriate motor
response by activating effectors through cranial
and spinal nerves.
Stimulation of the effectors causes muscles to
contract and gland to secrets
HISTOLOGY OF
NERVOUS SYTEM
Nervous tissue consist of two types of cells
1. Neuron
2. Neuroglia
NEURONS
Neuron possess electrical excitability, the ability to respond to a
stimulus and convert it into an action potential.
STIMULUS:
A stimulus is any change in the environment that is strong
enough to initiate an action potential.
ACTION POTENTIAL:
It is also called nerve impulse, it is an electrical signal
that propagates along the surface of membrane of
neuron.
It begins and travels due to movement of ions
such as sodium and potassium ion between
interstitial fluid and the inside of neuron through
specific channels in its plasma membrane.
Some neurons are tiny and propagate impulses
over a short distance and some are larger that
cover the distance from brain to foots at a speed
range from 0.5 to 130 meters per second.
STRUCTURE OF NEURON
Most neuron have three parts
1. A cell body
2. Dendrites
3. An axon
CELL BODY
The cell body also known as perikaryon or
soma, contain nucleus and surrounded by
cytoplasm that includes typical organelles such
as lysosome, mitochondria and golgi bodies
Neuronal cell body also contain prominent
clusters of rough endoplasmic reticulum called
nissl bodies.
AXON
A single axon of neuron propagate nerve
impulses towards another neuron, a muscle or a
gland cell.
An axon is long thin and cylindrical projection
that often joins to the cell bodies at a cone-
shaped elevation called the axon hillock.
STRUCTURAL CLASSIFICATION OF NEURON
Structurally neurons are classified according to the
number of processes extending from the cell body.
1. Multi-polar neuron
2. Bipolar neuron
3. Unipolar neuron
1- Multi-polar neuron usually have several dendrites and
one axon. Most neurons in the brain and spinal cord are of
this type as well as all motor neurons
2- Bipolar neuron have one dendrite and one axon. They
are found in retina of the eye, the inner ear and the
olfactory areas of the brain.
3- Unipolar neuron have dendrites and one axon
that are fused together to form a continuous
process the emerge from the cell body. The
dendrites of most of the unipolar neurons
function as sensory receptors that detect a
sensory stimulus such as touch, pressure, pain or
thermal stimuli.
STRUCTURAL CLASSIFICATION OF
NEURON
NEUROGLIA
Neuroglia or glia make up about half of the volume of
the CNS. Their name derives from the idea of early
histologist that they were the glue that held nervous
tissue together
Generally neuroglia are smaller and more numerous
than neuron, glia don’t generate and propagate nerve
impulses, they can multiply and divide in mature
nervous system
There are six types of glia cells, four are found only in
CNS, and remaining two are present in PNS
NEUROGLIA IN CNS
1. Astrocytes
2. Oligo-dendrocytes
3. Microglia and
4. Ependymal cells
• ASTROCYTES:
These are star-shaped cells have many processes
and are the largest and most numerous of the
neuroglia.
There are two types of astrocytes
1. Protoplasmic astrocytes: have many short
branching processes and found in gray matter.
2. Fibrous astrocytes: have many long
branching processes and found in white
matter.
FUNCTIONS OF ASTROCYTES
• Astrocytes contain micro-filaments that give them considerable
strength, which enables them to support neurons
• Processes of astrocytes wrapped around blood capillaries isolate
neuron of the CNS from various harmful substances in blood. The
endothelial cells create blood-brain barrier, which restrict the
movement of substances between blood and interstitial fluid of the
CNS.
• In embryo, astrocytes secrets chemicals that appear to regulate the
growth, migration and interconnection in neuron in the brain
• Astrocytes helps to maintain the appropriate chemical environment
for the generation of nerve impulses.
• Astrocytes may also play a role in learning and memory by
influencing the formation of neural synapses.
OLIGODENDROCYTES
• These resemble astrocytes but are smaller and
contain fewer processes.
• These are responsible of for the formation and
maintaining the myelin sheath around CNS
axons.
MICROGLIAL CELLS OR MICROGLIA
• These neuroglia are small cells with slender
processes that gives of numerous spine like
projection.
• Its function as phagocytes
• Like macrophages, they remove cellular debris
formed during the development of nervous
system and phagocytize microbes and
damaged nervous tissues.
EPPENDEMAL CELLS
• These are cuboidal to columnar cells arranged
in a single layer that possess microvilli and
cilia.
• These cells lines the ventricles of the brain and
spinal cord
• Assist the circulation of CSF cerebro-spinal
fluid.
• They formed blood-CSF barrier
Neuroglia of PNS
• These are
1. Schwan cells
2. Satellite cells
SCHWAN CELLS,
These cells encircle PNS axons.
Like oligo-dendrocytes, they form the myelin sheath around axon
Participant in axon regeneration.
SATELLITE CELLS
These flat cells surround the cells bodies of neuron of PNS ganglia.
they regulates the exchange of materials between neuronal cell
bodies and interstitial fluid.