Nervous System

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Nervous system

Nervous System 1
Somatic Nervous System
The somatic nervous system consists of peripheral nerve fibers that send
sensory information to the central nervous system AND motor nerve fibers
that project to skeletal muscle.
The picture above shows the somatic motor system. The cell body is
located in either the brain or spinal cord and projects directly to a skeletal
muscle.
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Autonomic Nervous System
is divided into three parts: the sympathetic nervous system, the
parasympathetic nervous system and the enteric nervous system. The
autonomic nervous system controls smooth muscle of the viscera (internal
organs) and glands.
This picture shows the general organization of the autonomic nervous
system. The preganglionic neuron is located in either the brain or the spinal
cord. This preganglionic neuron projects to an autonomic ganglion. The
postganglionic neuron then projects to the target organ.
Notice that the somatic nervous system has only one neuron between the
central nervous system and the target organ while the autonomic nervous
system uses two neurons. Nervous System 3
Enteric nervous system
The enteric nervous system is a third division of the autonomic
nervous system that you do not hear much about.
The enteric nervous system is a meshwork of nerve fibers that
innervate the viscera (gastrointestinal tract, pancreas, gall bladder).
Contains approx. 100 million nerves.

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Central Nervous System
The central nervous system is divided into two major parts: the brain
and the spinal cord. The average adult human brain weighs 1.3 to 1.4
kg. The brain contains nerve cells (neurons) and "support cells" called
glia. The spinal cord is about 43 cm long in adult women and 45 cm
long in adult men and weighs about 35-40 grams. The vertebral
column, the collection of bones (back bone) that houses the spinal
cord, is about 70 cm long. Therefore, the spinal cord is much shorter
than the vertebral column.
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Telencephelon Diencephelon Mesencephelon

Metencephelon Myelencephelon

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Brain: main parts

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Saggital section

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Parietal

Temporal Occipital
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1. Frontal pole 2. Superior frontal sulcus 3. Middle
frontal gyrus 4. Superior frontal gyrus 5.
Precentral sulcus 6. Longitudinal cerebral fissure
7. Precentral gyrus 8. Postcentral gyrus 9. Central
sulcus 10. Postcentral sulcus 11. Occipital pole
(From www.vh.org)

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1. Medial frontal gyrus 2. Cingulate sulcus 3. Cingulate gyrus
4. Central sulcus 5. Paracentral lobule 6. Callosal sulcus 7.
Isthmus of cingulate gyrus 8. Subparietal sulcus 9. Precuneus
10. Parieto-occipital sulcus 11. Cuneus 12. Calcarine sulcus or
fissure 13. Rostrum of corpus callosum 14. Genu of corpus
callosum 15. Trunk of corpus callos 16. Splenium of corpus
callosum 17. Choroid plexus in interventricular foramen 18.
Interthalamic adhesion 19. Habenular trigone 20. Hypothalamic
sulcus 21. Pineal body 22. Anterior (rostral) commissure 23.
Tectum of midbrain 24. Mamillary body 25. Medial longitudinal
Nervous
fasciculus 26. Choroid plexus ofSystem
4th ventricle 12
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Some differences between the Peripheral Nervous
System (PNS) and the Central Nervous System (CNS):

In the CNS, collections of neurons are called nuclei.

In the PNS, collections of neurons are called ganglia.

In the CNS, collections of axons are called tracts.

In the PNS, collections of axons are called nerves.

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In the Peripheral Nervous System, neurons can be functionally divided in 3
ways:

Sensory (afferent) - carry information INTO the central nervous system


from sense organs.
Motor (efferent) - carry information away from the central nervous system
(for muscle control).
Cranial Nerve - connects the brain with the periphery.
Spinal Nerve - connects the spinal cord with the periphery.
Somatic - connects the skin or muscle with the central nervous system.
Visceral - connects the internal organs with the central nervous system.

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Cerebral Cortex
Functions: Thought , Voluntary movement , Language,
Reasoning, Perception
The word "cortex" comes from the Latin word for "bark" (of a
tree). This is because the cortex is a sheet of tissue that
makes up the outer layer of the brain. The thickness of the
cerebral cortex varies from 2 to 6 mm. The right and left sides
of the cerebral cortex are connected by a thick band of nerve
fibers called the "corpus callosum." In higher mammals such
as humans, the cerebral cortex looks like it has many bumps
and grooves. A bump or bulge on the cortex is called a gyrus
(the plural of the word gyrus is "gyri") and a groove is called a
sulcus (the plural of the word sulcus is "sulci"). Lower
mammals like rats and mice have very few gyri and sulci.

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Cerebellum

Functions: Movement, Balance, Posture

The word "cerebellum" comes from the Latin word for "little
brain." The cerebellum is located behind the brain stem. In
some ways, the cerebellum is a bit like the cerebral cortex: the
cerebellum is divided into hemispheres and has a cortex that
surrounds these hemispheres.

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Hypothalamus
Functions: Body Temperature, Emotions, Hunger,
Thirst, Circadian Rhythms
The hypothalamus is composed of several different areas
and is located at the base of the brain. It is only the size of
a pea (about 1/300 of the total brain weight), but it is
responsible for some very important behaviors. One
important function of the hypothalamus is the control of
body temperature. The hypothalamus acts like a
"thermostat" by sensing changes in body temperature and
then sending out signals to adjust the temperature. For
example, if you are too hot, the hypothalamus detects this
and then sends out a signal to expand the capillaries in your
skin. This causes blood to be cooled faster. The
hypothalamus also controls the pituitary.
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Brain stem
Functions: Breathing, Heart Rate, Blood Pressure

The brain stem is a general term for the area of the brain
between the thalamus and spinal cord. Structures within the
brain stem include the medulla, pons, tectum, reticular
formation and tegmentum. Some of these areas are
responsible for the most basic functions of life such as
breathing, heart rate and blood pressure.

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Thalamus
Functions: Sensory Integration, Motor Integration

The thalamus receives sensory information and relays


this information to the cerebral cortex. The cerebral
cortex also sends information to the thalamus which
then transmits this information to other areas of the
brain and spinal cord.

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Limbic System
Functions: Emotional Behavior

The limbic system (or the limbic areas) is a group of


structures that includes the amygdala, the hippocampus,
mammillary bodies and cingulate gyrus. These areas are
important for controlling the emotional response to a given
situation. The hippocampus is also important for memory.

Hippocampus
Functions: Learning, Memory

The hippocampus is one part of the limbic system that is


important for memory and learning.

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Basal Ganglia
Functions: Movement

The basal ganglia are a group of structures, including the


globus pallidus, caudate nucleus, subthalamic nucleus,
putamen and substantia nigra, that are important in
coordinating movement.
Midbrain
Functions: Vision, Audition, Eye Movement, Body
Movement

The midbrain includes structures such as the superior and


inferior colliculi and red nucleus. There are several other
areas also in the midbrain.

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Cortical Area Function
Problem Solving, Emotion,
Prefrontal Cortex
Complex Thought
Broca's Area
Motor Association Coordination of complex
Cortex movement
Primary Motor Cortex Initiation of voluntary movement
Primary Receives tactile information from
Somatosensory Cortex the body
Sensory Association Processing of multisensory
Area information
Wernicke's Area
Visual Association Complex processing of visual
Area information
Visual Cortex Detection of simple visual stimuli
Wernicke's Area Language comprehension
Auditory Association Complex processing of auditory
Area information
Detection of sound quality
Auditory Cortex Images courtesy of Slice of Life.
(loudness, tone)
Speech Center Speech production and
(Broca's Area) articulation
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Sizes
How many neurons?
100 billion (1011)
(how much time to count if 1 per/sec?)
3171 years

How big is a neuron?


10μ - 100μ (microns)
(how long if lined up side by side?)
1000Km

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Levels
Marr defined 3 levels
• Computational (decomposing task)
• Algorithmic (procedure to do task)
• Implementational (working device to do
task)
Higher levels independent of lower ones.

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Levels of Organization
Molecules (1 Angstrom)
Synapses (1μ)
Neuron (10 - 100 μ)
Networks (1mm)
Maps (1cm)
Systems (10cm)
CNS (1m) – the whole organism

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Computational Neuroscience
• Addresses problems at all the levels
• How do the levels mesh together – not
known, research problem
• Approaches
– pure bottom up
– pure top-down
– co-evolution

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Topographic maps
• Neighbouring areas in sensory space are
mapped to adjacent neurons (vision,
touch, hearing, muscle groups).
• Maps are non-linear (e.g. fovea, hands
map to larger areas, there can be
upper/lower differentiation as well)

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Layers and columns
• Many areas show laminar organization.
Sheets register with higher and lower
sheets.
• Both horizontal & vertical organization
(e.g. superior colliculus)

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Local networks
• Colour constancy
• 1D, 2D curvature of shapes in shaded
images

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Basic brain facts
• Specialization of function (seems to be
true for all brains) – though hard to
determine function for frontal cortex in
higher mammals.
• Connectivity:
– each cortical neuron connected to roughly
same number other neurons (approx. 3%)
– most between cell classes (not within)
– forward projections matched by backward

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Neurogenesis
• Brain cells do not regenerate – widely
held view
• New brain cells form and join existing
structures and become active.

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Basic brain facts (contd.)
• Analog inputs, discrete outputs: inputs are
analog, output is discrete (spikes or does
not). Spiking depends on thresholds.
• Timing: signal interaction depends on
timing; time scale of computation must
match time scale of events; time scale of
output must match time for body parts to
move.

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Basic brain facts (contd.)
• Parallel architecture – parallel streams of
input for a given function.
• Action at a distance – neuro-transmitters
(through extra-cellular space), hormones
can alter neural activity after travelling
through circulatory system

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References
1. PS Churchland, TJ Sejnowski, The
Computational Brain, MIT Press, 1992.
2. IB Levitan, LK Kaczmarek, The Neuron,
3rd. Ed., Oxford Univ. Press, 2002.
3. Various internet sources.

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