NERVOUS SYSTEM

The nervous system is a complex, highly coordinated network of tissues that

communicate via electro chemical signals. It is responsible for receiving and
processing information in the body. It is vital system as it controls all the life process
activities. This system consists of nervous tissue that mainly comprises neurons and
glial cells. Neurons (functional unit of nervous system) are ectodermal in origin
whereas glial cells are mesodermal in origin. Number of neurons in human body is
fixed from embryonic stage till death as it couldn’t divide due to absence of
centrioles. The function of neurons is to detect and receive stimuli from different
sensory organs and then, integrate them to determine mode of response of an
organism. Glial cells repeatedly divide throughout the life. On the basis of structure
and function, glial cells are classified into:
 Astrocytes: acts as blood brain barrier.
 Oligodendrocytes: forms myelin sheath in CNS.
 Microglial cells : phagocytic cell
 Ependymal cells: helps in movement of CSF and also acts as barrier.
 Schwann cell: forms myelin sheath in PNS.
 Satellite cell: provides protection to PNS.

On the basis of functional nature, nervous system is divided into three main
branches:
1) Central nervous system : It includes (i) Brain
(ii) Spinal cord
2) Peripheral nervous system : It includes (i) Cranial nerves (12 pairs )
(ii) Spinal nerves (31 pairs)
3) Autonomic nervous system : (i) Sympathetic nervous system
(ii) Parasympathetic nervous system
CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM
The central nervous system includes the brain and spinal cord.
BRAIN
Brain is the central information processing organ, and acts as master organ and
control system. It is located inside the head in a bony skull cavity known as
cranium or cranial cavity. It is anterior part of CNS and is mainly made up of soft
nervous tissue cells called neurons. It is ectodermal in origin and is covered by
three membranous layers, known as meninges. These are outer duramater, middle
the arachnoid mater and inner piamater.Sub-dural and sub-arachnoid space so seen
are filled with CSF.
Structure of brain:
Human brain is divisible into three parts;
1. Fore brain or Prosencephalon
2 .Midbrain or Mesencephalon
3. Hind brain or Rhombencephalon
Forebrain
It is further divided into olfactory lobes, cerebrum and diencephalon.
(i) Olfactory lobes: It is anterior part formed of forebrain by a pair of short club
shaped structure. These lobes are poorly developed in human. However, they are
concerned with the sense of smell.
(ii) Cerebrum: It is largest part of human brain which is equally and incompletely
divided into two halves by a median longitudinal fissure, into right and left cerebral
hemispheres. These are internally joined together by corpus callosum. Its anterior
curve is genu, posterior curve is splenium and central arch is called fornix. The left
half part controls right side of body whereas right half part controls lest side of body.
Cerebrum is histologically again divided into: cerebral cortex and medulla. Human
cerebrum is highly folded forming several sulci and gyri. These folding enlarge
surface area of cortex.
All the lobes of the cerebrum are having their own specialized areas which are as
follows;
  Frontal lobe (motor area -responsible to control voluntary
movement)
 Parietal lobe(sensory area-responsible for perception of stimuli)
 Temporal lobe(Auditory)
 Occipital lobe(Image analysis)

(iii) Diencephalon: It is located in between cerebrum and midbrain and is again

classified as:
 Epithalamus: It’s anterior part is modified to form choroid
plexus which secretes CSF. Just behind this, the epithelium
forms a short stalk called pineal stalk which has rounded body
called pineal gland. It is mainly responsible for secretion of
melatonin and also acts as biological clock.
 Thalamus: These are two egg shaped mass of grey matter nerve
cell. It consists of optic chaisma and acts as relay stations
between forebrain and midbrain.
 Hypothalamus: It is located below thalamus and is responsible
for co-ordination of thirst, hunger, sleep, temperature
regulation and water balance through several hormonal co-
ordination (ADH, Oxytocin).

Mid brain
It is located in between the diencephalon and hind brain. It is made up of two parts:
 Corpora quadrigemina :These are two pairs of round lobes which is
divisible as: Superior colliculi(upper pair, concerned with vision)
and inferior colliculi (lower pair, concerned with hearing )
 Crura cerebri: These are two bundles of fibres lying on lower
surface of midbrain. They relay the nerve impulse to and fro, in
between all parts of the brain.
Hind brain
It is located in between the midbrain and spinal cord. It consists of cerebellum,
pons and medulla oblongata.
(i) Cerebellum : It is second largest part of brain consisting of two cerebellar
hemisphere(made up of grey matter) and a central worm like vermis(made up of
white matter).Internally, the cerebral hemisphere has branching tree like structure
called Arbor vitae surrounded by sheath of grey matter. It controls rapid muscular
actions and controls body posture.
(ii) Pons: It is situated in between midbrain and medulla oblongata in front of
cerebellum. Its fibers connect the two halves of the cerebellum and join the
medulla oblongata with the midbrain like a bridge. It is mainly provided with the
nerve fibers (white matter). It also helps to control the process of respiration. It
mainly serves as centre of origin of major cranial nerves and relays impulses from
medulla oblongata to superior part of the brain.
(iii) Medulla oblongata: It lies between the pons varolii and the spinal cord. It
consists of white matter and is continuous with the spinal cord. It has very thin,
non-vascular folded structure to its lower side called posterior choroid plexus. It is
provided with some vital centers associated with autonomic reflex actions,
respiratory centre; cardiac centre, and vasomotor centre. It is also provided with
the reflex centres of coughing, vomiting, sneezing, and swallowing.

Ventricles of brain:
There are four irregular shaped cavities inside the brain which are called ventricles.
These cavities are filled with CSF secreted by anterior and posterior choroid
plexuses. These ventricles are:
 Right and left lateral ventricles: These cavities lie within the cerebral
hemispheres, one on each side of the median plane just below the corpus
callosum. They communicate with the third ventricle by a narrow canal
foramen of Monro.
 Third ventricle : It is a cavity situated below the lateral ventricles between
the two parts of the thalamus. It communicates with the fourth ventricle by a
narrow canal , cerebral aqueduct or iter.
  Fourth ventricle: This ventricle is situated behind the third ventricle,
between cerebellum and pons. It is continuous below the central canal of
spinal cord.

Spinal cord:
It is posterior part of CNS which runs mid-dorsally within the vertebral column. It
is surrounded by meninges and the cerebrospinal fluid. It extends from the foramen
magnum to second lumbar vertebra (about 45cm in length). Below the 2nd lumbar
vertebra, spinal nerves arise from spinal cord giving the appearance of horse tail so
called cauda equine. The spinal cord terminates as the conus medullaris. From the
conus medullaris a fine fibrous connective filament called filum terminale, extends
down to the coccygeal region. Filum terminale anchors the spinal cord within the
vertebral column.
Internal structure:
Internally, the spinal cord is divided into left and right symmetrical halves by
posterior median sulcus and anterior median fissure. In the centre, there is a central
canal surrounded by a butterfly shaped area of grey matter. Around the grey matter
there is white matter. The grey matter is an H shaped projecting dorsally into two
dorsal horns and ventrally into two ventral horns. In each segment of spinal cord a
spinal nerve arises from different segments of spinal cord. Each spinal nerve
carries both sensory and motor impulses. Each spinal nerve connects with the cord
through two nerve roots:
 Dorsal nerve root: It originates from dorsal horn of grey matter. It
consists of only sensory fibres(carrying incoming impulses). It bears the
dorsal root ganglion containing only sensory cells.
 Ventral nerve root: It originates from the ventral horn of grey matter. It is
made only of motor fibres (carrying outgoing impulses). It doesnot bear
ganglion.
Both the roots unite in the neural canal and a single nerve thus formed is
mixed in nature.
Peripheral nervous system
This includes the nerves arising from brain (cranial nerves) and spinal cord (spinal
nerves).
  Cranial nerves – 12 pairs
 Spinal nerves – 31 pairs

Cranial nerves:
There are 12 pairs of cranial nerves. These arise from the ventral side of the brain.
Their names, type of fibres, nature and functions are in table below:
No. Cranial nerves Types of fibre Organs innervated Function
I Olfactory nerve Sensory Olfactory mucosa Smell
in nose
II Optic nerve Sensory Retina of eye Vision
III Oculomotor Motor Eyeball muscles, Eye movement,
nerve(smallest) ciliary muscles accommodation
IV Trochlear nerve Motor Superior oblique Eye movement
muscles of eyeball
V Trigeminal nerve Mixed Skin, teeth, Sensation of head,
mucosal face
membrane of
mouth
VI Abducens nerve Motor Eyeball muscles Eyeball movement
VII Facial nerve Mixed Taste buds of Facial expression,
salivary gland, saliva secretion,
facial and neck taste
muscles
VIII Vestibulo-cochlear Sensory Internal ear Hearing
nerve cochlea equilibrium
IX Glossopharyngeal nerve Mixed Pharynx, tongue, Taste, sensation,
salivary glands saliva secretion,
swallowing
X Vagus nerve (Largest & Mixed Pharynx, Visceral reflexes
Longest) oesophagus,
larynx, trachea,
thoracic and
abdominal viscera
XI Accessory nerve Motor Thoracic and Visceral reflexes,
abdominal viscera shoulder
movement
XII Hypoglossal nerve Motor Muscles of tongue Tongue movement
Among these 12 cranial nerves, 8 nerves are originated from hind brain, 2 from
midbrain and 2 from forebrain.

Spinal nerves:
There are 31 pairs of spinal nerves and are generally made up of unipolar neurons.
They are:
 Cervical : 8 pairs
 Thoracic : 12 pairs
 Lumbar : 5 pairs
 Sacral : 5 pairs
 Coccygeal : 1 pair
Total = 31 pairs
Spinal formula of human is: C8 Th12 L5 S5 Co1

Autonomic nervous system:

This system controls and coordinates the various activities of visceral organs such
as control of rate of heart beat, peristalsis, etc. It consists of two systems:
 Sympathetic nervous system
 Parasympathetic nervous system

Sympathetic nervous system: It consists of sympathetic chains, preganglionic

nerve fibre, collateral ganglia and postganglionic nerve fibre.
 Sympathetic chains: There are two long lateral chains of sympathetic
ganglia present closely one on either side of vertebral column from
cervical to coccyx of spinal cord. It is formed of serially connected
lateral chain of 21 ganglia.
 Preganglionic sympathetic fibres: There are short sized axons
originated from grey matter of spinal cord in all thoracic and lumbar
region.
  Collateral ganglia: There are three collateral ganglia – coeliac
ganglia, superior mesenteric and inferior mesenteric ganglion.
 Postganglionic sympathetic fibres: These are long sized axon of
neurons. These nerves arise from collateral ganglia and supply to
glands of visceral organs.
Parasympathetic nervous system: It consists of preganglionic fibres,
parasympathetic ganglia and postganglionic fibres.
 Preganglionic parasympathetic fibres: These are long sized axons of
neurons present in midbrain, brain stem and sacral region of spinal cord.
These cranial nerves coming from brain are: Oculomotor (III), Facial (VII),
Glossopharyngeal (IX) and Vagus (X).
 Parasympathetic ganglia: These ganglia are present either close to or
inside the muscles of visceral organs.
 Postganglionic fibres: These are short sized axons of neurons arising from
the parasympathetic ganglia and supply smooth muscles and glands.

Differences between sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system:

Sympathetic nervous system Parasympathetic nervous system
1. Consists of paired chains of 1. Chains of parasympathetic ganglia
sympathetic ganglia. are absent.
2. Originates from thoracic and 2. Originates from cranial and sacral
lumbar region of spinal cord. region of spinal cord.
3. Preganglionic fibres are shorter. 3. Preganglionic fibres are longer.
4. Postganglionic fibres are longer. 4. Postganglionic fibres are shorter.
5. This system is also called 5. This system is also called
adrenergic system. cholinergic system.
6. Controls body activities during 6. Controls normal daily activities.
emergencies.
7. Collateral ganglia lie closer to 7. Parasympathetic ganglia lie closer
spinal cord. to visceral organ.
8. The overall activity is excitatory 8. The overall effect is inhibitory.
and stimulating.