NERVOUS TISSUE AND GANGLIA

NERVOUS TISSUE AND GANGLIA
Neurons/Nerve cells
• Neurons are the principal functional cells of the nervous system
• They have a great longevity.
• They are amitotic.
• They maintain a high metabolic rate.
• Have long cytoplasmic processes
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View of the Neuron
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Cell Body/Perikaryon
• The cell body or soma contains:
– the nucleus
– the protein synthesizing components
• extensive rough ER known as Nissl bodies.
• also contains extensive Golgi.
– large number of mitochondria and numerous
neurofilaments
• This part of the cell is the integration part of the neuron.
• It can also function as a receptive or input region.
• Nucleus (pl. nuclei) is a collection of cell bodies in the CNS.

• Ganglion (pl. ganglia) is a collection of cell bodies in the PNS.
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Neuron Structure - Processes
• Axons/nerve fibres
– a long thin cylindrical cytoplasmic projection
– starts at a cone-shaped region – the axon
hillock
– may be long (1 meter) or short (1 mm)
– a long axon is called a nerve fiber
– transmit information away from the soma
– ends in many branches
• known as axonal terminals
• may be 10,000 on one nerve
• form synapses (junctions) with neighboring
neurons or with effector cells (muscles or glands)
Neuron Structure - Axons (continued)
• filled with axoplasm and surrounded by an axolemma.
• Axoplasm contains mitochondria and neurofilaments involved
in transport of substances (anterograde and retrograde)
• action potentials start at the axon hillock (trigger zone); travel
along the axon to the axon terminal
• axon terminal has the secretory vesicles containing
neurotransmitters can excite or inhibit the action of the next cell
in the pathway
• A tract is a collection of axons in the CNS e.g the
spinothalamic tract.
• A nerve is a collection of axons in the PNS e.g the median
nerve.
Histology of Neurons – Myelin
Sheath
• the myelin sheath
– lipid-rich, segmented covering on an axon
– primarily along the larger, longer axons
– dendrites are never myelinated
– myelin protects & electrically insulates axon
– increases the speed of nerve impulses
• myelinated fibers conduct impulses 10-150x
faster than unmyelinated fibers
• 150 m/sec vs. 1 m/sec
Myelin Sheath is formed by 2 types of Glia
– Oligodendrocytes – form myelin sheaths on
axons in the CNS - one cell may myelinate
several axons
– Schwann cells – form myelin sheaths on
axons in the PNS – many cells myelinates a
single axon
– Schimdt- Lantermann’S clefts represent
displaced Schwann cell cytoplasm within the
sheath
-Schwann cells are vital to PNS nerve repair
• and regeneration
Gaps between of axons
myelin sheath cellsofare
damaged
the Nodes of Ranvier.
• but living neurons
Multiple Sclerosis (MS) leads to demyelination of CNS neurons resulting in
numbness and paralysis.
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Multipolar Neuron
Cerebellar cortex
Pyramidal Cells of Cerebral cortex
The blood- brain barrier
-prevents diffusion of materials into CNS
-endothelial cells of brain capillaries are joined
by tight junctions and are not fenestrated
- Endothelial cells lie on a basal lamina
- Astrocyte foot processes lie external to the
basal lamina
- Endothelial cells, basal lamina and foot
processes of astrocytes form the blood-brain
barrier (BBB)
Peripheral nervous system
• Consist of peripheral nerves and ganglia
• Peripheral nerves- 12 pairs of cranial nerves and 31 pairs of
spinal nerves
• A nerve is a collection of axons/nerve fibres e.g radial, ulnar
axillary nerves
• It can be entirely sensory (e.g optic nerve) or motor
(hypoglossal)
• Most nerves are mixed containing both sensory and motor
nerve fibres
• Ganglion -collection of cell bodies in the PNS-2 types- spinal
ganglia and autonomic ganglia
• Spinal ganglia contain cell bodies of sensory neurons
• Autonomic ganglia -2 types sympathetic and parasympathetic
ganglia
• These contain cell bodies of post-ganglionic motor neurons
Regeneration of nerve tissue
• damaged nerve cells of the CNS are replaced by
proliferating glial cells- to form a glial scar
• Wallerian degeneration follows peripheral nerve injury
with chromatolysis of the cell body components
• Regeneration involves proliferation of schwaan cells
followed by regeneration of the axon (rate of 1-5mm a
day)
• If nerve supply to a muscle is cut off, the muscle
atrophies due to disuse.
• Cancers of nerve tissue maybe gliomas or are derived
from the neurons- neuromas ( common in children)
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NERVOUS TISSUE AND GANGLIA

• Nucleus (pl. nuclei) is a collection of cell bodies in the CNS.

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