The Nervous System
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Transcript The Nervous System
The Nervous System
BY LYDIA CHANG, LAUREN LEE, AND DIANA ZHENG
Evolution of the Nervous System
Porifera: no nervous system
Cnidaria: nerve net all throughout body—can react to stimuli from all
sides
Platyhelminthes: cephalization; ganglia, eyespots, two main ventral
nerve cords
Rhynchocoela: dorsal nerve cord, two lateral nerve cords
Nematoda: ring of nervous tissue around pharynx attached to dorsal and
ventral nerve cords
Annelida: pair of brain-like cerebral ganglia and subpharyngeal ganglion
Mollusca: ranges from simple nervous system to relatively complex
systems that rival those of mammals
Arthropoda: cerebral ganglion (brain!); sense organs concentrated on
head
Echinodermata: decentralized nervous; no brain but have ganglia along
radial nerves in some species; sensory neurons within podia
Evolution of the Nervous System
Vertebrates: very centralized and cephalized; well-developed
sensory organs; dorsal, hollow nerve cord (spinal cord)
Lampreys and hagfishes: no myelin sheath
Fish: enlarged cerebellum
Amphibians: growing importance of forebrain, but midbrain
still important
Reptiles/Birds: many connections between thalamus and
hemispheres
Birds: larger cerebellum
Mammals: brain completely dominated by cerebral
hemispheres; large surface area; controlled mainly by cortex;
large thalamus
The Human Nervous System
Brain: about 2% human body mass
Neocortex: outer layer of brain
Human cerebral cortex (aka pallium): flat sheets of cells in six
layers
Frontal lobe: reasoning, speech, motor cortex
Parietal lobe: speech, taste, reading, somatosensory cortex
Temporal lobe: hearing, smell, auditory
Occipital lobe: sight
Cerebellum: ballistic movements, balance, coordination, helps
in learning and remembering motor skills
From “Vertebrate Nervous System”
The Brain, cont’d
Diencephalon: major integrating centers information, act as
relay stations for info flow
Thalamus: main relay center for sensory information
Hypothalamus: maintains homeostasis
Brain stem: includes the pons, medulla oblongata
transfers info between peripheral and central nervous systems
helps coordinate large-scale body movements (e.g. running)
nerve crossing: right side of brain controls left side of body and
vice versa
Midbrain/RAS (reticular activating system): centers for
receiving and integrating several types of sensory info
Corpus callosum: connects brain hemispheres
From Wikipedia
Evolutionary Trends
More complex!
This system is necessary for complexity and sophisticated
behaviors/responses to environment
Increases chance of survival: more complex NS = more
complicated nerve connections, behaviors, movements
The nervous system controls all other body systems!!
Except maybe skeletal
Neurons
Neurons
Sensory neurons
Interneurons
Motor neurons
How Neurons work
Resting potential: negative relative to the outside
Sodium-potassium pumps in the plasma membrane
Transport sodium out of the cell and potassium into it
Very few sodium channels
Net negative charge inside cell
Action Potential
Depolarization
Rising phase of the action potential
Falling phase of the action potential
Undershoot: Potassium channels close to bring it
back to the concentration needed to be at resting
potential
refractory period
Conduction of the Action Potential
Action potential: a “wave” from dendrite to axon
Speed is determined by axon diameter
Evolutionary trend: Because vertebrate axons have
narrow diameters, vertebrates have adapted the
myelin sheath to enable more efficient conduction
Nodes of Ranvier (nodes between gaps in myelin
sheath) allows for saltatory conduction
current jumps from node to node
Synapses
Electrical synapses: contain gap junctions to allow
electrical currents to flow from one neuron to
another
Chemical synapses (most synapses):
neurotransmitter
Examples of neurotransmitters: acetylcholine, biogenic
amines (serotonin)
Disorders and Diseases
Cerebrovascular accident (stroke)
Parkinson's disease:
decreased stimulation of the motor cortex by the basal
ganglia caused by the insufficient formation and action of
dopamine
Multiple sclerosis: immune system damages the
myelin
When myelin is lost, the axons can no longer effectively
conduct signals
Works Cited and Consulted
AP Bio book
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/nsdivide.html
http://parasitology.informatik.uni
wuerzburg.de/login/n/h/0941.html
http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/V/vertebrat
e_nervous_system.html
http://infusion.allconet.org/webquest/PhylumMollusca.
html
http://www.mindcreators.com/Images/NB_Neuron.gif
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Neurons_big1.jpg