Transcript Above: my sister and her daughter in 2009. Right

BBio 351 – December 1, 2015
Outline for today
• Neural circuits compute things! (2015-11-19 slides)
• Computation by individual post-synaptic neurons
• Computation by neural circuits
• Organization of nervous systems (these slides)
• Communication between PNS & CNS
• Spinal cord anatomy & organization
• Brain anatomy & organization
3 functional classes of neurons
Sherwood Figure 5-6
Organization of the vertebrate nervous system
Sherwood Figure 5-5
How does “fight or flight” map onto this diagram?
Sherwood Figure 5-5
PNS to CNS: the 12 cranial nerves
E.N. Marieb et al.,
Human Anatomy & Physiology Laboratory Manual
Spinal cord: protected by vertebrae
Sherwood Figure 5-16
Diagnose Dr. C’s sister!
Above: my sister and her daughter in 2009.
Right: spinal x-ray of someone with a more
severe case of her problem (from
Wikipedia).
Starting in about 2004, my sister began having increasing trouble with her
lower back. Every so often, routine movements like getting a vacuum
cleaner out of a closet would leave her in intense pain and essentially
unable to walk until given an epidural anaesthetic. Physical therapy was
prescribed to strengthen her core and make her back more limber (with
Pilates-like stretches), but months of this did not improve her situation.
• What do you think her problem was?
• How do you think she solved it?
• Do you think this solution resulted in any negative “side effects”?
Spinal cord anatomy: more details
• gray matter vs. white matter
• afferent neurons vs. efferent neurons
Sherwood Figure 5-17
White matter is organized into tracts
to/from the brain
Figure: Wikipedia
Ascending and
descending pathways
Sherwood Figure 5-18
Overview of human/mammal brain
Sherwood Table 5-6
How have we discovered the functions of
particular brain parts?
The rest of this course . . .