Human Nervous system

• what are the functions of the brain?

  • learning
  • coordinating the body
  • processing information from external stimuli
• what do the nerves do?

  • send electrical impulses around the body
  • they receive information from receptors and send instructions out to effectors
• what is the central nervous system(CNS)made up of?

  • the brain and spinal cord
  • acts as a coordinator for the rest of the nervous system
• difference between spine and spinal cord?

  • spine - made up of bones called vertebrae and is part of the skeletal system
  • spinal cord - a ribbon of nerves that runs through these bones and is part of the CNS
  • these are NOT the SAME
• what is the peripheral nervous system made up of?

  • the nerves with sensory and motor neurones bundled into nerves that stretch to all parts of the body, receiving signals and sending signals from the central nervous system
• what are the nerves?

  • the nerves of the nervous system are made up of bundles of specialised cells called neurones
• what are neurones?

  • the individual specialised cells that make up the nervous system
  • approximately 100 billion neurones in the human body
• what's the structure of a motor neurone?

  • cell body - contains most cellular structures
  • dendrites - form connections with many other neurones
  • axon - long fibre of the neurone and ends in the axon terminal which is highly branched to form connections with other neurones at the nerve ending
• what is the pathway of electrical impulses?

  • stimulus - detected by receptor
  • sensory neurone - impulses sent along sensory neurone, then relay neurone, then motor neurone
  • relay neurone
  • motor neurone
  • response - impulses received by effector(in this case, muscle fibres are made to contract by nerve signals from motor neurone)