Part 7 - Nervous System

• Nervous System


  • The most complicated and fragile system that tells all your other systems what to do
  • Carries messages to the brain
• Nervous System

  • Sensory - monitors internal & external environment through presence of receptors
  • Integration - interpretation of sensory information (information processing); complex (higher order) functions
  • Motor - response to information processed through stimulation of effectors (muscle contraction, glandular secretion)
• Nervous System


  Functions as the body's master control center, coordinating all the body's conscious and unconscious responses to environmental stimuli
• Anatomical Divisions of the Nervous System

  • Central nervous system (CNS) - Brain, Spinal cord
  • Peripheral nervous system (PNS) - All the neural tissue outside CNS, Afferent division (sensory input), Efferent division (motor output)
• Neural Cells

  • Neurons - For processing, transfer, and storage of information
  • Neuroglia - For support, regulation & protection of neurons
• Prefixes related to the Nervous System


  • ax/o - axon
  • dendr/o - dendrite
  • myelin/o - myelin
  • neur/o - nerve; nerve tissue
  • neuron/o - neuron
  • synapt/o - synapse
• Prefixes related to the Brain and Nervous System

  • cerebell/o - cerebellum
  • cerebr/o - cerebrum
  • corti/o - cortex
  • encephal/o - brain
  • gli/o - glia
  • hypothalam/o - hypothalamus
  • medull/o - medulla
  • mening/e - membranes; meninges
  • mesencephal/o - midbrain
  • myel/o - spinal cord
  • pont/o - pons
  • thalam/o - thalamus
  • thec/o - sheath; covering
  • ventricul/o - ventricle
• Prefixes related to the Nervous System

  • Ganglion/o - ganglion
  • parasympath/o - parasympathetic nervous system
  • sympath/o - sympathetic nervous system
• Suffixes related to the Nervous System

  • -algesia - sensitivity to pain
  • -algia - pain
  • asthenia - weakness
  • esthesia - feeling; sensation
  • -lepsy - seizure
  • -mentia - thinking
  • -mnesia - memory
  • -paresis - Partial paralysis
  • -plegia - paralysis
  • -somnia - sleep
• I - Olfactory

  II - Optic

  III - Oculomotor

  IV - Trochlear

  V - Trigeminal

  VI - Abducens

  VII - Facial

  VIII - Vestibulocochlear

  IX - Glossopharyngeal

  X - Vagus

  XI - Spinal Accessory

  XII - Hypoglossal
• Olfactory - smell
• Optic - vision
• Oculomotor - movement of eye muscles
• Trochlear - muscle of eyeball
• Trigeminal - sensory impulses from face; controls chewing muscles
• Abducens - controls muscle of the eyeball
• Facial - muscle of facial expression, salivary glands, and tear glands; some impulses for taste
• Vestibulocochlear - impulses for hearing and equilibrium; auditory or acoustic nerve
• Glossopharyngeal - sensory impulses from tongue and pharynx
• Vagus - supplies most organs of thorax and abdomen; controls digestive secretions
• Spinal Accessory - controls muscles of the neck
• Hypoglossal - muscles of the tongue
• neur/o, neur/i - nervous system, nervous tissue, nerve

  gli/o - neuroglia

  gangli/o, ganglion/o - ganglion

  mening/o, meninge/o - meninges

  myel/o - spinal cord or bone marrow

  radicul/o - root of a spinal nerve
• encephal/o - brain

  cerebr/o - cerebrum

  cortic/o - cerebral cortex

  cerebell/o - cerebellum

  thalam/o - thalamus

  ventricul/o - cavity, ventricle

  medull/o - medulla oblongata

  psych/o - mind

  narc/o - stupor, unconciousness

  somn/o, somn/i - sleep
• -phasia - speech

  -lalia - speech, babble

  -lexia - reading

  -plegia - paralysis

  -paresis - partial paralysis

  -lepsy - seizure

  -phobia - persistent, irrational fear

  -mania - excited state, obsession
• Alzheimer's Disease - form of dementia caused by atrophy of cerebral cortex
• Amyloid - a starchlike substance of unknown composition
• Aneurysm - a localized abnormal dilation of a blood vessel that results from weakness of the vessel wall
• Aphasia - loss or defect in speech communication
• Receptive aphasia - ability to understand speech
• Expressive aphasia - ability to produce speech
• Astrocytoma - a neurological tumor composed of astrocytes
• Cerebrovascular Accident (CVA) - sudden damage to the brain resulting from reduction of cerebral blood flow; stroke
• Concussion - injury from a violent blow or shock
• Contrecoup Injury - damage to the opposite side of the brain as a result of the brain hitting the skull
• Convulsion - series of violent, involuntary muscle contractions
• Tonic Convulsion - prolonged contraction of muscles
• Clonic Convulsion - alternation of contraction and relaxation
• Dementia - gradual and usually irreversible loss of intellectual function
• Embolism - obstruction of a blood vessel by a blood clot or other material carried in the circulation