Foundations of Medicine

Question 1

What is the nervous system?

Answer 1

a complex communication network that detects and responds to internal and external changes

Question 2

What are the 2 structural divisions of the nervous system?

Answer 2

central - CNS consists of brain and spinal cord
peripheral - PNS is all other nerves

Question 3

What is the afferent division of the nervous system?

Answer 3

this is the sensory division, that conveys impulses towards the CNS

Question 4

What is the efferent division of the nervous system?

Answer 4

this is the motor division, that carries impulses from the CNS to organs, muscles and glands

Question 5

What is the somatic nervous system?

Answer 5

allows voluntary movements and skeletal muscle reflexes

Question 6

What is the autonomic nervous system?

Answer 6

regulates events that are involuntary e.g., smooth muscle and cardiac muscle activity

Question 7

What are the two divisions of the autonomic nervous system?

Answer 7

sympathetic - ‘fight/flight’
parasympathetic - ‘rest/digest’

Question 8

What 2 main cell types make up the nervous system?

Answer 8

neurons - functional unit for signal transmission

glial cells - supportive and protective cells

Question 9

Compare the structure of motor and sensory neurons

Answer 9

motor neurons have longer axons, shorter dendrites and are multipolar

sensory neurons have shorter axons, are unipolar and have the cell body in the middle of the axon. Their dendrites can be very long!