Peripheral Nervous System Flashcards
3 Components of PNS
- Cranial Nerves
- Spinal Nerves
- Ganglia
Where is gray matter in the PNS?
in the ganglia
(dorsal root and autonomic)
Where is white matter in the PNS?
in cranial and spinal nerves
What makes a nerve an organ?
it contains different types of tissue
nervous tissue wrapped in layers of of connective tissue and containing blood vessels lined with epithelial tissue
Schwann cells
- cells that surround PNS axons and myelinate them
mixed nerves
nerves containing both sensory and motor axons
nerve fiber
a long axon
nerve
a collection of nerve fibers (axons) bundled into fascicles, all surrounded by epineurium (tough fibrous CT sheath)
Cranial Nerves
- 12 nerves numbered I-XII (rostral to caudal)
- attach to brain, pass through foramina of skull and innervate head and neck structures (except vagus)
- contain both sensory and motor nerve fibers
Which cranial nerves attach to the forebrain?
I (Olfactory) and II (Optic)
Which cranial nerves attach to the brain stem?
III-XII (all but optic and olfactory)
Sensory Neurons of Cranial Nerves
- cell bodies within receptor organs (nose, eye, tongue)
- cranial sensory ganglia along some cranial nerves external to brain
Motor Neurons of Cranial Nerves
- cell bodies in nuclei of brain stem
cranial nerve classification
- Sensory
- Motor
- Mixed
Cranial Nerve I
Olfactory Nerve
- Sensory nerve of smell

structures on inferior side of frontal lobes supported by cribriform plate of ethmoid bone which leads to nerve filaments that sense smell
bundles of axons connecting olfactory bulbs to brain
olfactory tracts
Cranial Nerve II
Optic Nerve
- sensory nerve of vision
crossing of highlighted structures

optic chiasm
- crossing of optic nerves directly inferior to the hypothalamus
2

optic tract
- continuation of optic nerve from optic chiasm to the thalamus
Cranial Nerve III
Oculomotor Nerve
- motor neurons
- innervates 4 extrinsic eye muscles
Cranial Nerve IV
Trochlear Nerve
- motor nerve
- innervates one extrinsic eye muscle (superior oblique)
Cranial Nerve V
Trigeminal Nerve
- mixed nerve
- sensory innervation to face, chewing muscles
Cranial Nerve VI
Abducens Nerve
- motor nerve
- abducts the eyeball (via lateral rectus muscle)









