The nervous system

A stimulus is a change in the environment that causes an organism to react.

The reaction of an organism is called a response.

Sensitivity or irritability is the ability of an organism to respond to a stimulus.

Activities such as the heartbeat, peristalsis, and breathing movements are automatic
and are not controlled consciously. This are called involuntary actions.

Activities which are controlled consciously are known as voluntary actions.

The human nervous system

Components
• Central nervous system (CNS) consisting of the brain and the spinal cord
• Peripheral nervous system (PNS) consisting of the cranial nerves (from the brain), the
spinal nerves (from the spinal cord and sense organs)

Processing of information by the nervous system:

① Information is first gathered by receptors
② Information gathered by receptors is converted into electrical signals called nerve
impulses
③ Nerve impulses are transmitted by peripheral nerves to central nervous system
④ Brain interprets the pattern of nerve impulses and ‘decides’ course of action
⑤ Brain initiates nerve impulses that are transmitted to effectors
⑥ Effectors carry out intended actions

Nervous tissue
Sensory neurons or the receptor
transmit nerve impulses from the sense
organs or receptors to the CNS.

Motor neurons or the effector transmit

nerve impulses from the CNS to the
effectors.

Relay neurons transmit nerve impulses

from the sensory neurons to the motor
neurons.

Motor neuron
Parts
• Dendron
- Nerve fibres that transmit nerves
impulses towards the cell body
- The end branches of the dendrons
are called dendrites
- The dendrites receive nerve
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 impulses from other neurons
• Cell body
• Axon
- Nerve fibres that transmit nerve impulses away from the cell body
• Myelin sheath
- Layer of fatty substances enclosing many nerve fibres
- Insulates the axons
• Neurilemma
• Node of Ranvier
- Allows nerve impulses to jump from node to node, speeding up the transmission
of nerve impulses
• Dendrites of an axon
• Motor end plate

Sensory neuron
Circular cell body with only one long dendron and a short axon.

Synapse
A junction between two neurons or a junction between a neuron and an effector such
as a muscle or a gland.

At a synapse, impulses are transmitted from the axon of one neuron to the dendron of
another neuron across a tiny space.

Motor end plate

Formed where the end branch of an axon comes into contact with the muscle fibre.

Nerve impulses are transmitted across the motor end plate by chemicals which
stimulate the muscle.

Nerves
May contain only sensory nerve fibres (which conduct nerve impulses from sense
organs), only motor nerve fibres (which conduct nerve impulses to effectors), or
mixed fibres (both sensory and motor).

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Grey matter and white matter

White matter consists mainly of nerve fibres.

Grey matter consists mainly of cell bodies.

The brain has grey matter on the outside enclosing the white matter. The spinal cord
has white matter on the outside enclosing the grey matter.

Spinal cord and spinal nerves

The mammalian brain can be divided into the forebrain, the midbrain, and the
hindbrain.

The spinal cord transmits nerve impulses from the sensory neuron up to the brain and
the brain down to the motor neuron.

In the white matter, nerve impulses travel up and down the spinal cord.

Voluntary actions and reflex actions

A voluntary action is controlled by the will. It may or may not involve a receptor
neuron.

A reflex action is an immediate response to a specific stimulus without conscious

control.

Sequence of events in a reflex action

1) Receptors in skin - The heat on the object stimulates the nerve endings (receptors)
in your skin.
2) Sensory neuron - Nerve impulses are produced. The nerve impulses travel along
the sensory neuron to your spinal cord.
3) Spinal cord - The nerve impulses are transmitted first across a synapse to the relay
neuron, and then across another synapse to the motor neuron. At the same time,
nerve impulses are transmitted to the brain.
4) Motor neuron - Nerve impulses leave your spinal cord along the motor neuron to
the effector.

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5) Effector muscle contracts - The effector is your biceps muscle which then contracts.
The causes the sudden withdrawal of your hand.

The reflex arc

Consists of:
• A receptor or sense organ
• A sensory neuron
• A relay neuron in a reflex centre
• A motor neuron
• An effector

A reflex arc is the shortest pathway by which the nerve impulses travel from the
receptor to the effector in a reflex action.

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