Division of the Nervous System

DIVISION OF
THE NERVOUS
SYSTEM

CENTRAL PERIPHERAL
NERVOUS NERVOUS
SYSTEM SYSTEM

Spinal
Brain Sensory Motor
Cord

Autonomic Somatic

Sympathetic Parasympathetic

Central Nervous System

CNS helps provide complex reflexes and higher associative functions, including
learning and memory.
Brain
The average adult human brain weighs 1.3 to 1.4 kg (approximately 3 pounds).
The brain contains about 100 billion nerve cells (neurons) and trillions of "support
cells" called glia. It sorts out all the sensory information that our nerves gather and
give orders.
Spinal Cord
The spinal cord is about 43 cm long in adult women and 45 cm long in adult men
and weighs about 35-40 grams. It conducts two way signals between your brain
and the rest of your body.

Peripheral Nervous System

The peripheral nervous system is made up of the nerve fibers that branch off from
the spinal cord and extend to all parts of the body, including the neck and arms,
torso, legs, skeletal muscles and internal organs.

 Consist of 31 pairs of Spinal Nerves and 12 pairs Cranial Nerves

2 Types of Neurons

Sensory Neurons (Afferent)-running from stimulus receptors that inform the CNS of
the stimuli.

 Transmit messages towards the Central Nervous System to be interpreted by

the brain or the spinal cord.

Motor Neurons (Efferent) -running from the CNS to the muscles and glands -
called effectors – to perform a function or reflex.

 Transmit messages away from the Central Nervous System to other areas of the
body.

Somatic

 Controls voluntary responses

 Innervate skeletal muscles

Autonomic

 Controls voluntary movement

 Innervate cardiac muscle, smoothe muscle and glands.
 Controls vital functions such as heart rate, digestion, respiration and breathing.
Sympathetic

The sympathetic system is activated during a “fight or flight” situation in which

great mental stress or physical danger is encountered. Neurotransmitters such
as norepinephrine, and epinephrine are released,which increases heart rate and
blood flow in certain areas like muscle, while simultaneously decreasing
activities of non-critical functions for survival, like digestion. The systems are
independent to each other, which allows activation of certain parts of the body,
while others remain rested.

Parasympathetic

Primarily using the neurotransmitter acetylcholine (ACh) as a mediator,

the parasympathetic system allows the body to function in a “rest and digest”
state. Consequently, when the parasympathetic system dominates the body,
there are increases in salivation and activities in digestion, while heart rate and
other sympathetic response decrease. Unlike the sympathetic system, humans
have some voluntary controls in the parasympathetic system. The most
prominent examples of this control are urination and defecation.

The Reflex Arc

A reflex arc is a neural pathway that controls a reflex action.

In a reflex arc, an action potential never travels to the brain for processing and so results in a
much quicker reaction. When a stimulus (A) is encountered, the signal from that stimulus
will travel up the sensory neuron (B, in green) to the spinal column (C). There, it will likely
pass through a short interneuron (D, in purple) before continuing down a motor neuron (E, in
blue) to the origin of the signal. Then, a contraction of the muscles (F, in red) is triggered,
moving the bone (G).