CHAPTER
9: NERVE TISSUE AND NERVOUS SYSTEM ALLESOR | 3B7
Nervous System
Ø Formed by a network of many billion nerve cells
(neurons), all assisted by many more supporting
cells (glial cells)
Ø Two major divisions:
1. Central Nervous System (CNS)
o Brain and spinal cord
2. Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)
o Cranial, spinal and peripheral
nerves conducting impulse to and
from the CNS (sensory and motor
nerves)
o Ganglia – small aggregates of
nerve cells outside the CNS
Ø Consists of:
1. Sensory division (afferent) – receiving
stimuli from receptor throughout the body
a) Somatic
v Sensory input perceived
consciously
v From eyes, ear, skin,
musculoskeletal
structures
b) Visceral
v Sensory input not
perceived consciously
v From internal organs and
cardiovascular structures
2. Motor division (efferent) – sending
impulses to effector organs (muscle fibers
and glands)
a) Somatic
v Motor output controlled
consciously or voluntarily
v Ex. Skeletal muscle
effectors
b) Autonomic
v Motor output not
controlled consciously
v Ex. Heart and gland
effectors
Ø Autonomic nervous system (ANS)
Neurulation
§ Component are located in the wall of the
digestive tract (enteric nervous system)
§ Involves two neurons:
1) Preganglionic neuron – with the
cell body in the CNS
2) Postganglionic neuron – with the
cell body in a ganglion
§ Two divisions:
1) Parasympathetic division
ü With its ganglia within or
near the effector organs
ü Maintains normal body
homeostasis
2) Sympathetic division
ü Has its ganglia close to
the CNS
ü Controls the body’s
responses during
emergencies and
excitement
Ø Neurons – have numerous long processes
Ø Glial cells
§ Have short processes
§ Support and protect neurons
§ Participate in many neural activities,
neural nutrition and defense of cells in the
CNS
Ø Neurons respond to environmental changes
(stimuli) by altering the ionic gradient that exists
across their plasma membrane
Ø Electrical potential – all cells maintain such a
gradient
Ø Excitable or irritable – cells that rapidly change the
potential in response to stimuli
Ø Membrane depolarization – neurons react promptly
to stimuli with a reversal of the ionic gradient
Ø Action potential, depolarization wave or nerve
impulse – capable of traveling long distances along
neuronal processes
Development of nerve tissue
CHAPTER 9: NERVE TISSUE AND NERVOUS SYSTEM ALLESOR | 3B7

Ø Process by which the cells of the CNS and PNS are
produced
Ø Neurons according to the number of processes
Neural plate extending from the cell body:
1. Multipolar neurons
Ø Forms when ectoderm on the mid-dorsal side of the o Each with one axon and two or
embryo thicken with signals from the notochord more dendrites
Neural tube o Most common
2. Bipolar neurons
Ø Cells give rise to the entire CNS, including neurons o One dendrite and one axon
and most glial cells o Comprise the sensory neurons of
the retina, olfactory epithelium
Neural crest
and inner ear
Ø Developmentally important cells 3. Unipolar (pseudounipolar) neurons
Ø Separates from the neuroepithelium and become o Include all other sensory neurons
mesenchymal o Have a single process that
Ø Cells migrate extensively and differentiate as the bifurcates close to the perikaryon,
cells of the PNS with the longer branch extending
to a peripheral ending and the
Neurons other toward the CNS
4. Anaxonic neurons
Ø Functional unit of the CNS and PNS
o Many dendrites but no true axon
Ø Neurolemma – cell membrane
o Do not produce action potentials
Ø Three main parts:
o Regulate electrical changes of
1. Cell body (Perikaryon/Soma)
adjacent CNS neurons
o Contains the nucleus and most of
the cell’s organelles
o Serve as the synthetic or trophic
center for the entire neuron
2. Dendrites
o Numerous elongated processes
extending from the Perikaryon
o Specialize to receive stimuli from
the other neurons at synapses
3. Axon
o Single long process ending at
synapses specialized to generate
and conduct nerve impulses to Ø Interneurons
other cells § Forms complex functional networks or
o Receive information from other circuits in the CNS
neurons § Either multipolar or anaxonic
§ 99% of all neurons in adults
Ø In CNS, neuronal perikarya occur in the gray
matter, with their axon concentrated in the white
matter
Ø In PNS, cell bodies are found in ganglia and in
some sensory regions and axons are bundled in
nerves
Ø Parkinson disease
§ Slowly progressing disorder affecting
muscular activity
§ Caused by gradual loss by apoptosis of
dopamine-producing neurons
§ Treated with L-dopa, a precursor of
dopamine
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Cell body (Perikaryon or Soma) Nerve impulses (action potential)

Ø Contains the nucleus and surrounding cytoplasm Ø An electrochemical process initiated at the axon
Ø Acts as a trophic center hillock when other impulses received at the cell
Ø Cytoplasm often contains numerous free body or dendrites meet at a certain threshold
polyribosomes and highly developed RER Ø Propagated along the axon as a wave of membrane
Ø Chromatophilic substance (Nissl substance, Nissl depolarization produced by voltage-gated Na+ and
bodies) – regions with concentrated RER and other K+ channels in the axolemma
polysomes are basophilic Ø Resting potential – a potential electrical difference
Ø Golgi apparatus: only in the cell body across the axolemma of about -65 mV, with the
Ø Mitochondria: throughout the cell; abundant in the inside negative to the outside
axon terminals
Ø Neurofilaments Synaptic Communication
§ Intermediate filaments Ø Synapses – sites where nerve impulses are
§ Also referred as neurofibrils by light transmitted from one neuron to another, or from
microscopists neuron and other effector cells
Dendrites

Ø Short, small processes emerging and branching off

the soma
Ø Principal signal reception and processing sites of
neurons
Ø Dendritic spines
§ Dynamic membrane protrusions along the
small dendritic branches
§ Initial processing sites for synaptic signals
§ Depends on actin filaments
Ø Neural plasticity – occurs during embryonic brain
Ø Neurotransmitter – small molecules that bind
development and underlies adaptation, learning
specific receptor proteins to either open or close ion
and memory postnatally
channels or initiate second-messenger cascades
Axon Ø Components of synapse:
1. Presynaptic axon terminal (terminal
Ø Longer than dendrites bouton) – contains mitochondria and
Ø Axolemma numerous synaptic vesicles from which
§ Plasma membrane of the axon neurotransmitter is released by exocytosis
§ Has concentrated ion channels which 2. Postsynaptic cell membrane – contains
generate the action potential receptors for the neurotransmitter, and ion
Ø Axoplasm – contains mitochondria, microtubules, channels
neurofilaments, and transport vesicles 3. Synaptic cleft – 20 to 30 nm wide
Ø Axon hillock – a pyramid-shaped region of the intercellular space that separates
perikaryon where axons originate presynaptic and postsynaptic membranes
Ø Terminal arborization – multiple branching at the Ø Excitatory synapses – neurotransmitters cause
end of the axon postsynaptic Na+ channels to open, and resulting
Ø Collaterals – major branches that end at smaller Na+ influx initiates a depolarization wave in the
branches with synapses postsynaptic neuron or effector cell
Ø Terminal bouton – small axonal branch ends with a Ø Inhibitory synapses – neurotransmitters open Cl- or
dilation other anion channels, causing influx of ions and
Ø Anterograde transport – organelles and hyperpolarization of the postsynaptic cell. Making
macromolecules; via kinesin from the perikaryon to its membrane potential more negative and more
the synaptic terminals resistant to depolarization
Ø Retrograde transport – macromolecules such as
material taken up by endocytosis; opposite
direction via dynein
CHAPTER 9: NERVE TISSUE AND NERVOUS SYSTEM ALLESOR | 3B7
Ø Acetylcholine – chemical transmitter used at
neuromuscular junction and some synapses of CNS
Ø Other major categories of neurotransmitters:
1. Amino acids – glutamate and
aminobutyrate (GABA)
2. Monoamines – serotonin and
catecholamines such as dopamine, all of
which are synthesized from amino acids
3. Polypeptides – endorphins and substance
P capillaries
Ø Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) –
widely used class of drugs for treatment of
depression and anxiety disorders
Glial cells and neuronal activity
Glial cells
Ø Support neuronal survival and activities
Ø Ten time more abundant than neurons
mammalian brain
Ø Develop from progenitor cells of the embryonic
neural plate
Ø In CNS: surrounds both the neuronal cell bodies
and the processes of axons and dendrites occupying
the spaces between neurons
Ø Neuropil – network of fine cellular processes
emerging from neurons and glial cells
Ø Has six major kinds, four in the CNS and two in
PNS
Oligodendrocytes
-
Ø Origin: Neural tube
Ø Location: CNS
Ø Function:
1. Myelinates and insulates CNS axons
2. Allows faster action potential propagation
along axons in the CNS
Astrocyte
Ø Origin: Neural tube
Ø Location: CNS
Ø Functions:
1. Helps form the blood-brain barrier
2. Regulates interstitial fluid composition
3. Provides structural support and
organization to the CNS
4. Assists with neuronal development
5. Replicates to occupy space of dying
neurons
Ø Proximal regions of the astrocytic processes are
reinforced with bundles of intermediate filaments
made of glial fibrillary acid protein (GFAP), which
serves as a unique marker for astrocyte
Ø Fibrous astrocyte – with long delicate processes;
abundant in white matter
Ø Protoplasmic astrocytes – with shorter processes
Ø Astrocytomas – brain tumor; derived from fibrous
astrocytes
Ø Perivascular feet – cover capillary endothelial cells
and modulate blood flow and help move nutrients,
wastes, and other metabolites between neurons and
Ø Glial limiting membrane – a barrier layer of
expanded protoplasmic processes which lines
meninges at the external CNS surface
Ø Astrocytic scar – forms when tissue defects are
filled after CNS injury
Ø Alzheimer disease
§ Common type of dementia in the elderly,
affects both neuronal perikarya and
in synapses within the cerebrum
§ Neurofibrillary tangles - accumulations of
tau protein associated with microtubules
CHAPTER 9: NERVE TISSUE AND NERVOUS SYSTEM ALLESOR | 3B7

of the neuronal perikaryon and axon Central Nervous System
hillock
§ Neuritic plaques – dense aggregates of - Central Nervous System
amyloid protein that form around the Ø Cerebrum, cerebellum, spinal cord
outside of neuronal regions Ø Covered by meninges (connective tissue layers)
Ø Contains very little collagen
Ependymal cell
Ø White matter
Ø Columnar or cuboidal § Myelinated axons (tracts) and myelin-
Ø No basal lamina producing oligodendrocytes
Ø Origin: Neural tube § Few neuronal cell bodies
Ø Location: Line ventricles and central canal of CNS § Found in deeper regions
Ø Function: Ø Gray matter
1. Lines ventricles of brain and central canal § Abundant neuronal cell bodies, dendrites,
of spinal cord astrocytes and microglial cells
2. Assists in production and circulation of § Most synapses occur
CSF § Makes up the thick cortex or surface layer
of cerebrum and cerebellum
Microglia Ø Cerebral nuclei – variously shaped darker areas in
Ø Origin: Bone marrow (monocytes) the brain; contains large numbers of aggregated
Ø Location: CNS neuronal cell bodies
Ø Function: Ø Pyramidal neurons – most conspicuous layer of
1. Phagocytic cells that move through the neuron
CNS Ø Cerebellar cortex – coordinates muscular activity
2. Protects the CNS by engulfing infectious throughout the body
agents and other potential harmful 1. Molecular layer
substances o Thick outer
Ø Multiple sclerosis (MS) – myelin sheaths o Much neuropil and scattered
surrounding axons are damaged by an autoimmune neuronal cell bodies
mechanism that interferes with the activity of the 2. Middle layer
affected neurons and produces various problems o Consists only of Purkinje cells
(very large neurons)
Schwann cell (neurolemmocytes) 3. Granular layer
o Contains various very small,
Ø Counterpart of oligodendrocytes
densely packed neurons and little
Ø Forms myelin around a portion of only one axon
neuropil
Ø Origin: Neural crest
Ø Spinal cord
Ø Location: Peripheral nerves
§ Anterior horns – contain cell bodies of very
Ø Function:
large motor neurons whose axons make up
1. Surround and insulate PNS axons and
the ventral roots of spinal nerves
myelinate those having large diameters
§ Posterior horns – contain interneurons
2. Allows for faster action potential
which receive sensory fibers from neuron
propagation along an axon in the PNS
in the spinal ganglia
Satellite cells § Central canal – develops from the lumen of
the neural tube; continuous with the
Ø Origin: Neural crest ventricles of the brain; lined by ependymal
Ø Location: Peripheral ganglia cells and contain CSF
Ø Function:
1. Electrically insulates PNS cell bodies Meninges
2. Regulates nutrient and waste exchange for
Ø Connective tissues between the bone and nervous
cell bodies in ganglia
tissue
Ø Dura mater
§ Thick external
CHAPTER 9: NERVE TISSUE AND NERVOUS SYSTEM ALLESOR | 3B7
§ Outer: periosteal layer continuous with the
periosteum of the skull
§ Inner: Meningeal layer
§ Dural venous sinuses – blood-filled; form
when outer and inner layer separate
§ Epidural space – separates dura mater
from the periosteum of the vertebrae;
contains a plexus of thin-walled veins and
loose connective tissue
§ Subdural space – dura mater separated
from the arachnoid
Ø Arachnoid
§ Two components:
1) Sheet of connective tissue
(avascular) in contact with dura
mater
2) System of loosely arranged
trabeculae composed of collagen
and fibroblast, continuous with
pia mater
§ Subarachnoid space – large, sponge-like
cavity filled wit CSF that surrounds
trabeculae
§ Pia-arachnoid – arachnoid and pia mater
§ Arachnoid villi – CSF-filled protrusions
which are covered by the vascular
endothelial cells lining the sinuses; sites
for absorption of CSF into the blood of the
venous sinuses
Ø Pia Mater
§ Innermost, consists of flattened,
mesenchymally derived cells
§ Does not directly contact nerve cells or
fibers
§ Glial limiting membrane/ glia limitans –
thin superficial layer of astrocytic
processes that separates pia mater from
the neural elements
§ Perivascular space – where blood vessels
can penetrate CNS tissue
Blood-Brain Barrier
Ø Allows much tighter control than that in most
tissue over the passage of substances moving from
blood into the CNS tissue
Ø Capillary endothelium – cells are tightly sealed
together w/ well-developed occluding junctions, w/
little or no Transcytosis activity; surrounded by the
basement membrane
Ø Limiting layer of perivascular astrocytic feet –
envelops the basement membrane of capillaries in
most CNS regions
Ø Protects neurons and glia from bacterial toxins,
infectious agents
Ø Helps maintain stable composition and constant
balance of ions
Choroid Plexus
Ø Consists highly of vascular tissues, elaborately
folded and projecting into the large ventricles of the
brain
Ø Found in roofs of 3rd and 4th ventricles
Ø Remove water from blood and release it as the CSF
Ø CSF – clear, contains Na+, K+ and Cl- ions; only
cells are normally very sparse lymphocytes
Ø Hydrocephalus – a decrease in the absorption of
CSF or blockage of outflow from ventricles during
fetal or postnatal development
Peripheral Nervous System
PNS
Ø Nerves, ganglia and nerve endings
Ø Nerves – bundles of nerve fibers (axons)
surrounded by Schwann cells and layers of
connective tissues
Nerve fibers
Ø Containing axons enclosed within sheaths of glial
cells specialized to facilitate axonal function
Ø Peripheral nerve fiber: axons are sheathed by
Schwann cells (neurolemmocytes)
Myelinated fibers
Ø Axons that are engulfed by a series of
differentiating neurolemmocytes
Ø Mesaxon – where plasma membrane of each
covering Schwan cells fuses with itself
Ø Multiple layers of Schwann cell membrane unite as
a thick myelin sheath
Ø Myelin – composed mainly of lipid bilayers and
membrane proteins; large lipoprotein complex
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Ø Major dense lines – represent the fused, protein-
rick cytoplasmic surfaces of the Schwann cell
membrane
Ø Myelin clefts – major dense lines temporarily
disappear
Ø Nodes of Ranvier (Nodal gaps)
§ Axon is only partially covered by
interdigitating Schwann cell processes
§ Produce salutatory conduction
Ø Internodal segment – length of axon ensheathed by
one Schwann cell
Unmyelinated fibers
Ø Glial cells does not form the multiple wrapping of
myelin sheath
Ø Schwann cells can enclose portions of many axons
with small diameters
Nerve Organization
Ø Nerves have a whitish, glistening appearance
because of their myelin and collagen content
Ø Endoneurium – a thin layer around the external
lamina of the Schwann cell; consisting of reticular
fibers, scattered fibroblasts and capillaries
Ø Fascicles – grouped of axons with Schwann cells
and Endoneurium; bundled by perineurium
Ø Blood-nerve barrier – helps maintain the fibers’
microenvironment
Ø Epineurium – dense, irregular fibrous coat of
peripheral nerves
Ø Afferent – carry information from internal body
regions and the environment to the CNS
Ø Efferent – carry impulses from the CNS to effector
organs commanded by these centers
Ø Sensory nerves – nerves possessing only sensory
fibers
Ø Motor nerves – nerves composed only of fibers
carrying impulses to the effectors
Ø Mixed nerves – both sensory and motor fibers
endings to the gray matter of the spinal
cord
Ø Autonomic Ganglion
§ Effect the activity of smooth muscle,
secretion of some glands, heart rate and
many other involuntary activities which
the body maintains a homeostasis
§ Small bulbous dilation in autonomic
nerves
§ Neurons: Multipolar
§ Intramural ganglia – in the walls of
digestive tracts
§ Uses two-neuron circuits
1) Preganglionic fiber – located in
CNS
2) Postganglionic fiber – located in a
peripheral ganglion system
§ Acetylcholine – chemical mediator present
in the synaptic vesicles of all preganglionic
axons
Neural plasticity and regeneration
Neural plasticity
Ø Controlled by several growth factors produced both
by neurons and glial cells in a family of proteins
called neurotrophins
Ø Chromatolysis – cell body swells slightly
Ø Neuroma – swelling of the newly growing axons

Ganglia

Ø Ovoid structures containing neuronal cell bodies

Ø Serve as relay stations to transmit nerve impulses
Ø At least one nerve enters and another exits from
each ganglion
Ø Sensory Ganglion
§ Receive afferent impulses that go to the
CNS
§ Cranial nerves and the dorsal roots of the
spinal nerves
§ Neurons: pseudounipolar and relay
information from the ganglion’s nerve