NERVOUS SYSTEM OUTLINE
To be successful on your test for this unit, you will need to know and understand the following. Please
email me, come by before school, or during advisory if you need help or explanations!!
1. Know the functions of the nervous system and how each function is carried out (what organs / cells are
involved): sensory input  Integration  Motor Output
2. Know how the nervous system is organized and the roles of each (autonomic, somatic, central,
peripheral) fig. 7.2 is a good review.
3. Know afferent vs. efferent pathways / neurons.
4. Identify supporting cells of a neuron (neuroglia), their function, and be able to label them on an image
(oligodendrocyte, astrocyte, microglial cells, Schwann cells, ependymal cells, & satellite cells)
5.
Describe a neuron – be able to label a picture of a neuron and know all functions of each structure
(axon, dendrite, nodes of ranvier, cell body, chromatophilic (“nissl”) substance, myelin sheath, nucleus,
axon terminal, neurofibrils, synaptic cleft, synapse . . . )
6. Define neurotransmitter, list examples of neurotransmitters
7. Distinguish between white matter and gray matter.
8.
Describe the events in a nerve impulse. What is an action potential? What ions are necessary? What is
a threshold? Depolarization vs. Polarized vs. Repolarized? How does this occur? Fig. 7.9 is a good
overview for review.
9.
What happens at the synapse of neuron? Fig. 7.10
10. Know how to classify neurons based on function and/or structure. P. 208-211.
11. Describe the 3 types of neurons: multipolar, bipolar, unipolar. Know how to classify from Figure 7.8.
12. What is a reflex? How does a reflex arc work? Know 2 neuron vs 3 neuron reflexes – fig. 7.11
13. What is the difference between a gyri, a sulcus, and a fissure?
14. Distinguish between ascending tracts and descending tracts of the spinal cord. (sensory vs motor)
15. Know how the CNS of our bodies first appears (p. 215).
16. Know the layers of the meninges: Dura mater, arachnoid mater, pia mater
17. What connects the two hemispheres of the brain?
18. Be able to label the regions brain on an image, also know what each area of the brain is responsible for:
cerebrum, diencephalon, cerebellum, & brain stem.
19. Know the lobes of the brain, where each is located, & their function.
20. Label a picture of the brain stem & know their functions (diencephalon, thalamus, hypothalamus, pons,
medulla oblongata, midbrain, optic chiasma, pituitary gland, choroid plexus)
21. Know what the limbic system is and the major structures that control it.
22. Know the function of cerebrospinal fluid and what structures make it.
23. Know the importance of the blood-brain barrier & what can enter through it.
24. Be familiar with the following CNS degenerative diseases: Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, & Huntington’s.
P. 224-225.
25. Know the following brain dysfunctions: concussion, contusion, cerebral edema, & Cerebrovascular
Accident (CVA)).
26. Know the functions of sympathetic and parasympathetic divisions. P. 240