Worksheet for Nervous Systems
Biology 100C
1. What are the three main functions of a nervous system?
2. What structures comprise the Central Nervous System (CNS)?
Motor output is the conduction of signals from the _____________ to the _______________.
Signals are conducted by _________________ which are bundles of ____________ wrapped in
connective tissue.
Sensory and motor neurons are collectively called the ___________________________.
The structural and functional unit of the nervous system is the _____________________.
What are the four main parts of a neuron?
The site of contact between a synaptic terminal of a neuron and a target, such as another neuron,
a muscle cell, or a gland, is called a __________________________.
What are the cells called that lie on each side of a synapse?
The simplest type of nerve circuit is termed a _______________________.
What is the minimum number of neurons that can make up a “reflex arc”, and what would these
neurons be?
What are “interneurons”?
Interneurons are constantly ______________________________. What does this active provide
the context for?
Ganglia and nuclei are collections of ________________________________. How do they
differ from one another?
Supporting cells, called ________________ are
__________________________________________________________.
Which glial cells provide structural and metabolic support for neurons?
What do these glial cells also form?
What cells form the insulating sheaths around axons? Where are these cells found?
All cells have an electrical charge difference across their plasma membrane called the
_________________________________________.
The membrane potential exists because:
The membrane potential of an unstimulated neuron is called the
____________________________.
What makes invertebrates like squid and lobsters such good animals for the study of nerve
impulses?
What is the principal + charged ion outside of a cell?
What is the principal + charged ion inside of a cell?
How do these ions move across the cell membrane?
All cells have a membrane potential; however, only certain cells such as ____________ and
_____________ have the ability to generate large changes in their membrane potential. These
cells are called ______________________________.
What types of ion channels are present in the cell membrane? How are these channels opened?
What are the two different types of “graded potentials”?
Define each type of “graded potential”. Tell which ion channel is involved in each type of
“graded potential”.
Why are these voltage changes called “graded potentials”?
If a sufficiently strong stimulus causes depolarization to reach “threshold potential” it triggers a
different type of response called an _______________________________.
In a neuron, an action potential can only be generated in the ______________________.
The action potential is a non-graded, all or non event; meaning _____________________
_____________________________________________.
The action potential arises because the plasma membrane has ________________________
ion channels.
Which two types of voltage-gated ion channels contribute to the action potential?
Which voltage-gated ion channel opens first and which one opens second in an action
potential?
The _______________________________________________, not their amplitude, codes for
stimulus intensity in the nervous system.
What two factors affect the speed at which an action potential travels down an axon?
What is a synapse?
Name the two general types of synapses.
One important function of the chemical synapse is to allow _________________
_____________________________________________________.
The “motor division” of the peripheral nervous system is divided into two functional divisions,
called the ______________________ and _______________________ nervous systems.
The somatic nervous system carries signals to ___________________________.
The autonomic nervous system carries signals to _______________________
______________________________________.
The autonomic nervous system consists of two divisions that act on body organs with
_______________________________.
The Sympathetic Division correlates with __________________________________.
The Parasympathetic Division causes _____________________________________.