• The nervous system works with the endocrine system to maintain homeostasis.
– sensory receptors monitor changes in and out of the body
– process and interpret sensory input and make decisions on what should be done
– effect a response by activating (muscle, organ, glands)

Two main components:
1. Central Nervous system: Brain and spinal cord
2. Peripheral nervous system: nerves that emerge from spinal cord and brain that go to other parts of the body a. Afferent— towards CNS b. Efferent—away from CNS

Parts of a neuron

Neurons in context

Neuroglia (CNS)
Schwann and Satellite Cells (PNS)

•
Interactive Anatomy and Physiology Nervous I
Anatomy Review 4, 5, 6, 7, 9

•
Simple animation of how neurons communicate (action potentials and neurotransmission)
• http://www.bris.ac.uk/synaptic/public/basics
_ch1_2.html
•
Overview of the whole system

The normal voltage difference maintained across the membrane of the neuron. Excess positive charges accumulate on the outside of the cell while excess negative charges accumulate on the inside of the cell
This is results in a resting potential of about -70 mV

Proteins that open to allow ions to flow across the membrane in response to a signal. There are two main types:
--chemical (usually respond to a chemical like a neurotransmitter)
--voltage (respond to a change in membrane potential voltage)

Action potential
-generated at axon hillock—results in a large spike in voltage across the membrane as ions flow across the axon membrane—this spike tends to travel down the axon to the axon terminus where it triggers neurotransmitter release at the synapse
-only triggered when voltage at hillock is greater than threshold potential
(>~55mV)

•
Simple animation of how neurons communicate (action potentials and neurotransmission)

It’s all about resistance.
Axon diameter - larger the diameter, the less resistance for sodium to move along axon
Myelin sheath - prevents leakage of sodium as it moves along axon (saltatory conduction)
Note: alcohol, sedatives, anesthetics all block nerve impulses by reducing the membrane permeability to sodium ions (by blocking chemically-activated or voltage-activated channels)

Interactive Physiology and Anatomy Nervous
I
The Action Potential 3, 4, 6, 7, 16

• Junction between axon and post-synaptic cell
(another neuron, muscle cell, etc)
• Action potential reaches end of axon, triggers release of neurotransmitters
• Neurotransmitters cause graded potential on postsynaptic cell
• Can cause excitatory post-synaptic potential
(EPSP) or inhibitory post-synaptic potential
(IPSP)

• http://www.bris.ac.uk/synaptic/public/basics
_ch1_3.html
• http://www.getbodysmart.com/ap/nervoussy stem/neurophysiology/synapses/menu/menu
.html

Excitatory Post-Synaptic Pontentials (EPSPs) and
Inhibitory Post-Synaptic Potentials (IPSPs)

• EPSP or IPSP?
• Determined by which ion channels open up in the postsynaptic cell.
• Spatial summation
• Temporal summation
• To see:
•
Interactive Physiology and Anatomy Nervous I
• Nervous System 2 Synaptic Potentials 12
• Synaptic Potentials and Cellular Integration 4, 5,
6, 7, 8, 9

http://thebrain.mcgill.ca/flash/i/i_01/i_01_cl/i_01_c l_fon/i_01_cl_fon.html

Neurotransmitters - Actions where action nt glutamate
GABA
Acetylcholine*
Acetylcholine
(parasympathetic)
CNS
CNS neuro-muscular EPSP heart IPSP
Norepinephrine* heart
(sympathetic)
Norepinephrine resp. serotonin CNS dopamine CNS
EPSP
IPSP
EPSP
IPSP
IPSP
EPSP
* Ach and NE are also released at other synapses in the PNS and CNS

Drugs cold/allergy med.binds to all receptors non-specifically drys mucosae, but also causes some CNS, HR, etc. amphetamines - most increase release of NE, epinephrine, dopamine botulism valium
- bacterial toxin, prevents Ach release
- receptor for GABA is a fast Cl- channel leading to IPSP valium binds to another site (allosteric) increasing action of receptor, thus more
IPSP than nomal, relaxes anxiety, less stimulation
LSD/mescalin cocaine
- bind to serotonin and some dopamine receptors - blocking and thus prevents normal nt inhibition of certain pathways
- blocks reuptake mechanism, increases nt release
(dopamine, NE, serotonin synapses?) nerve gas
Prozac
- inhibits Ach-esterase...problem especially in intercostal skel muscles.
- blocks re-uptake of serotonin, relieves anxiety/depression in some caffeine ecstasy opium
Viagra
- shaped like adenosine, an IPSP nt in brain, blocks receptors, but no action
- broken down into HMMA which stimulates ADH release...alters kidney function , water conserved...problem with solute dilution in the brain, etc.
- mimics endorphins
- a different kind of neurotransmitter....NO is a gas released by some neurons locally in erectile tissue, causes vasodilation. Viagra blocks an enzyme that slows NO’s effects....so vasodilation at a max.

A reflex arc also involves inhibiting muscles that oppose reflex action

The main parts of the human brain

• Cerebral Cortex—
– “higher” functions, consciousness, creativity, thought, etc
– Sensory integration and interpretation
– Motor control
• Diencephalon (includes limbic system)
– Limbic system—
• Amygdala: responsible for emotion, emotional learning
• Hippocampus: memory formation
• Hypothalamus—hormonal regulation, thirst, hunger, body temp, fatigue, anger, circadian rhythms
– Thalamus—relay station for sensory impulses, impulses to and from cerebral motor cortex and cerebellum

• Brain stem
– Pons—relay station for neurons entering and leaving brain
– Medulla Oblongata—regulate essential bodily functions
• Cerebellum
– Coordination of movement
– Physical equilibrium

Sheep Brain - ventral and dorsal views

Structure and functional areas of the cerebrum
Localization of brain functionalities: TMS—DVD: “How Does the
Brain Work” Chapter: Magnetic Simulation

Primary motor and somatosensory areas of the human cerebral cortex
Motor Cortex Somatosensory Cortex

Mapping language areas of the cerebral cortex

A more recent view of brain circuitry
(diffusion tensor imaging)
Credit: M. D. Van Wedeen, Martinos Center and Dept. of
Radiology/Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard U. Medical School

Male (left)/female (right) brain wiring differences (Diffusion tensor imaging)
Sex differences in the structural connectome of the human brain http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2013/11/27/1316909110

Syntax
(Understanding words)
Eyes to Thalamus first
From: http://thebrain.mcgill.ca/flash/i/i_01/i_01_cr/i_01_cr_fon/i_01_cr_fon.html

http://www.stanford.edu/group/memorylab/Research/Research.html

Brain MRI

Case studies of patients with brain damage or congenital defects reveal information about the various functions of the brain

• Premature explosion under a tamping rod resulted in the meter long rod (4-5 centimeters in diameter) entering under his left orbit, destroying much of his frontal lobe as it was propelled out of the top of his head (landing 300 feet away). Additional tissue was destroyed by subsequent infection.

• Gage was] fitful, irreverent, indulging at times in the grossest profanity
(which was not previously his custom), manifesting but little deference for his fellows, impatient of restraint or advice when it conflicts with his desires, at times pertinaciously obstinate, yet capricious and vacillating, devising many plans of future operations, which are no sooner arranged than they are abandoned in turn for others appearing more feasible. A child in his intellectual capacity and manifestations, he has the animal passions of a strong man. Previous to his injury, although untrained in the schools, he possessed a well-balanced mind, and was looked upon by those who knew him as a shrewd, smart businessman, very energetic and persistent in executing all his plans of operation. In this regard his mind was radically changed, so decidedly that his friends and acquaintances said he was ‘no longer Gage'.
• J. M. Harlow, 1868 (Publications of the Massachusetts Medical
Society 2: pp. 339–340)

Insula involved in addiction (red/orange area in this image)
Fig. 3. Whole-brain region-by-region logistic regression analysis
Published by AAAS
N. H. Naqvi et al., Science 315, 531 -534 (2007)

The limbic system

The Amygdala—seat of emotion in the brain?

Fear: S.M. has damaged amygdala—can no longer recognize the emotion of fear

Associative learning of emotion in the amygdala

Blood flow in the brain of a patient suffering from unipolar clinical depression, compared to non-depressed patients

Memory formation—case studies that shed light on location in the brain where new meories are formed
• The case of H.M.—After surgery to treat seizures, in which the amygdala, uncus, hippocampal gyrus and anterior two-thirds of the hippocampus were removed,
H.M. could not form long-term memories
• The case of N.A.—a fencing foil poked into his right nostril damaged part of his thalamus and the medial temporal lobe on the right side as well as the mammilary bodies. N.A. has lost much of his ability to form long-term memories (retaining excellent memory of events prior to
1960)
• The case of R.B.—Suffered damage to the hippocampus
(bilaterally) during cardiac surgery. Also impaired in his ability to form long-term memories

Brain areas associated with memory formation

(Cerebral cortex?)

Increased activity in the frontal lobe, decreased in parietal lobe

Embryonic development of the brain

• A reflex is a rapid, automatic response to a stimulus, in which a particular stimulus always causes the same motor response.
• Reflexes happen over neural pathways called reflex arcs. Essential components:
– Receptor
– Sensory neuron
– Integration center
– Motor neuron
– Effector

Somatic & Autonomic: The Plumbing