Exam Questions and CORRECT Answers
Central Nervous System - CORRECT ANSWER -"general" of the body; integration of
sensory input and origin of motor responses
• brain
• spinal cord
Peripheral Nervous System - CORRECT ANSWER -body; sensory input and motor output
• nerves
• sensory receptors
• motor neurons
sensory receptors - CORRECT ANSWER -Afferent neurons → Admit signals
differentiated based on location
• somatic
• visceral
somatic sensory receptors - CORRECT ANSWER -receptors and neurons that are located
in the skin, skeletal muscle, joints
visceral sensory receptors - CORRECT ANSWER -receptors and neurons that are located
in internal organs
motor neurons - CORRECT ANSWER -Efferent neurons → Exit/Effect signals
- differentiated not based on location, but rather on the target organs
• somatic nervous system
,• autonomic nervous system
somatic nervous system - CORRECT ANSWER -system of neurons that enervate skeletal
muscles
autonomic nervous system - CORRECT ANSWER -system of neurons that enervate
smooth and cardiac muscles; glands
Santiago Ramon y Cajal - CORRECT ANSWER -discovered the neuron using a
modification of Golgi's staining method that allowed Cajal to see the minutia of neurons and
draw their anatomy
basic structure of a neuron - CORRECT ANSWER -- soma
- dendrites
- axon hillock
- axon
- myelin
- terminal arbor
- terminal buttons
soma - CORRECT ANSWER -cell body
- can receive inputs
dendrites - CORRECT ANSWER -branching from the cell body of the neuron which have
the major function of receiving inputs
*D*endrite → *D*ownload
axon hillock - CORRECT ANSWER -hump on the soma of a neuron from which the axon
of the neuron extends
,axon - CORRECT ANSWER -long singular stalk extending from the soma of the neuron
which creates action potentials and sends inputs to other neurons
*A*xon → *A*way
myelin - CORRECT ANSWER -insulation present on some axons of the nervous system
(not present on all axons); whitish fatty segmented sheath around mot long (NOT ALL) axons
that increase the speed of nerve impulse transmission
- cell has concentric layers of membrane that make up the myelin sheath
- ONLY on axons (NOT dendrites, soma, etc.) but not all axons
- made from Oligodendrocytes (CNS) and Schwann cells (PNS)
- rather than one long piece of insulation, is multiple small pieces of insulation
-- nodes of ranvier
nodes of ranvier - CORRECT ANSWER -areas of the axon that is not covered in myelin,
occurs between cells of myelin
terminal arbor - CORRECT ANSWER -fine branching at the end of the axon
terminal buttons - CORRECT ANSWER -regions at the end of terminal arbor branches
that release neurotransmitters into the synapse
astrocytes - CORRECT ANSWER -• support and brace neurons
• control the chemical environment
• important physiological roles
--- can secrete/absorb different molecules (i.e., ions)
• most abundant cells in the brain (more than neurons)
, Oligodendrocytes - CORRECT ANSWER -insulators of the thick neurons of the CNS
• one cell creates several units of myelin sheath and can insulate many different axons
ependymal cells - CORRECT ANSWER -circulate the CSF
satellite cells - CORRECT ANSWER -glial cells that surround somas of neurons in the
ganglia; provide electrical insulation and regulate chemical environment of neurons
microglia - CORRECT ANSWER -immune cells of the CNS
Blood Brain Barrier (BBB) - CORRECT ANSWER -- astrocytes are important in telling
the capillaries of the brain to form tight functions/inducing formation of BBB BUT are not part
of the BBB themselves
- tight junctions between endothelial cells of the capillaries in the brain form the BBB
• BBB is between the extracellular fluid (ECF) and the brain
ciliated epithelial cells - CORRECT ANSWER -- lining the central cavities of the brain
and spinal column
- forming a permeable barrier between the CSF and nervous tissue
cilia - CORRECT ANSWER -made of tubules; can be static or dynamic (beating)
ependymal cilia are... - CORRECT ANSWER -dynamic (beating) which helps to
move/circulate the CSF
• without movement of CSF, there would be an accumulation which would lead to an over-sized
brain (hydrocephalus)
• ciliated epithelial cells also help create CSF
Hydrocephalus - CORRECT ANSWER -excess cerebrospinal fluid