TEST BANK EXAM QUESTIONS &
ANSWERS
Central Nervous System (CNS) - ANS-brain and spinal cord
Peripheral Nervous System (PNS) - ANS-cranial nerves and spinal nerves
Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) - ANS-structures that regulate the body's automatic or involuntary
functions (heart rate, stomach and intestines, secretion of chemical compounds by glands)
neuron - ANS-nerve cell that conduct impulses
glia - ANS-cells in the nervous system that support, nourish, and protect neurons
neuron structure - ANS-cell body, dendrites, axon
sensory neuron - ANS-carry impulses to the spinal cord and brain from all parts of the body; afferent
neurons
motor neuron - ANS-carry impulses away from the brain and spinal cord to muscle and glandular
epithelial tissue; efferent neurons
interneuron - ANS-conducts impulses from sensory neurons to motor neurons; also often connect with
each other to form complex, central networks of nerve fibers; central or connecting neurons
neuroglis - ANS-special types of supporting cells; glia meaning "glue"; hold the functioning neurons
together and protect them; regulation of neuron function
astrocyte - ANS-star shaped glia; attach to neurons and to small blood vessels, holding these structures
close to each other; form a two layer structure call the blood-brain barrier (BBB)
Blood Brain Barrier (BBB) - ANS-separates the blood tissue and nervous tissue to protect vital brain
tissue from harmful chemicals that might be in the blood
microglia - ANS-smaller than astrocytes; usually remain stationary, but in inflamed or degenerating brain
tissue, they enlarge, move about, and act as microbe eating scavengers; clean up cell damage resulting
from injury or disease (phagocytosis)
, oligodendrocytes - ANS-help to hold nerve fibers together and also serve another important function:
they produce the fatty myelin sheath that envelops nerve fibers located in the brain and spinal cord
myelin sheath - ANS-fatty layer that affects nerve conduction speed
Schwann cells - ANS-glial cells that also form myelin sheaths but do so only in the PNS; wrap entirely
around only one axon
myelinated fibers - ANS-neurons with myelin wrapped axons
Nodes of Ranvier - ANS-gaps between adjacent Schwann cells
neurilemma - ANS-outer wrapped layer of a Schwann cell; plays an essential role in the regeneration of
cut and injured axons
nerve - ANS-group of peripheral nerve fibers (axons) bundled together like the strands of a cable
endoneurium - ANS-the thin wrapping of fibrous connective tissue that surrounds each axon in a nerve
fascicles - ANS-groups of wrapped axons
perineurium - ANS-a thin fibrous tissue surrounding a group of axons (fascicles)
epineurium - ANS-tough, fibrous sheath covers the whole nerve
tracts - ANS-bundles of axons in the CNS; myelinated and form the white matter of the brain and spinal
cord
gray matter - ANS-brain and spinal cord tissue composed of cell bodies and unmyelinated axons and
dendrites
action potentials - ANS-nerve impulses
neuron pathways - ANS-routes traveled by nerve impulses
reflex arc - ANS-basic type of neuron pathway; they allow impulse conduction in only one direction
receptor - ANS-the beginning of dendrites of sensory neurons; often located far from the spinal cord (in
tendons, skin, or mucous membranes)
ganglion - ANS-group of nerve cell bodies located in the PNS
synapse - ANS-the junction between the axon tip of the sending neuron and the dendrite or cell body of
the receiving neuron
effector - ANS-an organ that puts nerve signals "into effect"; usually muscles or glands, and muscle
contractions and gland secretion are the kinds of reflexes operated by these effectors