Nervous System (part I)
The Nerve Tissue and the Nervous System
The Tissues of the Body
There are 4 types of tissues which make up the body organs:
1. Epithelial tissue: is made of different cell types organized into a
sheet with one or more layers which resting on basement membrane.
2. Connective tissue: is the most abundant body tissue it consists of
cells and matrix of ground substance and fiber.
3. Muscular tissue consists of three types (skeletal muscle, cardiac
muscle, and smooth muscle).
4. Nervous tissue.
Nervous tissue
• Human nervous system is the most complex
system in the human body it consists of:
1. Nerve cells (neurons)
2. Glial cells
3. Nerve fibers
• Nerve tissue is distributed throughout the body as
an integrated communications network.
Nerve cells (neurons)
• More than 100 billion of neurons form a network for communication.
• Each neuron has an average at least a thousand interconnections with
other neurons, forming a very complex system for communication.
• Neurons are responsible for reception, transmission, and processing
of stimuli.
• Neurons are sensitive to stimuli convert stimuli into nerve impulse
and conduct nerve impulses.
• Most neurons consist of 3 parts:
1). Cell body has ability to generate
impulse.
2). Dendrites which are multiple elongated
cytoplasmic processes have
ability to receive stimuli from
the environment and transport
them to the neuron body.
3). Axon which is a single process has
ability to transport the nerve
impulses to other cells.
Motor neuron. The myelin sheath is
produced by oligodendrocytes in the
central nervous system and by Schwann
cells in the peripheral nervous system.
The neuronal cell body has an unusually
large, euchromatic nucleus with a well-
developed nucleolus. The perikaryon
contains Nissl bodies, which are also
found in large dendrites. An axon from
another neuron is shown at upper right.
It has 3 end bulbs, one of which forms a
synapse with the neuron. Note also the
3 motor end-plates, which transmit the
nerve impulse to striated skeletal
muscle fibers. Arrows show the
direction of the nerve impulse.
. Ultrastructure of a
neuron. The neuronal
surface is completely
covered either by
synaptic endings of other
neurons or by processes
of glial cells. At
synapses, the neuronal
membrane is thicker and
is called the postsynaptic
membrane. The neuronal
process devoid of
ribosomes (lower part of
figure) is the axon
hillock. The other
processes of this cell are
dendrites.
The main character features of the nerve
cells
• Most nerve cells have a large nucleus with a prominent nucleolus.
• The cytoplasm of the nerve cell shows the presence of a granular material
that stains intensely with basic dyes; this material is the Nissl substances
(Nissl body).
• Neurofibrils also found abundantly in the neuron body and its processes.
• Neurofibrils represent microfilamints and microtubulaes.
• Axon hillock is a part of neuron body, free of Nissl body in which the
axon originated from it.
• The portion of the axon between the axon hillock and the point at which
myelination begins is called the initial segment.
• Some axons are surrounded by a myelin sheath. Axon having a myelin
sheath are called myelinated axons.
• There are some axons that are devoid of myelin sheath. These are
unmyelinated axons.
• Axons constitute what are commonly called nerve fibers.
Types of neurons according to the shape and size of
their processes
• Multipolar neurons have more than 2 cell processes
(one process being the axon and the others dendrites.
• Bipolar neurons have one dendrites and one axon.
• Psuedounipolar neurons have a single process that
is close to the cell body and divides into two
branches.
. Simplified view of the 3 main types of neurons, according to their morphologic
characteristics.
Types of neurons according to the their functions
• Motor (efferent) neurons control effector organs
such as muscle fibers and exocrine and endocrine
glands.
• Sensory (afferent) neurons are involved in the
reception of sensory stimuli from the environment
and from within the body.
• Interneurons establish relationships among other
neurons forming complex functional networks.
Examples of excitatory and inhibitory synapses in a motor
neuron
Glial Cells (neuroglia)
• These cells have supporting and protective functions in the nervous
tissue.
• The neuroglia includes:
1. Astrocytes (the most abundant type of glial cells) have supporting
function and controlling ionic and chemical environment of neurons.
2. Oligodendrocytes produce the myelin sheath for axon in the central
nervous system.
3. Schwann cells produce myelin sheath in the peripheral nervous
system.
4. Ependymal cells found in the central nervous system which
facilitate the movement of cerebral spinal fluids.
5. Microglia have phagocytic function.
Drawings of
neuroglial cells as
seen in slides stained
by metallic
impregnation. Note
that only astrocytes
exhibit vascular end-
feet, which cover the
walls of blood
capillaries.
Photomicrographs
(prepared with Golgi
stain) of glial cells from
the cerebral cortex. A:
Fibrous astrocytes,
showing blood vessels
(BV). x1000. B:
Protoplasmic astrocyte
showing brain surface
(arrow). x1900. C:
Microglial cell. x1700.
D: Oligodendrocytes.
x1900. (Reproduced,
with permission, from
Jones E, Cowan WM:
The nervous tissue.
Brain section prepared with Rio Hortega silver stain showing fibrous
astrocytes with their processes ending on the external surface of blood
vessels. Medium magnification.
Silver-stained section of cerebral cortex showing many
pyramid-shaped neurons with their processes and a few glial
cells. Medium magnification.
Membrane potentials
• Plasma membrane of the axon (axolemma) pumps Na+ out of
the axoplasma, maintaining the concentration of Na+ that only a
tenth of that in the excetracellular fluid.
• In contrast the concentration of K+ is maintained at a level many
times greater than that prevailing in the excetracellular
environment.
• Therefore there is a potential difference across the axolemma of
-65mV with the inside negative to the outside. This is the
resting membrane potential.
• When a neuron is stimulated the excetracellular Na+ suddenly influx
that changes the resting potential from -65 mV to the +30 mV. The
cell interior becomes positive in relation to the cellular environment
that determines the beginning of the action potential or nerve
impulse.
Synaptic communication
• Synapses are sites of functional contact between neurons or neurons and
other effector cells (e.g. muscle cells).
• The synapse itself is formed by: 1. presynaptic terminal an axon terminal
that deliver the signal; 2. postsynaptic terminal a region on the surface of
another cell where a new signal is generated and 3. synaptic cleft a thin
intercellular space.
• the function of the synapse is to convert an electrical signal (impulse) from
the presynaptic cell into a chemical signal that act on the postsynaptic cell.
• Most synapses transmit information by releasing neurotransmitters during
the signaling process.
• Neurotransmitters are chemical substances present in the vesicles of
presynaptic button.
• When a nerve impulse reaches a button of presynaptic terminal
Types of synapses. The axon terminals usually transmit the nerve impulse to a
dendrite or to a nerve cell body; less frequently, they make a synapse with
another axon.
Nervous System
• The nervous system basically is the control center
of the body.
• the nervous system is divided into two main parts:
1. Central nervous system (CNS). It is the control
center of the body.
2. Peripheral nervous system (PNS). It
communicate the body with CNS.
Central nervous system
Brain Spinal cord
Peripheral nervous system
involuntary Voluntary (Motor)
Somatic
sensory Autonomic nervous
division system
parasympatha
Sympathatic tic
