3.1.3 Nervous Coordination II

NERVOUS COORDINATION II
Peripheral Nervous System

The Peripheral Nervous System includes all nerves outside the brain and spinal cord.
It has two parts
(i) The Somatic Nervous system (SNS)
(ii) The Autonomic Nervous system (ANS)
The Somatic Nervous System

The somatic nervous system consists of
(i) 12 pairs of cranial nerves in the head
(ii) 31 pairs of spinal nerves in the trunk
Out of the 12 pairs of cranial nerves, the optic, and olfactory nerves are made only of sensory fibres. The
remaining 10 pairs of the cranial nerves and the 31 pairs of spinal nerves have both motor and sensory
fibres. These fibres conduct impulses from the sense receptors to the brain or spinal cord & then to
effectors
The somatic nervous system controls activities which are mainly voluntary.
Autonomic Nervous System

The Autonomic nervous controls the body’s involuntary activities e.g heartbeat, digestion, breathing,
secretion of sweat.
It consists of sensory nerves and motor nerves which connects the spinal cord or the brain to the heart,
liver, alimentary canals, and other internal organs
Parts of Autonomic Nervous System

1. Sympathetic Nervous System
2. Parasympathetic Nervous System
Sympathetic Nervous System

It consists of nerves which connects internal organs such as lumbar regions of the spinal cord
Function
i. It stimulates or prepares the body for action in times of danger (fight or flight response)
ii. It increases the rate of heart beat, depth of breathing, sweating and conversion of stored glycogen
into glucose by the liver.
iii. Relaxes the walls of the small intestine alimentary canal.
Parasympathetic Nervous System
Its actions are antagonistic to that of the Sympathetic Nervous System. It often acts to return the body to
a normal state after stimulation by the sympathetic Nervous System
1. It decreases the rate of heartbeat, sweating and causes contraction of the walls of the stomach
2. Causes contractions of the walls of the alimentary canal
3. Calms the body
4. Enhances digestion
Structure of a Neuron or Nerve Cell

The Neuron is the structural and functional unit of the nervous system
It consists of three main parts
1. The cell body (soma): It consists of the nucleus and the cytoplasm.
2. Dendrites: These are short cytoplasmic filaments which convey impulses to the cell body.
3. Axon: It is a long nerve fibre from the cell body.
Each axon is enclosed within a fatty myelin sheath. The myelin sheath is formed by Schwann cells and is
interrupted at intervals by constriction known as nodes of Ranvier.
The myelin sheath insulates the axon and speeds up the transmission of impulses. At its end, It branches
into a fine process called a motor-end plate.
Classification of Neurons
There are three (3) types of Neurons
(i) Sensory or Afferent Neuron: Transmits impulses from the receptor/sensory cell towards the
Central Nervous System. The axon connects one Neurone to another while the dendrites are connected
to the sensory cells.
(ii) Motor or Efferent Neuron: Transmits impulses away from the central Nervous system to the
effector organs such as muscles and glands. The axon is connected to the effector while the dendrites
are connected to an intermediate neuron.
(iii) Intermediate or Association Neurons: It transmits impulses from one neuron to another within
the Central Nervous System. Their dendrites and axons are connected to other neurons.
Synapse: The junction where two nerves meet is called the synapse. Neurons are joined end to end in a
special way to form a nerve. At the synapse, the motor endplate of the axon intermeshes with the
dendrites of the next neuron. The two nerve cells do not touch but leave a gap called the synaptic gap
also called the synaptic cleft.
How a Neuron Functions
All cells show a difference in electrical charge between the cytoplasm (negative charge) and
extracellular fluid (positive charge). This is referred to as membrane potential.
A neuron at rest or un-stimulated is at resting potential. A nerve fibre is electrically polarized with a net
positive charge outside and a net negative charge inside the cell membrane.
There are more sodium ions outside the membrane and more potassium ions inside the membrane. At
this state, the net flow of impulses is zero.
Action Potential
Action potentials are nerve signals. Neurons generate and conduct these signals along their processes in
order to transmit them to the target tissues.
The axon is stimulated when a dendrite receives a stimulus. This part of the axon becomes temporarily
depolarized by the inward flow of sodium ions and the outward flow of potassium ions. This action
stimulates the adjacent part of the axon which also becomes depolarized.
Depolarization continues from one end of the axon to another. At this stage, the nerve fibre is said to be
at action potential. Soon after the wave of depolarization, the resting potential is re-established. An
action potential is an all-or-nothing event. Either the stimulus is strong enough to cause an action
potential or it is not. The body distinguishes between a strong stimulus and a weak one by the
frequency of action potentials. A strong stimulus sets up more action potentials than a weak one does.
The animation below traces the events of a membrane undergoing sufficient stimulation to undergo an
action potential.
Transmission of impulses across a synapse is through chemical means. When nerve impulses get to the
end of an axon, a chemical substance called acetylcholine is secreted by the synaptic knobs at the
endplate fibres. This diffuses across the synaptic gap and stimulates the dendrites of the post–synaptic
neuron. This second neuron continues the transmission of impulses. The action of acetylcholine is
rendered inactive preventing further accumulation by the action of the enzyme cholinesterase.
A voluntary action is deliberate.
Transmission of impulses across a synapse

The Reflex Arc
What is Reflex Action?
Reflex action is a sudden and involuntary response to stimuli. It helps organisms to quickly adapt to an
adverse circumstance that could have the potential to cause bodily harm or even death.
The reflex arc is the simplest nerve response. It is inborn, automatic, and protective. An example is the
knee jerk reflex, which consists of only a sensory and a motor neuron when your knee is tapped with a
hammer, your foot kicks voluntarily.
The impulse moves from the sensory neuron in your knee to the motor neuron that directs the thigh
muscle to contract. The spinal cord is not involved in the type of reflex. A more complex reflex consists
of the following part.
(i) Sensory neurons
(ii) An intermediate neuron or relay neuron
(iii) A motor neuron
A sensory neurone transmits an impulse to the intermediate neuron or relay neuron in the spinal cord.
The intermediate neuron sends an impulse to the brain for processing and also one to the motor neuron
to effect change immediately (at the muscle). This is the kind of response that quickly jerks your hand
away from a hot object before your brain could figure out what happened.
Conditioned Reflex
This is an action that is learnt after prolonged and repeated practice and its done unconsciously e.g.
driving, playing a musical instrument, swimming,

3.1.3 Nervous Coordination II

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NERVOUS COORDINATION II

Peripheral Nervous System

The Somatic Nervous System

Autonomic Nervous System

Parts of Autonomic Nervous System

Sympathetic Nervous System

Structure of a Neuron or Nerve Cell

Transmission of impulses across a synapse

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