PHS 3240 2003 The Nervous System

Dr. W. Staines
Department of Cellular and Molecular
Medicine, RGN Rm 2231
562 5800 8188

[email protected]

http://www.uottawa.ca/academic/med/cellmed/stns.html

Lecture 1 The basic organization of the

nervous system
The nervous system - a
collection of tissues and
their cell processes
(nerves) that collect
information from the
external and internal
environment (inside and
outside the body),
transmit, analyze and
store the information, and
provide for appropriate
responses that promote
the survival of the
organism

homeostasis
reflex -stimulus and response
conscious - sensory and motor
(input and output, afferent and
efferent)
autonomic and somatic

levels of integration
simple - spinal cord
complex - brainstem
hypercomplex - cortex

Protection of the central nervous system

- the brain and spinal cord lie within the cranium and spinal canal
covered with meninges
- tight junctions between and the endothelial cells of the blood
vessels in the brain prevent diffusion of solutes into the brain,
blood brain barrier
- cerebrospinal fluid produced by choroid plexus flows down
the brainstem to exit and bathe the external surface of the brain
protecting it from mechanical shock and drawing away metabolic
breakdown products (waste products).

Organization of the nervous system

central nervous system - the brain and
spinal cord
peripheral nervous system
- nerves (and ganglia) carrying
information from the skin and limbs
(afferent)
- nerves carrying information to the
muscles to control movement (efferent)
- nerves and ganglia of the autonomic
nervous system
- nerves and ganglia of the enteric
nervous system
controlling gut
function

The spinal cord

- contains two types of tissue

white matter forms the external part of the cord, made up of myelinated
axons, the myelin makes it white
gray matter forms the butterfly shaped inner core of the cord, made up
of neuron cell bodies/dendrites/synapses
- neurotransmission takes place in the gray matter, axonal conduction
takes place in the white matter
- white matter contains axons carrying information up and down the
axis of the spinal cord

Information (action potentials) enters and leaves spinal cord via spinal
nerves.
- there is one pair of nerves for each spinal vertebra.
- spinal nerves are mixed nerves carrying sensory information to the
spinal cord and motor information from the spinal cord to the muscles
The lower and upper limbs require many more sensory and motor axons
than the chest are abdomen and for this reason the spinal cord is larger in
the lumbar and cervical regions than in the thoracic region.

The spinal cord ends at about L1 and the lumbar nerves descend
within a CSF filled sack down to their point of exit. This fluid space
caudal to the end of the spinal cord is called the lumbar cistern and is
the point that CSF can be sampled using lumbar puncture (spinal tap).

The nerve splits into two roots the dorsal and the ventral root, also
known as the posterior and anterior roots. The dorsal root contains the
sensory axons of the mixed nerve and ventral root contains the motor
axons.

The white matter of the spinal cord contains axons that project from the
spinal cord to the brain and from the brain to the spinal cord. White
matter has different functions in different parts. The corticospinal tract
carries the axons of neurons in the cerebral cortex that project down to
the spinal cord and innervate the ventral horn to control movement.
The white matter lying between the two dorsal horns is called the
dorsal columns. It contains axons of sensory neurons that do not
synapse in the dorsal horn but instead project to the brain stem and
synapse there. We will examine these two types of sensory systems in
the next lecture.

The spinal cord contains inputs and outputs (the spinal

nerves) it has ascending and descending axon tracts passing
through it (some of which form synaptic terminals) and it has
collections of neurons (or nerve cell bodies) that process
information and perform functions

At the foramen magnum the spinal cord merges with the caudal
part of the brain stem. The spinal cord lies within the vertebral
canal and it merges with the brain stem (and the rest of the
brain) which lies within the cranium.

The brain is composed of four parts

the brainstem
the cerebellum
the diencephalon
the cerebrum

Cerebrum - the conscious decision making part of the brain,

Diencephalon - the gateway for sensory information to the cerebrum
Cerebellum - exerts fine control over motor function
Brainstem - carries information to and from the spinal cord as well as
controlling motor and sensory function for the head and neck.

The brainstem
- connects to the spinal cord at at its caudal end (tail) and to the
diencephalon at its rostral end (beak)
- the medulla (caudal) the pons (middle) and the midbrain
(rostral)
- like the spinal cord, the brainstem spinal cord contains inputs
and outputs (the cranial nerves) it has ascending and
descending axon tracts passing through it (some of which form
synaptic terminals) and it has collections of neurons (or nerve
cell bodies) that process information and perform functions.
The medulla merges with the superior part of the spinal cord.
Contains descending tracts (like the corticospinal tract) and ascending
tracts (like the dorsal columns). Some important ascending tracts (the
dorsal columns) terminate (form synapses) in the medulla. It has
collections of neurons that process information and perform functions
like the control of breathing and vomiting. I has inputs and outputs
similar to the nerves connected to the spinal cord and these are called
cranial nerves.

Cranial nerves
- spinal nerves carry sensory
and motor information from the
level of the sacrum and coccyc
(sacral and coccygeal nerves)
to the level of the neck (upper
cervical nerves)
- above this level, in the region
of the head and face, nerves
enter the cranium rather than
the spinal cord and are termed
cranial nerves
- there are 12 pairs of cranial
nerves and you need only learn
them in the context of specific
sensory and motor lectures to
follow

Pyramids the corticospinal tract fibers within the medulla form a distinct feature called
the pyramids, they decussate, which means that the axons within this fiber bundle cross
from the left side of the brain to the right side of the brain. The cortex on the right side of
the brain send and receives information from the left side of the body. I do not know why
this is the case but it means that ascending sensory information and descending motor
information has to deccusate (cross the midline) between the cerebral cortex and the
spinal cord.

Dorsal column nuclei sensory axons that do not synapse in the spinal cord dorsal horn
ascend the spinal cord in the dorsal column nuclei and synapse in dorsal column nuclei
in the medulla

Cranial nerve nuclei these are nuclei (collections of cell bodies) within the medulla that
receive sensory information from cranial nerves (like the dorsal horn of the spinal cord)
or are collections of motor neurons that send out information to muscles of the head and
face (like the ventral horn of the spinal cord).

The pons is connected to the medulla caudally and to the midbrain

rostrally.

Pons means bridge in Latin and it referes to the fact the ventral
surface of the pons looks like a bridge because of the massive numbers of
fibers (myelinated axons) that decussate (cross the midline) in this part of
the brainstem. These crossing fibers are axons which project from the
pons to the cerebellum. We will consider this in more detail later but we
should note now that the pons contains inputs and outputs (some cranial
nerves) it has ascending and descending axon tracts passing through it
(some of which form synaptic terminals) and it has collections of neurons
(or nerve cell bodies) that process information and perform functions.

The upper part of the brainstem is called the midbrain

It also contains inputs and outputs (some cranial nerves) it has
ascending and descending axon tracts passing through it (some of which form
synaptic terminals) and it has collections of neurons (or nerve cell bodies) that
process information and perform functions.

The most notable anatomical features of the midbrain are:

Cerebral peduncles contain the descending corticospinal fibers

Medial lemniscus contain the ascending sensory fibers
Superior (and inferior) colliculus contain visual orientation centers
Substantia nigra very important nuclei for motor control

The rostral part of the brainstem merges with the diencephalon.

thalamus the part of the brain that recieves synapses from all
ascending sensory innervation and then sends a
projection to the appropriate part of the cerebral cortex.
hypothalamus - the command center for homeostasis within the
brain. controlling blood pressure, body temperature, blood
glucose and all of the other housekeeping functions of the
body.
Only one cranial nerve enters at the level of the diencephalon and that is the
optic nerve carrying visual sensory information.
Ascending and descending information within the diencephalon travels in
axon tracts within the internal capsule.

Cerebrum
The cerebrum is the most rostral part of the central
nervous system. It is compose of the
Cerebral cortex
Basal ganglia
Cortex - the outer coating of what we
think of as the brain.
The cortex is convoluted into ridges
(gyri) and fold (sulci).
The cortex receives and perceives
sensory input. It makes sense of the
input relative to past experience
(memory) and sends out appropriate
response commands (muscular
activity).

The cerebral cortex is organized into territories with different functions called
lobes.
- frontal lobe site of motor commands sent out to the brainstem and spinal cord.
- parietal lobe site of receipt of sensory information (pain and temperature, touch and pressure)
- occipital lobe - site of receipt of visual information.
- temporal lobe - site of receipt of auditory information.