Human Anatomy, First Edition

McKinley & O'Loughlin

Chapter 14 :
Nervous
Tissue

1
The Nervous System
 The body’s primary communication and
control system.
 Can be divided according to:
 Structural categories
 Functional categories.

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 Nervous System: Structural
Organization

Structural subdivisions of the nervous system:

 Central nervous system (CNS)
 brain and spinal cord
 Peripheral nervous system (PNS)
 cranial nerves (nerves that extend from the brain)
 spinal nerves (nerves that extend from the spinal cord)
 ganglia (clusters of neuron cell bodies (somas) located
outside the CNS)

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 Nervous System: Functional Organization

Functional divisions of the nervous system:

 Sensory afferent division:
 receives sensory information (input) from receptors
 transmits this information to the CNS.
 Motor efferent division:
 transmits motor impulses (output) from the CNS
 to muscles or glands (effector organs).

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 Sensory Division: two components
 Somatic sensory components:
 General somatic senses:
 touch
 pain
 pressure
 vibration,
 temperature
 proprioception.
 Special senses:
 Taste
 Vision
 Hearing
 Balance
 smell
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 Sensory Division: two components

 Visceral sensory components

 transmit nerve impulses from blood vessels and viscera
to the CNS
 visceral senses primarily include:
 temperature
 stretch (of the organ wall).

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 Motor Division: two components
 The somatic motor component (somatic nervous system;
SNS):
 conducts nerve impulses from the CNS to skeletal muscles
 also known as the voluntary nervous system
 The autonomic motor component (autonomic nervous
system; ANS): internal organs, regulates smooth muscle,
cardiac muscle, and glands.
 Innervates
 Internal organs
 Regulates smooth muscle
 Regulates cardiac muscle
 Regulates glands
 also known as the visceral motor system or involuntary nervous
system
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Nerve Cells
 Nervous Tissue
 Two distinct cell types
 Neurons
 excitable cells
 initiate and transmit nerve impulses
 Glial cells
 nonexcitable cells
 support and protect the neurons

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Characteristics of Neurons
 Neurons have a high metabolic rate.
 Neurons have extreme longevity.
 Neurons typically are non-mitotic.

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Neuron Structure
 Neurons come in all shapes and sizes
 All neurons share certain basic structural features.
 typical neuron:
 Cell body (soma, perikaryon)
 Dendrites
 Axon
 Collaterals: branches
 axon terminals or telodendria
 Synaptic knobs

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Neuron Structure – Cell Body
 The cell body (perikaryon, soma)
 the neuron’s control center
 responsible for:
 receiving
 integrating
 sending nerve impulses.
 Consists of:
 Plasma membrane
 Cytoplasm
 Nucleus with prominent nucleolus
 Chromatophobic substance (Nissil bodies): RER
 Free ribosomes

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Neuron Structure – Dendrites
 Shorter, smaller processes
 Branch off the cell body.
 Some neurons have only one dendrite, while others
have many.
 Dendrites conduct nerve impulses toward the cell
body
 they receive input
 transfer input to the cell body for processing.
 The more dendrites a neuron has, the more nerve
impulses that neuron can receive from other cells.

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Neuron Structure – Axon
 larger, typically longer nerve cell process
 Extend from the cell body
 Axon hillock
 also called a nerve fiber
 Most neurons have only one axon.
 Anaxonic

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Neuron Structure – Axon
 Structures
 Collaterals
 Telodendria (axon terminals)
 Synaptic knobs (terminal boutons)
 The axon transmits a nerve impulse away
from the cell body toward another cell.

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Neuron Structure
 Cytoskeleton
 Neurotubules
 microtubules
 Neurofilaments
 Intermediate fibers
 Neurofibrils
 Bundles of neurofibrils
 In both dendrites and axons
 Provide strength

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 Classifications of Neurons
 Neurons vary widely in morphology and
location.
 classified based on
 structure
 function.
 Structural classification: number of processes
extending from the cell body.
 unipolar neuron has a single process
 bipolar neurons have two processes
 multipolar neurons have three or more processes
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Functional Classification
 Sensory afferent neurons: receptor to CNS
 Motor efferent neurons: CNS to effector
 Interneurons (association neurons): facilitate
communication between sensory and motor neurons.

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Interneurons
 Interneurons, or association neurons
 lie entirely within the CNS
 multipolar.
 They receive nerve impulses from many other
neurons
 They carry out the integrative function of the nervous
system.
 Interneurons facilitate communication between
sensory and motor neurons.

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Glial Cells
 Also called neuroglia
 Occur within both the CNS and the PNS.
 are smaller than neurons
 are capable of mitosis.
 do not transmit nerve impulses.
 Glial cells
 physically protect neurons
 help nourish neurons
 provide a supporting framework for all the nervous tissue.
 Glial cells far outnumber neurons.
 Glial cells account for about half the volume of the
nervous system.
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Glial Cells of the CNS: astrocytes
 Exhibit a starlike shape due to projections from their
surface.
 The most abundant glial cells in the CNS
 constitute over 90% of the tissue in some areas of the brain.
 Help form the blood-brain barrier (BBB):
 strictly controls substances entering the nervous tissue in
the brain from the bloodstream.
 Regulate tissue fluid composition.
 Provide structural support
 Replace damaged neurons
 Assist neuronal development

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Glial Cells of the CNS: ependymal cells

 Cuboid ET
 Cilia on apical surface
 Circulates CSF.
 Line internal cavities
 Processes make contact with other glial
cells
 Help form the choroid plexus
 CSF: cerebral spinal fluid

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Glial Cells of the CNS: microglia
 Smallest % of CNS glial cells.
 Phagocytic
 Move through the tissue in response to
infection
 Remove debris.
 Like macrophages

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Glial Cells of the CNS: oligodendrocytes

 Large, with big body and processes.

 Processes form myelin sheaths
 Speeds up transmission

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Glial Cells of the PNS
 Satellite cells:
 Flattened cells
 Cover somas in ganglia
 Separate soma from surrounding tissue
fluid
 Regulate exchange.
 Neurolemmocytes (Schwann cells)
 Myelination in the PNS

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Myelination
 Process by which part of an axon is
wrapped with a myelin sheath
 Forms a protective fatty coating
 Has a glossy-white appearance.
 The myelin sheath:
 supports the axon
 protects the axon
 insulates an axon
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Myelination
 No change in voltage can occur across the membrane
in the insulated portion of an axon.
 Voltage change occurs at the nodes
 Neurolemmocytes: form myelin sheaths in PNS
 Oligodendrocytes: form myelin sheaths in the CNS

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Mylenated vs. Unmylenated
Axons
 myelinated axon
 nerve impulse “jumps” from neurofibril node to neurofibril
node
 known as saltatory conduction
 requires less energy (ATP) than does an unmyelinated axon
 unmyelinated axon
 nerve impulse must travel the entire length of the axon
 known as continuous conduction
 nerve impulse takes longer to reach the end of the axon
 Using continuous conduction, unmyelinated axons conduct
nerve impulses from pain stimuli
 A myelinated axon produces a faster nerve impulse.

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Regeneration of PNS Axons
 PNS axons are vulnerable to cuts and trauma.
 A damaged axon can regenerate
 if some neurilemma remains.
 PNS axon regeneration depends upon three
factors.
 amount of damage
 neurolemmocyte secretion of nerve growth factors
 stimulates outgrowth of severed axons
 distance between the site of the damaged axon
and the effector organ
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Regeneration of PNS Axons
 Wallerian degeneration.
 Axon damaged
 Proximal end seals, and swells.
 Distal end degenerates, macrophages
clean up
 Distal neurolemmocytes survive
 Neurolemmocytes form regeneration tube
(with endoneurinum)
 Axon regenerates, remyelinates
 Axon reestablishes contact with effector
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Structure of a Nerve
 A nerve is a cable-like bundle of parallel axons.
 three connective tissue wrappings.
 Endoneurium
 delicate layer of loose connective tissue
 Perineurium
 a cellular and fibrous connective tissue layer
 wraps groups of axons into fascicles
 Epineurium - a superficial connective tissue covering
 This thick layer of dense irregular fibrous connective tissue
 encloses entire nerve
 provides support and protection

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Nerves
 Nerves are organs of the PNS.
 Sensory (afferent) nerves convey sensory information
to the CNS.
 Motor (efferent) nerves convey motor impulses from
the CNS to the muscles and glands.
 Mixed nerves: both sensory and motor
 Axons terminate as they contact other neurons,
muscle cells, or gland cells.
 An axon transmits a nerve impulse at a specialized
junction with another neuron called synapse.

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Synapses
 Presynaptic neurons
 transmit nerve impulses toward a synapse.
 Postsynaptic neurons
 conduct nerve impulses away from the synapse.
 Axons may establish synaptic contacts with
any portion of the surface of another neuron
 except those regions that are myelinated.

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Types of synapses: based on contacts

 axodendritic
 axosomatic
 axoaxonic

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Main types of synapses
 Electrical synapses
 Gap junctions
 Chemical synapses
 Use neurotransmitters

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Electrical Synapses
 Electrical synapses are not very common in
mammals.
 In humans, these synapses occur primarily between
smooth muscle cells where quick, uniform innervation
is essential.
 Electrical synapses are also located in cardiac muscle.

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Chemical Synapses
 Most numerous type of synapse
 Facilitates interactions
 between neurons
 between neurons and effectors.
 These are cell junctions
 Presynaptic membrane:
 releases a signaling molecule called a neurotransmitter, such
as acetylcholine (ACh).
 Other types of neurons use other neurotransmitters.
 Postsynaptic membrane:
 Contains receptors for neurotransmitters

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Neurotransmitters
 Released from the plasma membrane of the
presynaptic cell.
 Then binds to receptor proteins on the
plasma membrane of the postsynaptic cell.
 A unidirectional flow of information and
communication
 Two factors influence the rate of conduction
of the impulse:
 axon’s diameter
 presence (or absence) of a myelin sheath.
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Neuronal Pools (or Neuronal
Circuits or Pathways)
 Billions of interneurons within the CNS are grouped in
complex patterns called neuronal pools (or neuronal
circuits or pathways).
 Neuronal pools are defined based upon function, not
anatomy, into four types of circuits:
 converging
 diverging

 reverberating

 parallel-after-discharge

 A pool may be localized, or its neurons may be distributed in

several different regions of the CNS.

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