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Anatomy and Physiology of The Nerve

Nerve tissue is composed of neurons and glial cells that provide support and protection. Glial cells include astrocytes, microglia, oligodendrocytes, and ependymal cells. Neurons have a cell body, dendrites that receive signals, and an axon that conducts signals. Axons are wrapped in a myelin sheath produced by oligodendrocytes in the central nervous system and Schwann cells in the peripheral nervous system. At nodes of Ranvier, gaps in the myelin allow saltatory conduction and rapid nerve impulse transmission. Neurotransmitters are released at synapses between neurons to propagate signals chemically. Neurons are classified structurally as multipolar,

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100 views

Anatomy and Physiology of The Nerve

Nerve tissue is composed of neurons and glial cells that provide support and protection. Glial cells include astrocytes, microglia, oligodendrocytes, and ependymal cells. Neurons have a cell body, dendrites that receive signals, and an axon that conducts signals. Axons are wrapped in a myelin sheath produced by oligodendrocytes in the central nervous system and Schwann cells in the peripheral nervous system. At nodes of Ranvier, gaps in the myelin allow saltatory conduction and rapid nerve impulse transmission. Neurotransmitters are released at synapses between neurons to propagate signals chemically. Neurons are classified structurally as multipolar,

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judssalangsang
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Anatomy and Physiology of the Nerve

Nerve Tissue : Structure and Function

Supporting Cells Astrocytes


- abundant star-shaped cells that account for nearly half of the neural tissue -form a living barrier between capillaries and neurons play a role in making exchanges between the two. In this way, they help protect the neurons from harmful substances that might be in the blood. Astrocyte also help control the chemical environment in the brain by picking up excess ions and recapturing release neurotransmitters.

Microglia
- spiderlike phagocytes that dispose of debris, including dead brain cells and bacteria.

Ependymal cells these glial cells line the cavities of the brain
and the spinal cord. The beating of their cilia helps to circulate the cerebrospinal fluid that fills those cavities and forms a protective cushion around the CNS.

Oligodendrocytes glia that wrap their flat


extensions tightly around the nerve fibers, producing fatty insulating coverings called myelin sheaths.

NEURONS
Cell body is the metabolic center of the neuron. It contains the
usual organelles except for centrioles (which confirms the amitotic nature of most neurons).

Rough ER, called Nissl substance, and neurofibrils,


intermediate filaments that are important in maintaining cell shape, are particularly abundant in the cell body.

Dendrites - Neuron processes that convey incoming messages


(electrical signals) towards the cell body.

Axons - generate nerve impulses and typically


conduct them away from the cell body depending.

Axon hillock cone-like region of the cell body


called the axon hillock.

Myelin - whitish, fatty material, which has a waxy


appearance. Myelin protects and insulates the fibers and increases the transmission rate of nerve impulses.

Schwann cells - specialized supporting cells that wrap


themselves tightly around the axon jelly roll fashion. When the wrapping process is done, a tight coil of wrapped membranes, the myelin sheath encloses the axon.

Nodes of Ranvier - since the myelin sheath is formed by


many individual Schwann cells, it has gaps or indentations at irregular intervals.

Synapse small gap or space between the axon of one neuron


and the dendrites or cell body of the next neuron.

Axonal terminals
- These terminals contain hundreds of tiny vesicles, or membranous sacs, that contain chemicals called neurotransmitters. Since axons transmit nerve impulses away from the cell body. When these nerve impulses reach the axonal terminals, they stimulate the release of neurotransmitters into the extracellular space.

The important neurohumoral neurotransmitters or chemical transmitters are:

o Acetylcholine found at neuromuscular junctions, in the CNS, and in much of the peripheral nervous systems. This usually makes a post synaptic membrane more permeable to Na+ ions, which brings about depolarization of postsynaptic neuron. Cholinesterase is the inactivator of acetylcholine. o Adrenaline

o Noradrenaline

CLASSIFICATION
FUNCTIONAL CLASSIFICATION

Sensory (afferent) neuron conduct impulses from sensory


receptors (in the skin, viscera, muscles) to the central nervous system.
Cutaneous sense organs skin Propioceptors muscles and tendons

Types of sensory receptors: a. naked nerve endings (pain and temperature receptors) b. Meissners corpuscles (touch receptor) c. Pacinian corpuscles (deep pressure receptor) d. muscle spindle (proprioceptor)

Motor (efferent) neuron transmit impulses from the


CNS (brain of the spinal cord) to the viscera and/or muscles and glands.

Association neurons (interneurons) complete


the communication pathway between sensory and motor neurons; their cell bodies reside in the CNS.

STRUCTURAL CLASSIFICATION
Multipolar neurons
have one axon and several dendrites. Brain and spinal cord neurons are generally multipolar neurons.

Bipolar neurons have one axon and one dendrite. Most of these neurons are found in the retina of the eye, the inner ear, and the olfactory area.

Unipolar neurons Neurons with onlyone process extending from the cell bo dy .The one process divides with one part acting as an axon and the other part functioning as dendrite. Unipolar neurons are found in the posterior (se nsory) root ganglia of the spinal nerves.

NERVE IMPULSES
Neurons have two major functional properties:

Irritability : the ability to respond to a stimulus and convert into a nerve impulse, and; Conductivity : the ability to transmit the impulse to other neurons, muscles or glands.

A neuron not carrying an impulse is in the state of Polarization, with Na+ ions more abundant outside the cell , and K+ ions and negative ions more abundant inside the cell. The neuron has positive charge on the outside of the cell membrane and a relative negative charge inside. A stimulus (such as neurotransmitter) makes the membrane very permeable to Na+ ions, will rush into the cell. This brings about depolarization, a reversal of charges on the membrane. The outside now has negative charge, and the inside has positive charge.

As soon as depolarization takes place, the neuron membrane becomes very permeable to K+ ions, which rush out of the cell. This restores the positive charge outside and negative charge inside, and this is called repolarization. (The term action potential refers to depolarization followed by repolarization). Then the sodium and potassium pumps return Na+ ions outside and K+ inside, and the neuron is ready to respond to another stimulus and transmit another impulse. An action potential in response to a stimulus takes place very rapidly and is measured in milliseconds. An individual neuron is capable of transmitting hundreds of action potentials (impulses) each second.

Transmission of electrical impulses is very rapid. The presence of an insulating myelin sheath increases the velocity of impulses, since only the nodes of Ranvier depolarize. This is called saltatory conduction. Many of our neurons are capable of transmitting impulses at a speed of many meters per second. You can see how the nervous system can communicate so rapidly with all the parts of the body, and why it is such an important regulatory system. At synapses, nerve impulse transmission changes from electrical to chemical and depends on the release of neurotransmitters. Although diffusion across synapses is slow, the synapses are so small that this does not significantly affect the velocity of impulses in a living person.

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