Chapter 12 Learning Objectives:
After studying this material you should be able to:
1. Describe the major anatomical subdivisions of the nervous system.
2. List the general functions of the nervous system and how these relate to the general classes of nerve cells.
3. Describe the basic physiological properties of nerve cells that enable them to carry out their functions.
4. Give two examples of effectors.
5. Compare and contrast the central and peripheral nervous systems as well as the visceral and somatic divisions of the sensory and motor systems of the PNS.
6. Identify the alternative name for the visceral motor system and discuss why this alternative name is appropriate.
7. Describe the two subdivisions of the visceral motor system and what is the major function of each.
8. Identify the typical anatomy of a neuron and how that structure may differ depending on the functional classification and/or location of the neuron.
9. List and describe the functions of the various glial cells, how they support neuronal functioning and where each is found.
10. Describe the importance of myelinization and how the absence of a myelin sheath can cause serious implications.
11. Describe the process of nerve regeneration in 4-6 steps – what two components must be present?
12. Draw a multipolar neuron and label its soma, dendrites, axon, terminal arborization, synaptic knobs, myelin sheath, and nodes of Ranvier.
13. Explain the difference between a sensory neuron, motor neuron, and interneuron.
14. Discuss the functional difference between a dendrite and an axon.
15. Explain why a cell has an electrical charge difference (voltage) across its membrane.
16. Explain how stimulation of a neuron causes a local electrical change in its membrane, how this generates a nerve signal, and how a nerve signal is transmitted down an axon.
17. Discuss what causes K+ to diffuse out of a resting cell?
18. Describe what happens to Na+ when a neuron is stimulated on its dendrite and how the movement of Na+ raises the voltage of the plasma membrane.
19. Explain what it means to say that a local potential is graded, decremental, and reversible.
20. Discuss what makes an action potential rise to +35mV and what causes it to drop after this peak.
21. List three ways in which an action potential is different from a local potential.
22. Explain how stimulation of a postsynaptic cell is stopped.
23. Give 4 examples of neurotransmitters and describe their actions.
24. List the four types of neuronal circuits and describe their similarities and differences. Discuss the unity of form and function – why would each type not function in the same way if its neurons were connected differently?