Structures of the Nervous system

University of Phoenix Material
Appendix B

Structures of the Nervous System

This activity will increase your understanding of the different structures of the nervous system and brain. During the Web activity, you will view a variety of structures of the brain and nervous system and label each with the appropriate term. You will use this document to write a description for the terms you used in the activity.

As you conduct the Structures of the Nervous System activity, follow along with this Word document and fill in the descriptions of those terms you used to label the structures. All of the terms in the activity are listed here, but you only need to provide descriptions for those you used.

Term
Description
Central nervous system
It is located within the spine and skull and is the division of the nervous system.
Cell body
It is the center of the neuron
Peripheral nervous system
It is located outside of the skull and spine.
Dendrites
The dendrites receive most of the synaptic contacts from other neurons. It’s the short processes emanating from the cell body
Somatic nervous system

Axon
The long, narrow process that projects from the cell body
Buttons
They are at the endings of axon branches that release chemicals into synapses
Autonomic nervous system

Synapses
It’s the gaps between adjacent neurons across which chemical signals are transmitted
Dura mater meninx
It’s the outer meninx and it is a tough membrane that protects the brain and spinal cord
Mesencephalon
This has two divisions that are the tectum and the tegmentum. It’s function is auditory and visual Arachnoid meninx
It is inside the dura mater.
Cerebrospinal fluid
It fills the subarachnoid space, central canal of the spinal cord, and the cerebral ventricles of the brain.
Diencephalon
It has two structures the thalamus and the hypothalamus. Its functions are to receive signals from sensory resceptors, process them, and transit them and regulates several