Parts of the Nervous System
The body's master control center, housed inside the skull.
What is the brain?
The largest part of the brain; controls thinking, memory, and voluntary movement.
What is the cerebrum?
Short, branching extensions of a neuron that receive incoming signals.
What are dendrites?
This division includes all nerves outside the brain and spinal cord.
What is the Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)?
Causes progressive memory loss, confusion, and personality changes due to neuron destruction.
What is Alzheimer's disease?
This long structure runs through the vertebral column connecting the brain to the body.
What is the spinal cord?
Regulates vital functions like breathing, heart rate, and blood pressure.
What is the medulla oblongata?
The long fiber that carries electrical impulses away from the cell body.
What is the axon?
Controls involuntary functions like digestion and heart rate.
What is the Autonomic Nervous System?
Results from myelin sheath damage, causing weakness, vision problems, and fatigue.
What is Multiple Sclerosis (MS)?
This division includes the brain and spinal cord.
What is the Central Nervous System (CNS)?
Acts as the brain's relay station, directing sensory signals to the correct area.
What is the thalamus?
The fatty white substance that coats the axon and speeds up signal transmission.
What is myelin (myelin sheath)?
Triggers the "fight or flight" response.
What is the sympathetic nervous system?
Characterized by recurring seizures from abnormal electrical activity in the brain.
What is epilepsy?
The basic structural and functional units of the nervous system.
What are neurons?
Connects the two hemispheres of the cerebrum.
What is the corpus callosum?
This type of neuron carries signals from the brain/spinal cord to muscles and glands.
What is a motor neuron?
Responsible for the "rest and digest" response.
What is the parasympathetic nervous system?
Degenerative disease affecting motor neurons, causing progressive muscle weakness.
What is ALS?
Located at the back of the brain, it coordinates balance and fine motor movements.
What is the cerebellum?
Controls hunger, thirst, body temperature, and hormone release.
What is the hypothalamus?
The tiny gap between two neurons where neurotransmitters are exchanged.
What is the synapse?
Controls voluntary skeletal muscle movement; part of the PNS.
What is the somatic nervous system?
Inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord.
What is meningitis?