1. Identify the major anatomical directional terms and planes of section.

Rostral/anterior – toward the head of a four- Contralateral – structures on opposite sides of

legged animal the midline.
Caudal/posterior – toward the tail of a four- Medial – toward the midline
legged animal. Lateral – away from the midline.
Inferior/ventral – toward the belly of a four- Proximal – closer to the center. Usually applied
legged animal to limbs.
Superior/dorsal – toward the back of a four- Distal – farther away from another structure,
legged animal usually in reference to limbs
Neuroaxis – line that runs the length of the Coronal section – dividing the brain from to
spinal cord to the front of the brain. back. Aka frontal section.
Midline – dividing the body into two equal Sagittal section – parallel to the midline
halves. Midsagittal section – divides the brain into two
Ipsilateral – referring to structures on the same approximately equal halves.
side of the midline. Horizontal/axial section – divides the brain
from top to bottom.

2. Describe the three layers of the meninges, the circulation of cerebrospinal fluid, and the major sources of blood
supply to the brain.
3 layers of the meninges:
Dura mater – means “hard mother.”
o Composed of leather-like tissue that follows the outlines of the skull bones.
 Arachnoid layer – more delicate layer

Pia mater – the innermost layer.

o Sticks closely to the outer side of the brain.

All three layers cover the brain and spinal cord.

Dura mater and Pia mater cover nerves that exit the brain and spinal cord (the peripheral nervous system).

Circulation of the cerebrospinal fluid

Cerebrospinal fluid – secreted within the hollow spaces in the brain.

- Very similar in composition to the clear plasma of the blood.

- It floats the brain within the skull.
- Made constantly, turned over about three times per day.
- Old CSF is reabsorbed into the blood supply at the top of the head.
- Moves through a completely self-contained and separate circulation system that never has direct
contact with the blood supply.
- A spinal tap is withdrawing fluid from the subarachnoid space through a needle, usually to diagnose
brain related diseases.

Choroid plexus – converts material from nearby blood supply into cerebrospinal fluid.

o It circulates through the central canal of the spinal cord and four ventricles in the brain: the two lateral
ventricles, one in each hemisphere, and the third and fourth ventricles in the brainstem.
o Below the fourth ventricle, there is a small opening that allows the CSF to flow into the subarachnoid space
that surrounds both the brain and spinal cord.

o System blockages sometimes occur, this is known as hydrocephalus, apparent at birth in affected infants.
 o Hydrocephalus literally means “water on the brain.” Can cause mental retardation, as large quantity of CSF
prevents the normal growth of the brain. Can be treated by the installation of a shunt to drain off excess
fluid.

Major Sources of Blood Supply in the Brain

- Carotid arteries on either side of the neck.

- Vertebral arteries – travel up through the back of the skull.
- Once inside the skull, they branch out to form the anterior,
middle, and posterior cerebral arteries, which serve most of the
brain.
o Any interruption of the blood supply produces damage very quickly
because the brain is unable to store energy.
o Significant brain damage occurs less than three minutes after the
stopping of a person’s heart.

Questions:

a. Which layers of meninges are found in the central and peripheral nervous systems?
Answer: Dura mater and Pia mater surrounds the PNS. Arachnoid layer, Dura mater, and Pia mater
surrounds the CNS.
b. Why do we have cerebrospinal fluid, and where in the nervous system is found?
Answer: to help cushion them from injury and provide nutrients.
3. Describe the major divisions and functions of the spinal cord.
o The spinal cord is shorter than the vertebral column because the cord itself stops growing before the bones
in the vertebral column do.
o There are 31 segments of the spinal cord.
a. 8 Cervical nerves – serves the area of the head, neck, and arms.
b. 12 thoracic nerves – serve most of the torso.
c. 5 lumbar nerves – serve the lower back and legs. If someone complains of lower back pain, this means
he has lumbar problems.
d. 5 sacral nerves – serve the back of the legs and the genitals.
e. 1 coccygeal nerve.
o Spinal cord is the original information superhighway.
o When viewed in a horizontal section, much of the cord appears white. White matter is made up of nerve
fibers known as axons. This tissue looks white due to a fatty matter known as myelin.
o Gray matter consists of areas primarily made up of cell bodies. The neurons found in the dorsal horns of
the H receive sensory input, whereas neurons in the ventral horns of the H pass motor information on to
the muscles. Ventral horn cells participate in either voluntary movement or spinal reflexes.
o Damage to the spinal cord results in loss of sensation (of both the skin and internal organs) and loss of
voluntary movement in parts of the body served by nerves located below the damaged area.
o A person with cervical damage is quadriplegic, or loss of control over all four limbs.
o A person with lumbar damage or paraplegic, use of arms and torso is maintained, but sensation and
movement in the lower torso and legs are lost.
o Currently, spinal damage is considered permanent, but significant progress is being made in repairing the
spinal cord.

4. Identify the major structures and functions of the hindbrain, midbrain, and forebrain.
HINDBRAIN
 - There are two divisions of the hindbrain, the Myelencephalon (Medulla) and the Metencephalon.
o Myelencephalon (Medulla)
o Medulla contains large quantities of white matter.
o It contains a number of nuclei, or collections of cell bodies with shared functions.
o Some nuclei contain cell bodies whose axons make up several of the cranial nerves serving the
head and neck area.
o Other nuclei manage essential functions such as breathing, heart rate, and blood pressure.
o Damage to the medulla is typically fatal, due to its control over these vital functions.
o Along the midline of the upper medulla, we see the caudal portion of a structure known as the
reticular formation. It is a complex collection of nuclei that runs along the midline of the
brainstem from the medulla up into the midbrain. It plays an important role in the regulation of
sleep and arousal.

o Metencephalon
o Contains two major structures: the pons and the cerebellum.
o The pons lies immediately rostral to the medulla. It means “bridge” in Latin. Its role is to form
connections between the medulla and higher brain centers as well as with the cerebellum.
o Among the important nuclei found at this level of the brainstem are the cochlear nucleus and the
vestibular nucleus.
o The cochlear nucleus receives information about sound, and vestibular nucleus receives
information about the position and movement of the head. This vestibular input helps us keep our
balance (or make us feel motion sickness on occasion).
o The pons contains a number of other important nuclei that have wide-ranging effects on the
activity of the rest of the brain. Nuclei located within the pons are necessary for the production of
rapid-eye movement (REM) sleep.
o The raphe nuclei and the locus coeruleus project widely to the rest of the brain and influence
mood, states of arousal, and sleep.
o The cerebellum looks almost like a second little brain attached to the dorsal surface of the
brainstem.
o It contains more nerve cells (neurons) than the rest of the brain combined. Its structure resembles
a tree. White matter, or axons, forms the trunk and branches, while gray matter, or cell bodies,
forms the leaves.
o Traditionally, cerebellum was viewed to have a major role in coordinating voluntary movements,
maintaining muscle tone, and regulating balance.
 o Inputs from the spinal cord tell the cerebellum about the current location of the body in three-
dimensional space.
o Input from cerebral cortex, by way of the pons, tells the cerebellum about the movements you
intend to make.
o The cerebellum then processes the sequences and timing of muscle movements required to carry
out the plan.
o Damage to the cerebellum affects skilled movements, including speech production. Because the
cerebellum is one of the first structures affected by the consumption of alcohol, most sobriety
tests, such as walking a straight line or pointing in a particular direction, are actually tests of
cerebellar function. It also contributes to the experience of motion sickness.
o Contemporary views on the other hand view the cerebellum as responsible for much more than
balance and motor coordination. They believe that it is involved in some of our more sophisticated
processing of information.
o In the course of evolution, the size of the cerebellum has kept pace with increases in the size of the
cerebral cortex. One of the embedded nuclei of the cerebellum, the dentate nucleus, has become
particularly large in monkeys and humans.
o A part of the dentate nucleus, known as the neodentate, is found only in humans.
o In addition to language difficulties, patients with cerebellar damage also experience subtle deficits
in cognition and perception.
o It also participates in learning. In cases of autism, a disorder in which language, cognition, and
social awareness are severely afflicted, the most reliable anatomical marker is an abnormal
cerebellum.
o Most theories propose a cerebellum that can use past experience to make corrections and
automate behaviors, whether they involve motor systems or not.

MIDBRAIN (Mesencephalon)

o Tectum – the dorsal or top half

o Tegmentum – ventral or bottom half.
o The CSF is contained in a small channel at the midline known as the cerebral aqueduct.
o The cerebral aqueduct separates the tectum from tegmentum and links the third and fourth
ventricles.
o Periaqueductal gray – cell bodies that surround the cerebral aqueduct. It plays an important role in
our perception of pain.
o There are large numbers of receptors in the periaqueductal gray that respond to opiates such as
morphine and heroin. Electrical stimulation of this area provides considerable relief from pain.
o Midbrain contains the most rostral portion
of the reticular formation and a number of
nuclei associated with cranial nerves.
o The red nucleus and substantia nigra are
some of the important motor nuclei found
at the rostral portion of the reticular
formation in the brainstem.
o The red nucleus located within the
reticular formation communicates motor
information between the spinal cord and
the cerebellum.
o The substantia nigra, literally means “black
stuff”, is closely connected with the basal
 ganglia of the forebrain. Its degeneration occurs in Parkinson’s disease, which is characterized by
difficulty moving.
o The dorsal part of the midbrain composed of four prominent bumps.
o The upper pair is known as the superior colliculi, it receives input from the optic nerves leaving the
eye. Although part of the visual system, they are unable to tell you what you’re seeing. Instead, it
allows us to make visually guided movements, such as pointing in the direction of a visual stimulus.
o The other pair of the bump is the inferior colliculi, this is involved in hearing or audition. It is one stop
along the pathway from the ear to the auditory cortex. It is also involved in auditory reflexes such as
turning the head in the direction of a loud noise. Further, it participates in the localization of sounds in
the environment by comparing the timing of the arrival of sounds at the two ears.

FOREBRAIN

o The forebrain contains the most advanced and most recently evolved structures of the brain.
o It is divided into two, the diencephalon and the telencephalon.
o Diencephalon contains the thalamus and hypothalamus, which are located at the midline just above
the mesencephalon or midbrain.
o Telencephalon contains the bulk of the symmetrical left and right cerebral hemispheres.
The Thalamus and Hypothalamus
o The thalamus is the upper portion of the diencephalon. It has two thalamic nuclei, one on
either side of the midline.
o Inputs from most of our sensory systems converge on the thalamus, which then forwards
the information on to the cerebral cortex for further processing.
o The cerebral cortex in turn, forms large numbers of connections with the thalamus. The
exact purpose of this cortical input to the thalamus remains a mystery.
o Other than its role in sensation, it is also involved with states of arousal and consciousness.
o Damage to the thalamus typically results in coma, and disturbances in circuits linking the
thalamus and cerebral cortex are involved in some seizures.
o The Thalamus has also been implicated in learning and memory.
o Hypothalamus is just below the thalamus. It is a major regulatory center for such behaviors
as eating, drinking, sex, biorhythms, and temperature control.
o It is a collection of nuclei. For example, the ventromedial nucleus of the hypothalamus
(VMH) participates in the regulation of feeding behavior.
o The superchiasmatic nucleus receives input from the optic nerve and helps set daily rhythms
according to the rising of the sum.
o The hypothalamus is directly connected to the pituitary gland, from which many important
hormones are released.
o It also directs the autonomic nervous system, the portion of the peripheral nervous system
that controls our glands and organs.

The Basal Ganglia

o Made up of several nuclei which participate in motor control.

o Ganglion, is a general term for a collection of cell bodies. This includes caudate nucleus,
putamen, globus pallidus, and subthalamic nucleus.
o Some anatomists include substantia nigra as part of the basal ganglia.
o Also associated with the basal ganglia is the nucleus accumbens, which plays an important
role in the experience of reward.
 o The basal ganglia are an important part of our motor system. Its degeneration, which occurs
in Parkinson’s disease and in Huntington’s disease, produces characteristic disorders of
movement.
o The basal ganglia have also been implicated in a number of psychological disorders, including
ADHD and OCD.

The Limbic System

o The hippocampus curves around within the cerebral hemispheres from close to the midline
out to the tip of the temporal lobe.
o It participates in learning and memory. Its damage produces a syndrome known as
anterograde amnesia. People with this type of memory loss have difficulty forming new
long-term declarative memories, which are memories for facts, language, and personal
experience. Patients with this condition have their memories prior to the damage relatively
intact, however, they were able to learn and remember procedures for solving a puzzle
requiring multiple steps, like the Tower of Hanoi.
o The amygdala plays important roles in fear, rage, and aggression. It also interacts with the
hippocampus during the encoding and storage of emotional memories. Its damage
specifically interferes with an organism’s ability to respond appropriately to dangerous
situations.
o In humans, autism, which produces either extreme and inappropriate fear and anxiety or a
complete lack of fear, might involve abnormalities of the amygdala.
o In rare cases, abnormalities in the amygdala result in irrational violence.
o Hypothalamus is often included in the limbic system. We are obviously emotional when it
comes to eating, drinking, and sex. The hypothalamus also produces our so-called flight-or-
fight response to emergencies.
o Electrical stimulation to parts of the hypothalamus can produce pleasure, rage, and fear as
well as predatory behavior.
o The cingulate cortex is a fold of cortical tissue on the inner surface of the cerebral
hemispheres. It contains an unusual and possibly recently evolved class of nerve cells known
as Von Economo neurons. They are found only in the great apes and humans and might,
therefore, have considerable significance for the recent evolution of intelligent behavior.
o The cingulate cortex is further divided into anterior and posterior sections. The anterior
cingulate cortex (ACC) exerts some influence over autonomic functions but has received the
greatest attention from neuroscientists for its apparent roles in decision-making, error
detection, emotion, anticipation of reward, and empathy.
o Further, the ACC processes information about pain. It does not only respond to physical pain,
but it also participates in social pain, such as the negative feelings associated with being
socially excluded by others. This might be a reflection of the evolution of the physical pain
system to manage more complex human social interactions.
o The posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) participated in a variety of functions, including eye
movements, spatial orientation, and memory. The PCC is one of the first structures in the
brain to be affected by Alzheimer’s disease.
o The septal area is located anterior to the thalamus and hypothalamus. Electrical stimulation
of this area is usually experienced as pleasurable, whereas lesions in this area produce
uncontrollable rage and attack behaviors. On one unforgettable occasion, a rat with a septal
lesion jumped on the researcher’s face when she leaned over to pick it up.
 o The olfactory bulbs, located at the vase of the forebrain. These structures receive and
process information about smell. If our sense of smell were not at all emotional, the
perfume industry would probably go out of business.
o The parahippocampal gyrus, a fold of tissue near the hippocampus, the mammillary bodies,
and the fornix, a fiber pathway connecting the mammillary bodies and the hippocampus,
are also included in many descriptions of the limbic system.
o These diverse structures are actually tightly connected with one another and participate in
memory processes.

The Cortex (Telencephalon)

o The outer covering of the cerebral hemispheres is

known as the cortex. It is a thin layer of gray matter
that varies from 1.5mm to 4 mm in thickness in
different parts of the brain. Unlike the spinal cord, the
cerebral hemispheres are organized with gray matter
on the outside and white matter on the inside. Below
the thin layers of cortical cell bodies are vast fiber
pathways that connect the cortex with the rest of the
nervous system.
o The cerebral cortex has a wrinkled appearance
somewhat like the outside of a walnut. The hills of the
cortex are referred to as gyri, and the valleys are known as sulci.
o A large sulcus is usually called a fissure.
o It is wrinkled as it provides more surface area for cortical cells. It allows the cortex to pack in
more neurons than we could otherwise.
o If stretched out flat, the human cortex would cover an area of about 2 ½ square feet.
o The degree of wrinkling, or convolution, is related to how advanced a species is.
o The cells of the cerebral cortex are organized in layers. In most parts of the cortex, there are
six distinct layers, which are numbered from the outermost layer toward the center of the
brain.
5. Describe the outer appearance and layered structure of the cerebral cortex and the location and function of the
four cortical lobes.
 Layer I has no cell bodies at all, it is made up of the nerve fibers of cells forming connections with other
layers.
  Layers II and IV contain large numbers of small cells known as granule cells.
 Layers III and V are characterized by large numbers of the triangular-shaped pyramidal cells. These layers
usually provide most of the output from an area of cortex to other parts of the nervous system.
 Layer VI has many types of neurons, which emerge into the white matter that lies below the cortical layers.
 The cerebral cortex can be divided into 4 lobes, the parietal lobe, temporal lobe, occipital lobe, and
frontal lobe.
6. Differentiate the sensory, motor, and association cortices.
 Further, we could divide it based on their functions. There are three functional divisions: sensory cortex,
motor cortex, and association cortex.
 The sensory cortex processes incoming information from the sensory systems. Different areas of the
sensory cortex are found in the occipital, temporal, and parietal lobes (the parietal is the primary
somatosensory cortex which has the highest level of processing information about touch, pain, position,
and temperature).
 The motor areas of the cortex provide the highest level of command for voluntary movements. The
primary motor cortex is located in the precentral gyrus of the frontal lobe.
 Some areas of the cortex have neither specific motor nor specific sensory functions. These areas are
known as association cortex. These are the areas we have available for connecting and integrating sensory
and motor functions.
 The right and left cerebral hemispheres are linked by a special branch of white matter known as the corpus
callosum and by the much smaller anterior commissure.

Localization of Function in the Cortex

 We can localize a number of specific functions in areas of the cerebral cortex. In many cases, these
functions appear to be managed by cortex on either the left or right hemisphere.
 The frontal lobe participates in a number of higher-level cognitive processes such as the planning of
behavior, attention, and judgment in addition to being the location of the primary motor cortex.
 Two important structures within the frontal lobes are the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, located to the top
and side of the frontal lobes, and the orbitofrontal cortex, located above and behind the eyes. These areas
of the frontal lobes maintain extensive, reciprocal connections with the limbic system, the basal ganglia,
and other parts of the cortex.
 The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex is involved in executive functions such as attention and working
memory and the planning of behavior.
 The orbitofrontal cortex is involved in impulse control.
 People with damage to the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex experience apathy, personality change, and the
lack of ability to plan.
 People with damage to the orbitofrontal cortex experience emotional disturbances and impulsivity.
 A research conducted by Yale researchers in 1935 reported evidence indicating that chimpanzees with
frontal lobe damage experienced a reduction in negative emotions. After hearing this result, a Portuguese
neurologist Egaz Monis advocated the use of frontal lobotomies with human patients to reduce fear and
anxiety in mental patients and in some people without major disorders.
 Without any remaining connection after the lobotomy, the functions of this area of cortex would be lost.
 The frontal lobe is also home to an important area of the motor cortex known as Broca’s area. It is
necessary for speech production. Damage to this area produces difficulty speaking but has relatively less
effect on a person’s understanding or comprehension of speech.
 For most people, language functions appear to be controlled by cortex on the left hemisphere rather than
on the right hemisphere.
 For the vast majority, the left hemisphere manages logical thought and basic mathematical computation. It
is the rational, school side of your brain.
  The right hemisphere appears to be more emotional and intuitive. Our appreciation for art and music, as
well as our ability to think three-dimensionally, are typically located in the right hemisphere.
 The corpus callosum acts as the bridge that relays messages from one hemisphere to the other.

7. Describe the structure and function of the cranial and spinal nerves.
THE PERIPHERAL NERVOUS SYSTEM
 The role of the PNS is to carry sensory information from the body to the spinal cord and brain and bring back
to the body commands for appropriate responses.
 It contains three structural divisions: the cranial nerves, spinal nerves, and the autonomic nervous system.
 The cranial and spinal nerves comprise the somatic nervous system. It brings sensory input to the brain and
spinal cord and returns commands to the muscles.
 The autonomic nervous system controls the actions of many glands and organs.
The Cranial Nerves
o 12 pairs of cranial nerves enter and exit the brain directly to serve the region of the head and neck.
o Three of the cranial nerves carry only sensory information. These are the olfactory nerve (I), optic
nerve (II), and the auditory nerve (VIII)
o Five of the nerves carry only motor information. The muscles of the eyes are controlled by the
oculomotor nerve (III), trochlear nerve (IV), and the abducens nerve (VI). The spinal accessory
nerve (XI) controls the muscles of the neck, and the hypoglossal nerve (XII) controls movement of
the tongue.
o The remaining nerves have mixed sensory and motor functions. The trigeminal nerve (V) controls
chewing movements but also provides some feedback regarding facial expression. The facial nerve
(VII) produces facial expressions and carries the sensation of taste. The glossopharyngeal nerve (IX)
performs both sensory and motor functions for the throat. Lastly, the long-distance fibers of the
vagus nerve (X) provide input and receive sensation from the heart, liver, and digestive tract.

The Spinal Nerves

o 31 pairs of spinal nerves exit the spinal cord to provide sensory and motor pathways to the torso,
arms, and legs.
o Each spinal nerve is also known as a mixed nerve, because it contains a sensory (afferent) nerve,
meaning toward the CNS, and motor (efferent) nerve, meaning away from the CNS.
 o The mixed nerves travel together to the part of the body they serve. This makes a great deal of
practical sense. Thie nerves that are bringing you sensory information from your hand are adjacent
to the nerves that tell your
hand to move.
o Damage to the mixed
nerve is likely to reduce both
sensation and motor
control for a particular part of
the body.

o Once outside the cord, the dorsal afferent root swells into the dorsal spinal ganglion, which contains
the cell bodies of the afferent nerves that process information about touch, temperature, and other
body senses from the periphery. Beyond the dorsal spinal ganglion, the dorsal and ventral roots join
to form a mixed nerve.
o Afferent (sensory) nerves contain both myelinated and unmyelinated fibers.
o Efferent (motor) nerves are all myelinated in the adult.
o Among the sensations carried by myelinated afferent fibers is the first, sharp experience of pain.
Small unmyelinated afferent fibers are responsible for that dull, achy feeling that follows injury.

The Autonomic Nervous System

o it was first described as “cells and fibers that pass to tissues other than the skeletal muscles.”
o It commands the heart, lungs, digestive system, and other organs.
o It manages many vital functions without conscious effort or awareness.
o Although, most vital functions work without conscious effort, it also takes attention sometimes. For
instance, it is vital that we take conscious control of our breathing patterns when we swim, or we’ll
end up swallowing a lot of water.
o We are capable of doing such through specialized training in biofeedback. People can learn to
control a number of autonomic processes, such as lowering blood pressure and reducing blood flow
to the brain to avoid migraine headaches. However, the effect may not last.
o The ANS is divided into two parts, the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system.
o These two systems usually have opposite effects on the same set of organs.
o The parasympathetic division is typically activated by internal stimuli such as the arrival of food in
the digestive system.
o The sympathetic nervous system is activated by external environmental cues such as the sensing of
danger.
The Sympathetic Nervous System
o It prepares the body for action.
o Ways of dealing with emergency: we can run, or we can fight. Thus, it is known as the fight-
or-flight system.
o In this type of emergency, our hearts race, our breathing is rapid, the palms of our hands get
sweaty, our faces are pale, and we are mentally alert and focused.
o The sympathetic nervous system prepares the body for fighting or feeling by shutting down
low-priority system and putting blood and oxygen into most necessary parts of the body.
With increased blood flow to the brain, mental alertness is at a peak.
o Axons from neurons in the thoracic and lumbar segments of the spinal cord communicate
with a series of ganglia just outside the cord known as the sympathetic chain.
o Fibers from cells in the sympathetic chain then communicate with target organs.
o Because the messages from the spinal neurons reach the sympathetic chain through fibers
of equal length, they arrive at about the same time. Consequently, input from the
sympathetic chain arrives at all of the target organs simultaneously.
o This coordinated response is essential for survival. It wouldn’t be efficient for the heart to
get a delayed message in the case of an emergency.
o If organs receive input from both sympathetic and parasympathetic systems, how do they
identify the source of input?
o This is accomplished through the types of chemical messengers used by the two systems.
Both the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems communicate with cells in ganglia
outside the spinal cord, which then form a second connection with a target organ.
o Both systems use the chemical messenger acetylcholine (Ach) to communicate with their
ganglia. At the target organ, the parasympathetic nervous system continues to use
acetylcholine.
o The sympathetic nervous system, however, switches to another chemical messenger,
norepinephrine, to communicate with target organs. The only exception is the connection
between the sympathetic nerves and the sweat glands, where acetylcholine is still used.
o This system of two chemical messengers provides a clear method of action at the target
organ. If the heart, for instance, is stimulated by acetylcholine, it will react by slowing. If it
receives stimulation from norepinephrine, it will speed up.
 o Survival depends on not having any ambiguities, mixed messages, or possibility of error.

The Parasympathetic Nervous System

o During times of
sympathetic
nervous system
activity, the body is
expending rather
than storing
energy.
o The job of the
parasympathetic
nervous system is
to provide rest,
repair, and energy
storage.
o Whereas the
neurons for the
sympathetic
nervous system
are found in the
thoracic and
lumbar regions of
the spinal cord, the
neurons for the
parasympathetic
 nervous system are found above and below these regions, in the brain and sacral divisions of
the spinal cord.
o After exiting the brain and sacral spinal cord, parasympathetic axons do not synapse with a
chain, as was the case with the sympathetic axons. Instead, they travel some distance to
locations near their target organs, where the parasympathetic ganglia are located.
o Because timing is not as important to parasympathetic activity as it is to sympathetic activity,
the coordination provided by a chain is no t necessary.

Central Control of the Autonomic Nervous System

o Hypothalamus – plays the greatest role in managing the autonomic nervous system.
o The pathways to and from the hypothalamus are exceedingly complex. Many structures
involved with emotion have the potential to affect the hypothalamus and, indirectly then,
the autonomic nervous system.
o As a result, the responses of our internal organs are tightly connected with our emotional
behaviors, leading to the many common physical symptoms we experience as a result of our
emotions.
o The hypothalamus, in turn, connects with the midbrain tegmentum and to the reticular
formation in particular.
o Damage to the midbrain vicinity of the red nucleus produces a wide variety of autonomic
disturbances, probably due to interruptions to large fiber pathways that descend form these
areas to the autonomic neurons of the lower brainstem and spinal cord.

SUMMARY POINTS:

a. The peripheral nervous system includes the cranial nerves, the spinal nerves, and the autonomic nervous
system. The 12 cranial nerves exit the brain and provide sensory and motor functions to the head and neck.
b. The autonomic nervous system processes sensory and motor information to and from glands, organs, and
smooth muscle. The sympathetic nervous system operates during times of arousal and prepares the body for
fight-or-flight reactions. The parasympathetic nervous system operates during times of rest and restoration.
8. Summarize the major structural and functional features of the peripheral nervous system.

9. Trace
the

evolution of the human nervous system.

Natural Selection and Evolution

 Natural selection – pressures of survival and reproduction in the wild would take
the place of the farmer. It favors the organism with the highest degree of fitness, or
likelihood of reproducing successfully compared with others of the same species.
 Fitness is described as the successful interaction between an organism’s
characteristics and the environment in which it exists.
 An organism that succeeds during an ice age might be at a significant disadvantage
during more temperate times.

Evolution of the Nervous System

 Nervous systems are a rather recent development belonging only to animals.

 It was estimated that the origin of the Earth was 4.5 billion years ago.
 Single-cell organisms appeared about 3.5 billion years ago and animals with very
simple nerve nets first developed about 700 million years ago.
 More complex animals, with the first rudimentary brains, appeared about 250
million years ago, and the first human brain probably appeared about 7 million
years ago.
 The neural networks that developed early, such as those found in snails, consist of
collections of cells, or ganglia, that control certain aspects of the animal’s behavior
in a particular region of the body. However, they do not perform the central
executive functions we normally attribute to the brain.
 Most of these primitive nervous systems are located in the more vulnerable ventral,
or belly side, of the animal where they are easily damaged or attached. Because
they lack a spinal column, such animals are referred to by biologists as
invertebrates.
 Animals with spinal columns and real brains are referred to as vertebrates, or chordates.
 Brains provide a number of advantages for chordates compared with the neural networks found in more
primitive species since the brain and spinal cord coordinate all of the animal’s activity.
 The brain exerts this executive control from its vantage point in the head.
 With its centralized functions and ability to integrate sensory input, the brain of the first chordates to appear
on the scene many millions of years ago enabled those animals to respond consistently and rapidly.

 Early brains differ from more advanced brains in both size and degree of convolution, or folding, of the
cortex. In addition, the size of the cerebellum increased in more advanced chordate species.
Evolution of the Human Brain
 Human beings are members of the primate order, a biological category that includes some 275 species of
apes, monkeys, lemurs, tarsiers, and marmosets.
 We are further classified as being in the suborder of apes, the family of hominids, and the species of Homo
sapiens.
 In the past 7 million years, the following are some of the hominid species: the Sahelanthropus tchadensis,
Australopithecus.
 The first Homo species was the Homo habilis, lived about 2 million years ago. The analysis of their fossilized
skulls suggests a well-developed Broca’s area, indicating that speech was a possibility.
 Homo erectus, a species with nearly modern brain size and upright posture, lived from about 1.5 million to
perhaps 300,000 years ago. They showed behavioral signs of improved intellect that corresponded with
increased brain size, such as advanced tool use and the controlled use of fire.
 Homo sapiens appeared approximately 200,000 years ago. By this point, early humans had migrated
extensively throughout Europe and Asia. Their tools used appeared quite sophisticated, they hunted
efficiently, and their culture, which included the ritual burial of their dead, was cooperative and social.
 The outstanding feature of modern humans is brain size. Within a species, brain size does not correlate well
with intelligence. However, brain size does correlate with differences in intelligence between species,
although we need to make some adjustments for body size.
 Elephants have much larger brains than humans, and although elephants are clearly quite intelligent, they’re
not as smart as people.
 Jerison (1973) proposed that a ratio of body weight and brain weight be used to predict intelligent behavior
between species.
 This rationale suggests that it takes a certain amount of brain, analogous to the operating system of your
computer, to run a certain size body.
 He further modified his argument by computing an encephalization quotient (EQ), a ratio of brain size to the
expected brain size for a particular size of body. By this measure, human beings clearly stand apart from even
their most large-brained fellow creatures.

 Among hominid species, brain development appears to have occurred very quickly.
 The early tool-using australopithecines