Dr.

Niranjan Murthy H L
Asst Prof of Physiology
SSMC, Tumkur
 NERVOUS SYSTEM
1) Central nervous system- Brain & Spinal
cord
2) Peripheral nervous system

E) Neuron- functional unit

F) Neuroglia
 STRUCTURE OF NEURON
• Nerve cell with all it’s processes is
neuron
Parts:-
I. Axon-
i) generally long
ii) arises from axon hillock
iii) axis cylinder has axoplasm, neurofibrils &
mitochondria
iv) axons end in terminal buttons
v) carry impulses away from cell body
II. Dendrite:-
i) multiple & short
ii) contain nissl granules
iii) carry impulses towards soma
III. Cell body:- Neurocyton or Soma
i) Nucleus- pale, large, spherical, central
ii) Neuroplasm- has neurofibrils, nissl
granules, mitochondria, golgi apparatus,
neurosecretory material
 CLASSIFICATION OF NEURONS

I. (a) Golgi bottle type I

(b) Golgi bottle type II
II. Anatomic classification-
a) Unipolar
b) Pseudounipolar
c) Bipolar
d) Multipolar
e) Apolar
III. Physio-anatomic classification-
a) afferent
i) somatic
ii) visceral
b) efferent
i) somatic
ii) visceral
IV. Depending on myelination
a) myelinated
b) unmyelinated
V. Erlanger-Gasser’s Classification:-
Type Function diameter conduction
(μm) velocity
(m/s)
Aα proprioception, somatic 12-20 70-120
motor
Aβ touch, pressure 5-12 30-70
Aγ motor to muscle spindle 3-6 15-30
Aδ pain, temperature, 2-5 12-30
touch
B preganglionic autonomic <3 3-15
C i) Dorsal root- pain, touch, 0.4-1.2 0.5-2
ii) postganglionic 0.3-1.3 0.7-2.3
VI. Numerical classification
Number origin fiber type
Ia Muscle spindle, Aα
annulospiral ending
Ib Golgi tendon organ Aα
II Muscle spindle, flower-spray A β
ending, touch, pressure
III Pain, temperature, touch Aδ
IV Pain dorsal

root ‘C’
fibers
 MYELINATION
Nerve cells in grey matter are
naked. As they enter white
matter they acquire myelin
sheath. As the nerve
leaves CNS it acquires
neurolemma (sheath of
schwann)
Myelin sheath-
a protein-lipid complex
Envelops the axon except at
its ending & at nodes of
ranvier
Myelinogenesis-
Inside CNS myelin is produced by oligodendroglia &
outside CNS by schwann cells
Schwann cell wraps around axon up to 100times. This is
compacted by apposition of protein zero. Nodes of
ranvier are periodic 1μm constrictions which are 1mm
apart where there is no myelination
 PROPERTIES OF NERVE
• EXCITABILITY- it’s the ability of a
cell to produce action potential in
response to a stimulus.

action potential- it’s a self-propagating

change in potential across a cell
membrane.
LOCAL RESPONSE
ELECTROTONIC POTENTIAL ACTION POTENTIAL

Produced due to application of Produced due application of

subthreshold stimulus threshold stimulus

It is a local response Propagative type of response

It is a graded response All or nothing response

It has no latent period It has a latent period

It has no refractory period It has a refractory period

Not affected by hypoxia, Not produced during hypoxia,

anaesthesia anaesthesia
Stimulus- it’s a change in environment which brings
about a change in potential across a membrane in
an excitable tissue

Types of stimuli-
iv) Electrical
v) Chemical
vi) Thermal
vii) Mechanical
viii) Electromagnetic
it can also be classified into subliminal,
minimal (threshold), sub-maximal and maximal,
depending on the strength of stimulus.
 STRENGTH-DURATION CURVE
STRENGTH

2 X RHEOBASE

RHEOBASE

UTILISATION TIME
CHRONAXI
E
TIME
RHEOBASE- minimum current required to
produce action potential.

UTILIZATION TIME- time taken for

response when rheobase current is
applied.

CHRONAXIE- time taken for response when

twice rheobase current is applied. It is a
measure of excitability of tissues.
 Factors affecting excitability
• Temperature
• Mechanical pressure
• Blood supply
• Chemicals- CO2 & narcotics
• pH- increased excitability in alkaline and
reduced excitability in acidic media.
• Ions- Na+, Mg++ and K+ are neuro-
excitatory and Ca++ is neurosedative
 II. CONDUCTIVITY
Action potential is self-propagative
Conduction may orthodromic or
antedromic
In axon, conduction is towards terminal
buttons physiologically.
In myelinated nerves, conduction is
saltatory type.
 STIMULUS

+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
-+ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +

+ + + + + + + + - - - - - + + + + + + + + + +

- - - - - - - - - - + + + + + - - - - - - - - - - - - -

- - - - - - - - - - + + + + + - - - - - - - - - - -

+ + + + + + + + - - - - - - + + + + + + + + +
 Factors affecting conductivity

i) Temperature
ii) Mechanical pressure
iii) Blood supply
iv) Chemicals
v) pH
vi) Ions
vii) Size of the nerve
viii) Myelination
IONIC BASIS OF EXCITATION &
CONDUCTION
Resting membrane potential-
mainly due to leaky K+ channels( -70mv)
Action potential-
it has depolarization, repolarization,
after-depolarization and after-
hyperpolarization phases. It is mainly due
to Na+ and K+ conductance.
 Catelectrotonic current

Surface becomes less positive

Reduced potential difference

b/w inside & outside

Opening of voltage-gated Na+ channels

Rapid influx of Na+

Potential increases towards Na+ equilibrium

potential
Na+ channels enter inactivated state in few
milliseconds

Slow opening of voltage-gated K+ channel

Efflux of K+ ions

repolarization
III. ALL OR NONE RESPONSE
The action potential doesn’t occur in a
nerve if the stimulus is sub-threshold. If
the stimulus is threshold and above, the
action potential produced will be of same
amplitude, regardless of intensity of
stimulus.

* The frequency of action potential increases

with the increasing intensity of stimulus.
 IV.REFRACTORY PERIOD
1) Absolute refractory period-
it is the period during an action potential,
during which a second stimulus can’t produce
a second response.

4) Relative refractory period-

it is the period during an action potential,
during which a stimulus of higher intensity can
produce a second response
 V.ACCOMODATION
• When a stimulus is applied very slowly, no
matter however strong it might be, it fails
to produce an action potential.
• Cause: a slowly applied stimulus causes
slower opening of Na+ channels with
concomitant opening of K+ channels. The
influx Na+ of is balanced by efflux of K+ .
COMPOUND ACTION POTENTIAL
• Multi-peaked action potential recorded
from a mixed nerve bundle is called a
compound action potential.