ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY OF SOMATOSENSORY PATHWAY NEURON

NEURON - A neuron is specialized for excitation and nerve impulse conduction. Some neurons vary in shape and also in length. CELL BODY- The body is the part that contains that nucleus and other vital organelles. DENDRITES - The dendrites are the processes that taper from the cell body into many branches. They receive information from other neurons and pass it on to the cell body. AXON - Once the information has passed through the cell body, it reaches the axon, the long process that extends away from the cell body, it continues to pass along the electrical impulse. MYELIN - An axon may or may not surrounded by the lipid substance called myelin, which acts as an insulator for the electrical impulse. (Formed by Schwann cells) The myelin sheath is interrupted at intervals, allowing the impulse to interact with the interstitial fluid, outside of the neuron. TERMINAL BUTTON- The terminal buttons are at the end of the axons, that is where the message is collected and prepared to be transmitted to another neuron. SYNAPSE- The space between the terminal button of the neuron carrying the message and the dendrite of the neuron preparing to receive that message.

NERVE FIBERS Bundle of neurons KINDS OF NERVE FIBERS

1. Fast Nerve Fibers- are relatively small, only about 3 - 20 microm. in size (micrometer = 0.00001 meter). Just as the neurons could be myelinated, so can the nerve fibers. Since myelin speeds up the transmission process, one might figure that these fast fibers are myelinated, which they are. They can conduct an impulse at the rate of 20 meters per second. They one section of the fibers termed the A fibers. These fibers have their receptors only in certain areas of the body, they service only the skin and mucous membranes.

2. Slow Nerve Fibers- are termed the C fibers and are tiny and unmyelinated. Since the electrical message is allowed to leak out of the cell, because of the lack of myelin the transmission is much slower. These fibers are about 1 microm. in size but conduct at only about 1 meter per second. Unlike the fast fibers that service only the skin and mucous membranes, these C fibers service all of the skin and all of the body tissue, except nervous tissue and the brain itself, which is insensitive to pain. RECEPTORS PAIN PATHWAY

PATHOPHYSIOLOGY

Complication of DM II (Poor wound healing)

GANGRENE

SURGICAL INTERVENTION (AKA)