Nervous System

Nervous System Fast Facts

The brain weighs about 3 pounds
Gross Picture Alert!
 Nervous System Fast Facts
The brain contains about 10 billion cells that regulate:

Your conscious acts

Ex. Walking, talking, playing the piano

Your involuntary functions

Ex. Coughing, blinking, swallowing, breathing

And your emotions

Ex. Love, anger
 Nervous System Fast Facts
The nervous system requires oxygen to do it’s
work.

Ex. 15 seconds without oxygen will cause us to lose

consciousness

Ex. 4 minutes without oxygen will cause irreparable

damage to the brain and even death
The Job Of The Nervous System

Sends and interprets “messages”

Allows the entire body, inside and out, to

work together
Neurons
(Nerve Cell)-
specialized cells that
carry information from
the brain to the body
and from the body to
the brain
 Real life
Microscope images of nerves!
 Vocabulary
 Central Nervous System- includes the
brain and spinal cord, it’s the body’s main
control center
 Vocabulary
 Peripheral Nervous
System- includes the
nerves that connect the
CNS to all parts of the
body
 Sensory Nerves & Motor Nerves

 You have two types of nerves:

 Sensory- carries messages from the sense

receptors to the brain and spinal cord

 Motor- carries messages from the brain to

the muscles, glands, and other body
structures, resulting in actions
 Parts Of The Brain
 Cerebrum- it’s the largest part of the brain, it
controls your ability to think, memorize, and
learn. It also receives messages for your
senses (sight, hearing, smell, touch, and taste)

 Cerebellum- it controls balance, posture, and

coordination.

 Medulla- it controls you involuntary muscle

actions such as breathing.
Cerebrum

Cerebellum

Medulla
Cranial Nerves
Problems With The Nervous System

 MS (Multiple Sclerosis)- degenerative

disease in which the protective outer coating
of nerves is damaged, thus the nerves no
longer work properly

 Problems with thinking and memory

Problems With The Nervous System
 Parkinson’s – Shaking and stiffness of the
arms and legs.

 Epilepsy – Seizures, as a result of abnormal

electrical activity in brain.

 Alzheimer’s – affects mostly older people, it

is inflamed areas in the brain and death of
neurons (atrophy). Leads to memory loss and
dementia
 Neck/Spine Injuries

 Can lead to paralysis

(loss of feeling and mobility in parts of the body)

 FACT: The medulla is part of your spinal

cord. If you break your neck, you may
damage this part of your brain. If this part of
your brain is damaged the result can be
death because your organs shut down!
 Nervous System
Diagram (W/Labels)

 http://www.edhelper.com/t
eachers/health_Nervous_
System_with_Labels.htm
 Review
 At this website, we will connect nerves from different body parts to the section of the spinal cord they connect to.

 Notice the parts of the brain that light up.

That section of the brain controls the

body part)

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