Friday, April 27, 2012


The Nervous System:

The nervous system in made up of the central nervous system (CNS) and the peripheral nervous system (PNS). The central nervous system is composed of the brain and spinal cord. Neurons are the basic building blocks of the nervous system. A neuron has three main parts, a cell body, an axon and a dendrite.  The dendrite is a specialized receiving unit of the neuron while the axon conducts the electrical impulses away from the cell body and sends it to other neurons. Neurons vary greatly in shape and size. Supporting cells of different types surround neurons.

Questions regarding neurons and the nervous system:
What is the difference between the CNS and the PNS?
What does an axon do? Dendrite?


References:
A basic neuron, (n.d.), retrieved from http://www.methuen.k12.ma.us/mnmelan/The Nervous system.htm

Passer, M. W., & Smith, R. E. (5th Edition). The science of mind and behavior. In McGraw-Hil.


4 comments:

  1. CNS or Central Nervous System connects the brain and spinal cord sending messages to and form the brain to the spinal cord.
    PNS or Peripheral Nervous System connects the cranial and spinal nerves relaying info to and from.

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  2. Second question: An axon (also known as a nerve fiber) is a long, slender projection of a nerve cell, or neuron, that typically conducts electrical impulsesaway from the neuron's cell body.
    Dendrite is a main receptive of input regions. provide an enormous surface area for receiving signals from other neurons. in the brain it collects information.

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  3. -The CNS is central, composed of the brain and spinal cord while the PNS is peripheral and composed of the sensorymotor system.
    -The axon conducts the electrical impulses away from the cell body and sends it to other neurons. The dendrite is a receiving unit of the neuron, it receives the information.

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  4. - CNS is the central nervous system including brain and spinal cord while PNS is peripheral nervous system which includes the sensory motor system
    -the axon send the message away from the cell body to another cell body. while the dendrite receives the message from another neuron

    ReplyDelete