BiologyCode 5090
Mammalian nervous system
What this topic asks you to be able to do
- State that body functions are coordinated and regulated by the nervous system, which is made up of the brain, spinal cord and nerves
- Describe the mammalian nervous system as made up of the central nervous system (CNS), formed by the brain together with the spinal cord, and the peripheral nervous system (PNS), formed by the nerves outside the spinal cord and brain
- Identify on a diagram which neurones are sensory, which are relay and which are motor
- State that neurones transmit electrical impulses along their length
- Describe a simple reflex arc by tracing it from the receptor through the sensory neurone, relay neurone and motor neurone to the effector (muscles and glands)
- Describe a reflex action as an automatic response that happens rapidly when there is a stimulus
- Describe a synapse as the connection point where one neurone meets another
- Describe a synapse's structure, including the vesicles that contain neurotransmitter molecules, the synaptic gap and receptor proteins
- Describe the sequence of events at a synapse: an incoming impulse makes vesicles discharge neurotransmitter molecules into the synaptic gap; the molecules then diffuse to the far side and bind with receptor proteins there; as a result, a new impulse starts in the next neurone
- State that synapses make sure impulses pass in one direction only