Biology, Eighth Edition (Raven)

Chapter 44: The Nervous System

Learning Outcomes

• Differentiate among afferent, efferent, and interneurons; CNS and PNS; somatic and autonomic motor neurons.
• Describe the structure of a typical neuron and indicate the function(s) of each of its parts.
• Explain what is meant by resting membrane potential and depolarization and understand how they are associated with transmission of a nerve impulse.
• Know the two kinds of gated membrane channels and how they are associated with ion movement through a cell membrane.
• Understand how an action potential is transmitted along a nerve and why it spreads only in one direction.
• Understand the importance of a chemical transmission of the nervous impulse across synapses.
• Identify the chemical(s) and describe the events associated with transmission of a nerve impulse across a neuromuscular junction.
• Know the primary divisions of the human brain and the function of each.
• Understand the anatomical and associative organization of the human cerebral cortex.
• Understand how the brain controls higher functions like learning and memory.
• Describe the structure of the spinal cord and the peripheral nervous system.
• Understand how a monosynaptic reflex arc is organized and functions.
• Describe the two systems associated with the antagonistic control of the autonomic nervous system and identify the neurotransmitter(s) associated with each.