Mrs. Bingham
Medical Seminar
29 May 2015
The Nervous System Analysis Questions
Station 1
1. The brain is protected by the skull, meninges, cerebrospinal fluid and the bloodbrain barrier. 2. The dendrites, or "tentacles," of a neuron pick up an electrical nerve impulse and conduct it towards the soma, or cell body. The nerve impulse travels through the soma and is then conducted down a threadlike fiber called the axon. At the end of the axon, the impulse travels over a gap called a synapse to reach the dendrites of the next cell.
Station 2
1. Neurotmesis is defined as a cut in the nerve. It is the most severe grade of injury to a peripheral nerve. Axonotmesis is defined as a cut in the axon. It is a less severe injury to the peripheral nerve than neurotmesis. Neurapraxia is the mildest form of injury to the peripheral nerve. It causes a temporary loss of motor and sensory function and usually recovers between 68 weeks of the injury.
2. Three examples of injuries that could cause nerve damage include: Laceration, Focal contusion(gunshot wounds) and Electrical injuries.
3. When the nerve or muscle is damaged, it will not send the signal to contract that portion of muscle, and no sweating will occur in that area.
Station 3
1. Purkinje fibres are some of the largest neurons in the brain. They are found within the purkinje layer in the cerebellum.
2. The ventral root send out electrochemical signals to the body’s muscles and glands.
These impulses control: Muscular contractions, Hormone synthesis and Gland secretion.
3. The epineurium and perineurium are connective tissues.
4. When a motor neuron reaches a muscle fiber, it does not touch the fiber, but fits into a hollow on the surface of the muscle fiber.
Station 4
1. The blind spot is the area of vision where the optic nerve attaches to the retina, and there are no receptors for light.
2. To suffer from colorblindness only the X of a man’s XY chromosome must be color defective whereas for a woman to suffer from colorblindness both of her XX chromosomes must have the trait for color blindness. This is why men are much more likely to suffer from colorblindness than woman.
3. Depth perception is the visual ability to perceive the distance of an object as well as perceiving the world in three dimensions. Depth perception is affected in some way by closing one eye. For example, with both eyes you might be able to tell than an object is 2 feet away but with one eye closed that 2 feet might not look like 2 feet.
Station 5
1. Some common causes found between most of the neurological disorders include: Family history, HBP and diabetes and age factors.
2. Some common symptoms found between most of the neurological disorders include:
Depression and weakness related symptoms.
Station 6
1. I had a much faster reaction time with my dominant hand(right) compared to my nondominant hand. This might have been because of the amount of time I spend doing things with my right hand, which is my dominant hand.
2. Distractions did not have a large effect on me catching the ruler. My average reaction time with distractions was better than my reaction time with my nondominant hand.
3. There wasn’t a large difference in my reaction times while listening and watching. I think this was because I was paying complete attention in both of the scenarios to catch the ruler. Likewise, if there was a difference in