Nervous system Reflexes and Senses, Study notes of Physiology

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Nervous system

Reflexes and Senses

Physiology Lab- 4 Wrood Slaim, MSc Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology University of Al-Mustansyria 2017 - 2018

• The nervous system is the part of an animal's body that coordinates its actions and transmits signals to and from different parts of its body.
• it consists of two main parts, the central nervous system (CNS) and the peripheral nervous system (PNS).
• The CNS contains the brain and spinal cord. The PNS consists mainly of nerves, which are enclosed bundles of the long fibers or axons, that connect the CNS to every other part of the body.
• Nerves that transmit signals from the brain are called motor or efferent nerves, while those nerves that transmit information from the body to the CNS are called sensory or afferent.

Nervous System

There are five parts to a reflex arc :

1. The receptor detects a stimulus.
2. The sensory (afferent) neuron sends an electrical signal to the CNS.
3. The integration center consists of one or more synapses in the CNS, and processes the information.
4. The motor (efferent) neuron sends an electrical signal from the CNS to the effector.
5. The effector, which may be muscle tissue or a gland, responds appropriately. Reflex arc: a pathway in which signals travel over many synapses on their way back to the muscle. Figure 1: the flexor reflex

Reflex Arc

There are two types of reflex arc:

1. autonomic reflex arc (affecting cardiac ,smooth muscles and glands).
2. somatic reflex arc (affecting skeletal muscles).

Somatic Reflexes

• Somatic reflexes include all those reflexes that involve stimulation of skeletal muscles by the somatic division of the nervous system.
• Some require only spinal cord activity; others require brain involvement as well.
• there are many different types of somatic reflexes including withdrawal reflexes and stretch reflexes and tendon reflexes.
• Stretch reflexes: are important postural reflexes, normally acting to maintain posture, balance, and locomotion
• Examples of Somatic reflexes : Corneal- blink reflex (respond to stimulus) Pateller: knee jerk (tap patellar ligament-stretches quads)

Purpose of the Reflexes tests:

• Reflex testing is an important diagnostic tool for assessing the general health of the nervous system. Distorted, exaggerated or absent reflexes may indicate pathology. If the spinal cord is damaged, reflex tests can help pinpoint the level of damage

Procedure for knee jerk reflex:

1. We keep the muscle of the lower limb in a neutral position.
2. we locate the patella tendon
3. we apply a strike on the patellar ligament just below the patella by a reflex hammer.
4. we notice that the leg kicks after striking the patellar tendon. Note : The examiner should support the subject’s knee so that the subject’s muscles are relaxed, and then strikes the patellar ligament with the reflex hammer. The proper location may be determined by palpation of the patella

Figure: The patellar (knee-jerk) reflex—a specific example of a stretch reflex.

Activity 2: Crossed-Extensor Reflex

• The crossed-extensor reflex is more complex than the stretch reflex. It consists of a flexor, or withdrawal, reflex followed by extension of the opposite limb.
• This reflex is quite obvious when, for example, a stranger suddenly and strongly grips one’s arm. The immediate response is to withdraw the grabbed arm and push the intruder away with the other arm.
• The reflex is more difficult to demonstrate in a laboratory because it is anticipated, and under these conditions the extensor part of the reflex may be inhibited.

Activity 3: Autonomic Reflexes :Pupillary Reflexes test

• The pupillary light reflex (PLR) is a reflex that controls the diameter of the pupil, in response to the intensity of light that falls on the retinal ganglion cells of the eye, thereby assisting in adaptation to various levels of lightness/darkness.
• A greater intensity of light causes the pupil to constrict (miosis) (allowing less light in), whereas a lower intensity of light causes the pupil to dilate (mydriasis, expansion) (allowing more light in). Thus, the pupillary light reflex regulates the intensity of light entering the eye
• We will test the pupillary light reflex and the consensual reflex. In both, the retina of the eye is the receptor, the optic nerve holds the afferent fibers, the oculomotor nerve contains the efferent fibers, and the smooth muscle of the iris is the effector organ.

Purpose of testing:

• Pupillary light reflex can distinguish between damage to CN II (the optic nerve) and damage to CN III (the oculomotor nerve)
• The optic nerve controls the direct pupillary light reflex.
• The oculomotor nerve, controls the consensual pupillary light reflex

Sensory Receptor Physiology

• Sensory receptors act as transducers, changing environmental stimuli into nerve impulses that are relayed to the CNS.
• Sensation (awareness of the stimulus) and perception (interpretation of the meaning of the stimulus) occur in the brain.
• Four qualities of cutaneous sensations have traditionally been recognized: tactile (touch), heat, cold, and pain.

Procedure

1. Using calipers, test the ability of the subject to differentiate two distinct sensations when the skin is touched simultaneously at two points
2. Start with the points right together, then gradually increase the distance apart. Record the distance at which the subject first reports feeling two distinct points of contact with the skin (the two-point threshold).
3. Find the shortest distance of caliper spikes at which the subject still senses two touches.
4. Repeat this measurement and Test the areas of the body as listed in the chart. Q/ Of the tested areas of the body, which ones seem to have the greatest density of receptors (smallest two-point threshold)?

Adaptation of Sensory Receptors

• The number of impulses transmitted by sensory receptors often changes both with the intensity of the stimulus and with the length of time the stimulus is applied.
• In many cases, when a stimulus is applied for a prolonged period, the rate of receptor discharge slows and conscious awareness of the stimulus declines or is lost until some type of stimulus change occurs.This phenomenon is referred to as adaptation.
• Some receptors adapt rapidly, such as certain types of touch receptors, and others, such a pain receptors, may not adapt at all.