Running head: THE NERVOUS SYSTEM EXPLAINED

The Nervous System Explained: Digress Functions, Structures, and Diseases of the General Sense Organs and Receptors Amanda M. Cordero West Career and Technical Academy

Author Note Amanda M. Cordero, Premedical Studies Program, West Career and Technical Academy. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Amanda M. Cordero, Premedical Studies Program, West Career and Technical Academy, Las Vegas, NV 89135. Contact: amandac780@westcta.ccsd.net

THE NERVOUS SYSTEM EXPLAINED Abstract This paper explores the human nervous system along with its general and special sense organs, receptors, and other functions and structures it possesses. The nervous system is a very intricate

part of the body that has many types of receptors, nerves, and processes that help it finish its job. A collection of nerves and neurons help the nervous system in transmitting different signals to the different parts of the human body. The nervous system has two divisions: the central and peripheral nervous system. While the central nervous system is composed of mainly the most important structures of the body: brain and spinal cord, the peripheral nervous system is mainly sensory neurons, ganglia, and other types of nerves. The nervous system has many other divisions, which is what makes it the most complex, convoluted, and intricate system of a human being. Keywords: baroreceptors, fast adaptation, mechanoreceptors, moderate adaptation , slow adaptation, thermoreceptors

THE NERVOUS SYSTEM EXPLAINED The Nervous System Explained: Digress Functions, Structures, and Diseases of the General Sense Organs and Receptors The human body has five general sense organs: eyes, taste buds, ears, nose, and skin. General sense organs consist of infinitesimal receptors distributed all across their structures and the human body. This category includes the organs that are more commonly associated with the five senses of the human body: sight, smell, touch, taste, and sound. More commonly, they are known to be the ears, nose, eyes, taste buds, and the skin. However, those are just a few of the general sense organs present in the human body. Each special sense organ comes equip with different types of receptors that help the nervous system in transmitting and receiving information from all over the body. This also includes information from the external

environment as well. The nervous system is the most complicated structure in the whole body. It has different types of structures and mechanisms that aid the body in maintaining homeostasis and other essential processes. It can override other body systems if something were to go wrong. This system is in charge of basically every process and action of the human body; it is the electrical wiring of the body. However, there are many things that can go wrong with many different components and processes of the nervous system. Many diseases and disorders often target the nervous system. They target anything from the special sense organs to receptors to main organs such as the brain and spinal cord. This may be the most complex and important system in the human body but it does not mean it is the strongest. The nervous system has different types of mechanisms that helps protect it from external and internal harm. An example would be a myelin sheath and Schwann cells that surrounds the axon. As a result, the axon does not come directly into contact

THE NERVOUS SYSTEM EXPLAINED with tissues surrounding it. But even with all this protection, the nervous system is still very vulnerable and delicate. General Sense Organs Nociceptors Nociceptors are nerve endings that help a human being feel the sensation of pain. They do so by transmitting the signals they receive to the brain and spinal cord. Nociceptors are also able to sense the temperature and pressure in and around the surrounding tissue. These types of

receptors are located all throughout the body: skin, internal organs, joints, muscles, and tendons. Nocicpetors are able to interpret two types of pain in the body: visceral pain, in the internal organs, and somatic pain, in the skin and deep tissues. They only send signals when there is pain through the brain and spinal cord and cease when the pain has been terminated. However, if the damage has been taken care of and the nociceptors continue to send signals, it causes chronic pain. An example of this oddity would be phantom limb pain. This is caused when an extremity has been amputated but the nociceptors continue to fire signals even after the limb has been removed from a persons body. Thermoreceptors Thermoreceptors, as the name suggests, are specialized neurons that are sensitive to changes in an environments temperature. These neurons detect changes to the temperature based on the environments normal temperature ranges. They are different from nociceptors because nociceptors detect only extreme temperatures that could potentially harm the human body. Thermoreceptors in the skin transmit information about the temperature of the environment to the brain. From there, the brain decides if an action needs to be taken about the current temperature. Internally, they help keep the body in balance and if there is a complication, they alert the brain about the problem.

THE NERVOUS SYSTEM EXPLAINED Mechanoreceptors

Mechanoreceptors allow for sensing certain tactile sensations such as location, roughness, stiffness, thickness, and temperature. These receptors help a person distinguish a change in external stimuli. Mechanoreceptors respond to a change by creating a voltage pulse on a neuron. When the change becomes more permanent, the pulse in the neuron returns to normal. The process that the mechanoreceptors go through is called Rate of Adaptation, usually occurring on the skin. The mechanoreceptors located on the skin can be separated into three, main categories: Fast adaptation Moderate adaptation Slow adaptation

tactile receptors. Tactile receptors present the sensation of touch, pressure, and vibration. Tactile receptors provide information about specific details concerning the type of object, shape, movement, and texture. They are extremely sensitive and can range from being free nerve endings to specialized sensory receptors. There are about six different types of tactile receptors: free nerve endings, root hair plexus, Merkels discs, Meissners corpuscles, Pacinian corpuscles, and Ruffini corpuscles. baroreceptors. Baroreceptors are receptors that monitor changes in pressure consisting of free nerve endings, usually in the walls of organs. Whenever a change or movement occurs in an organ the elastic walls and tissues stretch and recoil, simultaneously alerting the baroreceptors. Baroreceptors trigger reflexes in the digestive and urinary tract that includes tasks such as eliminating bodily fluids and waste products. They also monitor blood pressure of major blood

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vessels, are involved in cardiac function, monitor lung expansion, and adjust blood flow going to vital tissue. proprioceptors. Receptors that monitor joint position, tendon and ligament tension, and muscular contraction are called Proprioceptors. This receptor is perhaps the most complex in both structure and function. They are found in tendon organs and muscle spindles and send information about muscle tone and joint angle to the central nervous system. Although they monitor all the movement going on, they do not adapt well to constant stimulation. Propriocetors help the body with its coordination skills in the environment. For example, walking without watching or sensing certain limbs of the body are possible because of Propriocetpors. Special Sense Organs: Anatomy & Pathways of Sensations Vision The complicated structure of the eyes includes a transparent lens that focuses the light sensed directly to the retina. The retinas structure involves two basic types of cells. These cells are light-sensitive cell-rods and the color-sensitive cone cells residing in the fovea, a location within the retina. The cone-shaped cells are cells that can sense colors in the part of the retina where the light is directly focused. Unlike the cone cells, which are color-sensitive, the rodshaped cells are much more sensitive to light. Even with these differences, both types of cells are located around the fovea for a reason. They are responsible for a humans peripheral and night vision. The visual pathway works by sending right and left visual information to opposite sides, shown on page fourteen, of the brain. If a colored bar with one half blue and one half red is in front of both your eyes, the red part and the blue part will project to different parts of the eyes. In other words, opposition is key to the pathway of vision. Both will travel a long, convoluted route for a human being to see. The red half will be taken in by the nasal part of the left retina and the

THE NERVOUS SYSTEM EXPLAINED lateral part of your right retina. The blue half will go to the nasal part of the right retina to the lateral part of the left retina. The path consists of opposite twists and turns until it can finally be processed. This crossover of information occurs in the optic chiasm, and then the path unwinds and goes to the correct direction. Hearing The ears, a very sensitive general sense organ, protrude away from the head and come in many shapes and sizes. But, every ear is designed to resemble some sort of cup or shell that can directly send sound toward the tympanic membrane. This membrane transmits vibrations to the

inner ear through the smallest bones in the human body: the malleus, stapes, and incus. The inner ear is covered by nerve fibers specifically designed to react to vibrations and transmit impulses to the brain through the auditory nerve. The inner ear has a vestibular system responsible for the sense of balance and space and it is filled viscous fluids and otoliths. When the otoliths, also particles, move over small hair cells also located in the inner ear, it sends a signal to the brain and it tells the brain that there is motion and acceleration occurring. The pathway of hearing happens when the outer ear collects sound vibrations. The sound vibrations travel through the ear canal and come into contact with the eardrum. The eardrum then vibrates with the sound vibrations and as it vibrates, the three smallest bones in the body carry the vibrations to the cochlea also in the inner ear. The fluid inside the cochlea vibrates the little hairs called cilia that are connected to the auditory nerves. When the cilia stimulate the auditory nerves it sends signals to the brain and the brain identifies what was just heard. Taste The taste buds are responsible for an organisms ability to taste substances. Taste buds are located specifically on the surface of the tongue. Contrary to popular belief, these receptors

THE NERVOUS SYSTEM EXPLAINED are also located near the pharynx and in the roof of the mouth. Taste buds are able to sense four basic tastes that include sour, bitter, salty, sweet, and sometimes, umami - the tasting of amino acids. Taste buds closer to the tip of the tongue are able to detect sweet tastes while the ones in the back of the tongue detect saltiness and bitterness. Each taste bud has a nerve at its base that sends each unique sensation directly to the brain. Is there a certain number of taste buds per individual? Women usually have more taste buds than men and are therefore, more sensitive to

taste. The amount of buds varies depending on the person but the greater the number of buds, the more sensitive the sense of taste. Even though each sense has its own mechanisms and organs, they are all very much connected. For example, the sense of taste works in coordination with the sense of smell. Not much is known about the gustatory pathway. But, information from the nerve fibers of the taste buds travels from the tongue through three cranial nerves called: facial, glossopharyngeal, and vagus; all located on the tongue or close to the tongue. All the sensory information from these nerves are then passed onto the medulla, to the thalamus, and then to the gustatory area of the cerebral cortex. Smell The mucous membrane in the cavity of the nose has small receptors that connect to the olfactory nerves; allowing humans to smell. A smell consists of vapors and molecules that smell receptors interact with and, in turn, transmit the information to the brain. The seven types of sensations that smell receptors are sensitive to are: musk, flower, camphor, ether, acid, mint, and putrid. A human beings sense of smell is not the most sensitive, in fact, dogs have noses that are several times more sensitive to that of a humans. The olfactory pathway is very difficult and few understand how it works. First, molecules from the vapor of the smell reach the nostrils and are dissolved in the mucus. In the olfactory epithelium the olfactory receptor neurons detect the

THE NERVOUS SYSTEM EXPLAINED smell and transmit that information to the olfactory bulb. The olfactory bulb then sends that information to the part of the brain where memories and emotions are stored. Thanks to this pathway, people are able to identify certain smells by memory. Clinical Applications: Disorders of the Sense Organs Dacryocystitis

A disease of one of the sense organs would be dacryocystitis which affects the eyes. This disease is an inflammation of the lachrymal sac caused by an obstruction in the nasal duct. Medically, it is an inflammation of the nasolacrimal sac caused by a nasolacrimal duct obstruction and/or infection. The obstruction or infection in the nasolacrimal duct causes tearing of the eyes, pain and swelling, pressure over the lachrymal sac, white, yellow, or green liquid when pressing against the sac. Dacryocystitis can become a chronic problem and can last years if not treated correctly or if the obstruction is not removed. Sometimes surgery or drainage of the pus and fluid may be necessary. Microtia Artesia Another, very serious, disorder of the general sense organs would be Microtia Artesia. This deformity has hereditary and specific factors. It defiantly affects the structure of the ear and results in little to no external auditory canal. Microtia Artesia can range from a small nub of tissue to an unrecognizable appendage on the side of the head. Sometimes, the individual is born with one or no ears. The patient can exhibit the deformity on the left, right, or both ears. Treating this deformity would include surgery to reconstruct the ear. A person born with this disease will not necessarily be deaf depending on what part of the inner ear it affects. However, if Microtia Artesia does affect the patients hearing ability, recourse would include:

THE NERVOUS SYSTEM EXPLAINED 1. Drilling a canal through bone. 2. Constructing the ear drum with special tissue grafts. 3. Restore middle ear function through surgery done by an experienced otologist. Career Applications: Careers Related to Sense Organs Optometry A career that involves sense organs would be: Optometry; a health care profession.

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Optometry involves the examination of the eyes and vision problems. However, someone of this profession studies the health of the eyes, vision, pathway of vision, visual systems, and the processing of visual information from the eyes. An optometrist, also known as an ophthalmic optician, usually prescribes glasses and checks the eyes for diseases and problems. Optometrists relate to certain areas of microbiology, neurology, physiology, and, in many cases, psychology. They are specialized in certain fields such as optical aids, instruments, and imaging techniques. An optometrist is allowed to prescribe certain oral, topical, and injection medications for patients with eye diseases. Audiology A career involving the ear would be Audiology. An audiologist identifies, diagnoses, checks, and treats a patient's hearing and balance problems. An audiologist employs certain hearing tests such as otoacoustic emission measurements, electrophysiologic, videonystagmography, and many more to determine the hearing ability of a person. An audiologist determines if a person is within the normal hearing range or if there is hearing loss or some other abnormality of the ear. An audiologist is licensed to prescribe certain solutions for a patient with hearing loss such as hearing aids, cochlear implants, or, in extreme cases, surgery.

THE NERVOUS SYSTEM EXPLAINED References

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Brent, B. (2011). Table 1 - Microtia: Case Material Author's Series of 1,000 Microtia Patients. Retrieved from http://www.microtia.us.com/microtia-atresia-possible-cause-andincidence.html Chudler H., E. (2011). The Visual Pathway: From Eye to Primary Visual Cortex. Retrieved from http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/vispath.html Conjecture Corporation. (2013). What are Thermoreceptors?. Retrieved from http://www.wisegeek.org/what-are-thermoreceptors.htm Hawke, M. (2003). Ear Disease: A Clinical Guide. Hamilton, Ontario : BC Decker Inc. Innvista. (2012). Other sensory receptors. Retrieved from http://www.innvista.com/anatomy/other-sensory-receptors/ Jacques, E. (2009, July 24). What are Nociceptors?. Retrieved from http://pain.about.com/od/typesofchronicpain/g/nociceptors.htm N/A. (n.d.). Auditory Pathway . Retrieved from http://www.fi.edu/fellows/fellow2/apr99/auditorypath.html May Henry, C. (1905). Manual of the Diseases of the Eye. New York City, New York: William Wood and Company Occupational Outlook Handbook. (2012). Audiologists. Retrieved from http://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/audiologists.htm Parsons, J. (2001). Optometrist. South Melbourne, Australia: Nelson Thomson Learning. Richardson, M. (2007, November 30). The Sense of Taste. Retrieved from http://www.nursingtimes.net/the-sense-of-taste/304401.article Stanford. (n.d.). Mechanoreceptors. Retrieved from

THE NERVOUS SYSTEM EXPLAINED http://www.stanford.edu/class/me220/data/lectures/lect01/mechanorec.html TSBVI. (2010, September 1). The Sense of Smell: A Powerful Sense. Retrieved from http://www.tsbvi.edu/seehear/summer05/smell.htm Zamora, A. (2013). Anatomy and Structure of Human Sense Organs. Retrieved from http://www.scientificpsychic.com/workbook/chapter2.htm

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THE NERVOUS SYSTEM EXPLAINED Table 1 Microtia: Case Material Authors Series of 1,000 Mictrotia Patients

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Note. This table demonstrates an authors series of 1,000 Microtia Artesia patient data. Table 1 shows how many people are affected by the deformity be it their right, left, or both ears. It also clearly demonstrates that in the many recorded cases, males have the highest recorded number of cases than females; totaling 631 cases (63.1%) out of 100 (100%). The data draws the conclusion that bilateral cases of Microtia Artesia are less common than right or left ears. Bilateral cases are 94 out of the 1,000 Microtia patients; a very small number. Brent, B. (2011). Table 1 - microtia: Case material author's series of 1,000 microtia patients. Retrieved from http://www.microtia.us.com/microtia-atresia-possible-cause-and-i incidence.html

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Figure 1. The Visual Pathway: From Eye to Primary Visual Cortex. This image demonstrates the visual pathway of something seen in the visual field traveling all the way to the visual cortex. The different colors shown, blue and red, demonstrate the complicated path of the visual pathway. The complicated and opposite path remains as so until it reaches the optic chiasm. The optic chiasm is where the crossing of the optic nerves from both eyes occurs, located at the base of the brain. Chudler H., E. (2011). The Visual Pathway: From Eye to Primary Visual Cortex. Retrieved from http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/vispath.html