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Appendix B

Axia College Material
Appendix B

Structures of the Nervous System

This activity will increase your understanding of the different structures of the nervous system and brain. During the Web activity, you will view a variety of structures of the brain and nervous system and label each with the appropriate term. You will use this document to write a description for the terms you used in the activity.

As you conduct the Structures of the Nervous System activity, follow along with this Word document and fill in the descriptions of those terms you used to label the structures. All of the terms in the activity are listed here, but you only need to provide descriptions for those you used.

Term Description
Central nervous system The portion of the vertebrate nervous system consisting of the brain and spinal cord
Cell body the compact area of a nerve cell that constitutes the nucleus and surrounding cytoplasm, excluding the axons and dendrites
Peripheral nervous system the portion of the nervous system lying outside the brain and spinal cord.
Dendrites the branching process of a neuron that conducts impulses toward the cell
Somatic nervous system The somatic nervous system (SNS) is the
part of the PNS that interacts with the external environment.
Axon the appendage of the neuron that transmits impulses away from the cell body
Buttons The buttonlike endings of the axon branches, which release chemicals into synapses
Autonomic nervous system The autonomic nervous system (ANS) is the part of the peripheral nervous system that regulates the body’s internal environment.
Synapses The gaps between adjacent neurons across which chemical signals are transmitted
Dura mater meninx The dura mater (also rarely called meninx fibrosa, or pachymeninx) is a thick, durable membrane, closest to the skull.

Mesencephalon The portion of the vertebrate brain that develops from the middle section of the embryonic brain. Also called midbrain.
Arachnoid meninx The...