INVESTIGATION OF THE SPEED OF A NERVE IMPULSE
INTRODUCTION
The speed of a nerve impulse is an important aspect of the human nervous system and can be altered by different stimulants. In 1850, Hermann von Helmholtz succeeded in measuring the speed of the nerve impulse. He found it to be much slower than the previously believed speed of 50 to 100 meters per second. This finding was then followed by intensive investigation of the nervous system within the framework of the physical and biological sciences. However modern measurements range from 6 to 122 meters per second, depending on the type of nerve fibre (Jonides, Rozin and Gleitman, 1983).
The nervous system consists of the brain, spinal cord and peripheral nerves. The brain and spinal cord form the central nervous system and nerves form the peripheral nervous system. The nervous system helps all the parts of the body to communicate with each other. It also reacts to changes from both outside and inside the body. The nervous system uses both electrical and chemical means to send and receive messages.
The basic building blocks of the anatomy and physiology of the nervous system are nerve cells, or neurons. The brain consists of around 100 billion neurons, they are specialized to respond to stimuli and transmit impulses from one part of the body to another. Neurons can be divided into three types, sensory, motor and inter neurons. Sensory neurons pass information about stimuli such as light, sound, touch and heat from both
The nervous system is one of the body’s complex functions that contain a network of cells and nerves that transmit signals from the brain and spinal cord to different areas of the body. It is categorized into two groups; the central nervous system which is made up of the brain and spinal cord, and the peripheral nervous system which contains the body’s nervous tissue and is where neurologic responses occur. Homeostasis, which is the process in which thermoregulation is maintained, also happens in this area.
The nervous system in general is quite a complex and sophisticated system which is responsible for regulating and coordinating the body’s activities. The central nervous system consists of the brain and spinal cord, mainly responsible for gathering information and responds to any changes within environment.
The nervous system is made up of basic units called neurons. The main role of the neurons is to receive, integrate and transmit information throughout the body. There are some neuroglial cells found in nervous system aswell which provide support to the neurons by giving protection and nourishment Neurons have nerve processes that looks like finger like projections extended from the nerve cell body. They also contain axons and dendrites which enable them to transmit signals throughout the body. Normally, axon carry signals away from the cell body and dendrites carry signals toward the cell body according to Regina Bailey (2013). Neurons have three different shapes: bipolar, unipolar and multipolar where bipolar has two neuronal processes coming out of the cell body, unipolar has only one neuronal process coming out of the cell body and multipolar has many neuronal processes coming out of the cell body.
1. Neurons is a basic building block of the nervous system. The sensory nerves carry the message from body tissues to the brain and spinal chord to be processed. The motor neurons are then used to send instructions to the body tissue from the brain and spinal cord. Dendrites, which are connected to the body cell (soma) receive information and pass it through the axon. Myelin sheath covers the axon and helps speed the process. When triggered by a signals from our senses or other neurons, the neuron fires an impulse called the action potential. The resting potential is the neuron’s visual charge of positive
In this exercise, you examined the effect of increasing stimulus intensity on the nerve. What other stimulus parameter
Neurons communicate with one another along a synapse. Neurons are excitable cells that are activated via electrical or chemical signals. Nerve cells are an integral part of the nervous system. Neurons are made up of three distinct parts. The three integral parts of the neuron are the cell body, the dendrites, and the axon. The cell body is the middle portion of the neuron and contains the nucleus. It also contains the organelles such as the endoplasmic reticulum and the mitochondria.
In the organization of the Human Nervous System it is divided into sections such as the sensory system, which gathers and process information from the surrounding environment: motor systems which responds from environment by sending signals and information to facilitate movement behavioral responses and the associational system which is a meditator from most multifaceted and least problematic brain functions. Within these different functions of the nervous system it is divided into two components where these functions can happen the central nervous system that comprises of brain and spinal cord and peripheral nervous system that embodies nerves and ganglia.
The nervous system is a chain of interconnected nerve fibers which is constructed by the central nervous system and Peripheral nervous system. The job of the nervous system is to send messages from the brain and spinal cord to different parts of the body.
Our nervous system is there to help to transfer the things our body feels and what we need. The nervous is broken up into two parts, the central nervous system (CNS), and the peripheral nervous system (PNS). The CNS controls the brain and the spinal cord, the PNS controls the nerves and the ganglia (a small mass of gray matter). Our body uses the spinal cord to send messages to the nerves so that it can control our organs and muscles.
The central nervous system consists of the brain and spinal cord. The brain takes information from the senses and processes it and it also makes decision sand sends commands to the body. The spinal cord carries information to and from away the brain. The peripheral system, on the other hand, is the system that allows communication between the central nervous system with the sensory systems. It also makes it possible for the brain and spinal cord to control muscles and
4. In this exercise, you examined the effect of increasing stimulus intensity on the nerve. What other stimulus parameter might also affect the nerve's tendency to generate a CAP?
Neurons (also known as neurons, nerve cells and nerve fibers) are electrically excitable and the most important cells in the nervous system that functions to process and transmit information. Neurons have a large number of extensions called dendrites. They often look likes branches or spikes extending out from the cell body. It is primarily the surfaces of the dendrites that receive chemical messages from other neurons.
Within the human anatomy, an intricate and complex network of specialised nerve fibres and neurons works in collaboration with the central nervous system and peripheral system, designed to carry out the various actions humans perform every day. The nervous system is also known as the master control unit of the human body, as it operates other major functions such as the circulatory and respiratory systems (Jakab, 2006). It is composed of the central nervous system (CNS) and the peripheral nervous system (PNS). The neurons established within the various sections of the nervous system, is structured with three main parts: a dendrite which is a cluster of branches that operates by receiving information from the
The central nervous system and the peripheral nervous system work together to collect information from within the body and from the environment outside it. The systems process all the collected information and send instructions to the body; to obtain an appropriate response. Once the data arrives, the brain will sort and file it before sending out any commands on what to do. The central system is the main command center of the body that contains the brain as well as the spinal cord. The peripheral nervous system contains a network of nerves that connect the rest of the body to the central nervous system.
Reaction time is the time between the presentation of a stimulus and the initiation of the muscular response to that stimulus ( the free dictionary [26/07/14].The purpose of this test was to identify what happens to reaction times as different independent variables are applied. The nervous system helps all parts of the body to communicate with each other, it is responsible for making sure all of the body’s parts coordinate properly. The nervous system is the centre of all the body’s activity (better health channel [26/07/14]). The brain and spinal cord make up the central nervous system and all the other nerves in the body part of the peripheral nervous system. Inside nerves lie neurons, neurons are found in the brain, spinal cord and the peripheral nerves (PubMed Health [26/07/14]). They are also known as nerve cells. These neurons have the same structure as plant and animal cells (differencebetween.net [27/07/14]). Neurons are made up of a cell body, dendrites, a nucleus, an axon and a myelin sheath (the nervous system [27/07/14]). The myelin sheath surrounds the nerve fibre of axon and protects the body from the electrical charge that nerves have (GCSE Bite size [27/07/14]). There are two types of neurons: sensory neurons and motor neurons. Sensory neurons send signals to the brain and spinal