How the brain, spinal cord, and nerves are organised and how a signal moves from one neuron to the next, the framework the HESI A2 anatomy and physiology subtest builds every nervous system question on.
ObjectiveA.3.1Read5 minExam weightRegulation and Control ≈ 16% of Anatomy & Physiology
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You can place a structure correctly into the central or peripheral nervous system, and into the somatic or autonomic subdivision.
You can describe the parts of a neuron and the order in which a nerve impulse travels through them.
You can name the four major regions of the brain and the one job each is tested on most often.
What the lesson concludes
The CNS is the brain and spinal cord. The PNS is every nerve outside them.
Sensory (afferent) neurons carry signals toward the CNS. Motor (efferent) neurons carry signals away from it.
The autonomic nervous system splits into sympathetic (fight or flight) and parasympathetic (rest and digest), and the two usually pull in opposite directions on the same organ.
A nerve impulse travels dendrite, then cell body, then axon, then crosses a synapse to the next cell.
The brainstem runs the functions you cannot live without: breathing and heart rate.