Peripheral nervous system chart
Untimed · pick a level and fill the table from memory.
Functional components of the peripheral nervous system
Five components, three facts each: where the neuron's cell body lives, what it reaches, and what it does. Somatic rows serve the body wall, visceral rows the cavity contents, the special row the head's sense organs.
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Location of neuronal soma
Brain & dorsal root ganglia (a.k.a. spinal ganglia)
Targets
Skin, skeletal muscle, tendon, bone
Functions
Localised sensations of pain, pressure, temperature, touch, proprioception
Location of neuronal soma
Brain & ventral horn of grey matter in the spinal cord
Targets
Skeletal muscle
Functions
Contraction of skeletal muscle fibers
Location of neuronal soma
Brain & dorsal root ganglia (T1–L2, S2–S4) (a.k.a. spinal ganglia)
Targets
Viscera, glands, blood vessels
Functions
Diffuse sensations of distension/stretching, ischemia, chemical irritation, smooth muscle spasms, O2/CO2 levels and blood pressure
Location of neuronal soma
Presynaptic somata in the lateral horn of grey matter — GVEs: T1–L2 segments; GVEp: S2–S4 segments & brain
Targets
Smooth muscle, cardiac muscle, glands
Functions
Control of smooth and cardiac muscle contraction; control of glandular secretions
Location of neuronal soma
Brain
Targets
Inner ear, retina, nose, tongue
Functions
Special sensations of hearing, equilibrium, vision, smell and taste
Spinal nerve branches — what each carries and where it arises
The four branches the chart names. Dorsal and ventral rami exist at every level and carry the same three components; the white rami and the pelvic splanchnics are the autonomic exits, each from its own run of segments.
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Functional components
GSA, GSE, GVEs
Origin
C1–Co1 spinal nerves
Functional components
GSA, GSE, GVEs
Origin
C1–Co1 spinal nerves
Functional components
GVEs (pre), GVA
Origin
T1–L2 ventral rami
Functional components
GVEp (pre), GVA
Origin
S2–S4 ventral rami
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