1. By Desmond Hanan THE NERVOUS SYSTEM

2. WHAT DOES IT DO? The nervous system is the part of the body that is in charge of data processing and controls an animals actions.

3. WHAT ARE THE PARTS? The central nervous system Consisting of the brain and ventral nerve cords, the central nervous system regulates behavior and controls the actions of all parts of the body The peripheral nervous system The peripheral nervous system consists of the nerves that connect the CNS to the rest of the body

4. NERVE IMPULSES Neurons maintain a voltage difference across the cells membrane—this is the membrane potential—which is maintained by pumps and channels. This maintains the resting potential, which is the potential of an unexcited neuron. When these are depolarized past the threshold an action potential occurs. In order to depolarize the membrane, Na+ channels and K+ channels are opened allowing an influx of Na+ and an efflux of K+ after the fact.

5. NEUROTRANSMITTERS A neurotransmitter across a synapse from one neuron to another. They are released and diffuse across the synaptic cleft to bind to specific receptors in the membrane of the post synaptic neuron.

6. ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE Alzheimer’s disease is a dementia—related to age—that is caused by neurofibrillary tangles and senile plaques in the brain

7. PARKINSON’S DISEASE Parkinson’s disease is a motor disorder caused by the death od dopamine-secreting neurons in the substantia nigra