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Class Activities |
Chapter 42: The Structure Of Nervous Systems |
1. Relevance of Topic
The nervous system is relevant to many areas in and outside of biology, including behavior and psychiatry.
Neurological disorders range widely from those caused by known structural deficiencies to those cause by chemical imbalances; all of these tend to be interesting topics for students, many of whom may have been affected by these disorders somehow in their own lives.
Humans are set apart from other species largely due to their unique nervous system structure and function.
2. Continuity
This chapter follows from the preceding one in more closely analyzing one of the major control systems in animals.
The next chapter extends the analysis of nervous function to the awareness of the outside world.
3. Demonstration Activities
Text section 42.1
1. Introduce this chapter and section by showing film footage of invertebrates moving, including anemones feeding or responding to other stimuli, medusae pulsating, Hydra somersaulting (Figure 42.2), and so on.
2. Show Figure 42.1 and discuss the primitive nerve net in cnidarians.
3. Define a fixed-action pattern (see Chapter 49).
Text section 42.2
1. Move up the phylogenetic tree that was drawn when previous chapters on animal body plans were covered, and analyze the increasingly complex nervous systems.
2. Emphasize general trends, such as the concentration of ganglia anteriorly (Figure 42.4) and the ultimate formation of a brain in association with cephalization and bilateral symmetry.
3. Mention another general trend away from a ventral nerve cord to a dorsal nerve cord as vertebrates came into existence.
4. Show videos of octopi and squids, if available, when discussing the more complex mollusc nervous systems.
Text section 42.4
1. Show Figure 42.9 when describing the vertebrate nervous system design.
2. Discuss the many disorders associated with faulty nervous system formation in vertebrate embryos.
3. Show Table 42.1 and Figure 42.10 and review vertebrate brain anatomy.
4. Bring a preserved sheep brain, with meninges intact, to class and tease apart the layers of tissue when reviewing brain anatomy.
Text section 42.5
1. Show Figure 42.11 and describe the different types of matter and their components.
2. Project a prepared slide of a spinal cord cross section.
Text section 42.6
1. Show Figure 42.13 and go through the major control and relay centers located in the brain stem and diencephalon areas.
2. Again, point out these areas on a preserved brain specimen in class.
Text section 42.7
1. Use Figure 42.14 to continue a discussion of trends in evolution with regard to the nervous system.
2. On a preserved brain specimen, point out the gyri and sulci; include Figure 42.15.
3. Emphasize that gyri and sulci allow for increased surface area with minimal increase in volume; ask the students to explain how this allows for the possibility of more complex nervous system functions in animals.
4. Show Figure 42.16 and discuss the correlation between the maplike cortex and animal nervous system function.
Text section 42.8
1. Show Figure 42.18 and discuss the left-brain and right-brain functions in humans.
2. Emphasize that manipulospatiality is highly developed in humans and give examples of human activities that would be difficult or impossible for other animals.
Text section 42.9
1. Show Figures 42.19 and 42.20 and distinguish generally the activities controlled by the cerebrum and cerebellum.
2. Ask students why persons with high intelligence are said to be "cerebral."
3. Give examples of animals that have highly (or not so highly) developed motor skills (e.g. felines are highly developed) and ask students to predict the relative sizes of the cerebrum and cerebellum, then show them pictures of the brains of these animals.
Text section 42.10
1. Show Figure 42.21 and discuss the chemistry of neurotransmitters.
2. Spend some time discussing Huntington chorea (an autosomal dominant disorder) and the various stories associated with research that has been done on this disease. Make connections to material on genetics (the genes for the disease have been identified) and human genetics issues like whether or not to test for the presence of a disease that is not manifested until around age 50. Research or have students research the story of Nancy Wexler, who made serious progress studying this disease and who refused to be tested herself, even though her mother had the disease.
3. Another interesting disorder, schizophrenia, could serve as a good research topic for students who want to delve more deeply into the functions of the nervous system.
Text section 42.12
1. Discuss endorphins and enkephalins and the fact that they are natural analgesics that bind to opiate receptors; include the fact that opium derivatives such as morphine are used as painkillers.
Text section 42.13
1. Discuss habituation and sensitization in terms of the action of the voltage-gated calcium ion channels (Figure 42.24).
2. Show Figure 42.27 or other color photos of positron-emission tomography; discuss the use of this technique in medicine.
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