Nervous system sensory

To assess the effects of the test substance on the central Anon.27 nervous system, peripheral nervous system, sensory organs, respiratory and cardiovascular systems, smooth muscles including uterus, peripheral organs, renal function, and adverse effects observed in clinical studies... 

Figure 19.17 The biochemistiy and physiology responsible for penile erection. Sexual activity itself begins with a state of arousal that leads to erection. Arousal results in part from stimulation of the sense organs. The hypothalamus coordinates the sensations and activates the autonomic nervous system. Sensory nerves from the skin of the penis and other erogenous zones stimulate the parasympathetic system. This activates nitric oxide synthase and the resultant nitric oxide, via cyclic GMP, causes vasodilation of the arterioles. This increases blood flow through the corpora cavernosa which then expands producing an erection. Pheromones secreted by the female can stimulate the odour detecting system in the nasal cavity of the male (Chapter 12 and see above). Stress, however, activates the sympathetic system releases cyclic AMP which can result in vasoconstriction of the arterioles. Other factors that can interfere with an erection are physical fatigue and alcohol.

In addition to this culturally and individually conditioned relativity, the fact that each person is human and therefore born with certain basic properties in his nervous system, sensory receptors, and perhaps in the nature of the awareness that enters into or comes from the operation of his nervous system, equips him with built-in biases for seeing the universe in certain kinds of ways and not other ways. This applies not only to the external universe perceived through his senses or with instrumental aids, but to his observations of his own internal experiences. 

Complex feedback regulation of hormone secretion. Hormones of level III endocrine ti,s,sues are regulated by a complex system having both a neuroendocrine reflex component and a simple negative feedback component. Invariably, the former involves the extrahypothalamic central nervous system (sensory neurons), the hypothalamus (endocrine cell 1), and the anterior pituitary (endocrine cell 2), while the latter involves the anterior pituitary (endocrine cell 2) and a level III endocrine tissue (endocrine cell 3). Hormone 3 exerts negative feedback on endocrine cell 2 and hence on its own secretion. Hormone 3 may also feed back to endocrine cell I and to higher centers, although such ca.ses of feedback may be positive ones. 

In the primitive nervous system, sensory cells evolved from general epithelial cells. Primitive nervous systems of modern echinoderms and lower deuterostomes are still composed of three cell types that include the primary sensory cells, the neurons that connect the sensory cells to distal targets, and a supporting cell that serves the special physiological needs of such a system (Lacalli, 2001). The basic structural plan of the retina is comparable to such a primitive nervous system. In the course of evolution, the photoreceptive system developed specialized photoreceptor cells (rods and cones), intra-retinal second-order neurons (bipolar cells), and tertiary output neurons (ganglion cells). This evolution perhaps took place in photopic conditions therefore early photoreceptor cells were more like cones. 

Chitosan Mouse 4 d Plasmid 4.8 gg Peripheral nervous system, sensory neurons 65... 

Various models demonstrated declines in test scores (executive abilities, manual dexterity, neuropsychiatric, peripheral nervous system sensory function) with historical tibia lead, longitudinal BLLs, cross-sectional (short-term)... 

The recent identification of 9-cw-retinol dehydrogenase in the mouse embryo reveals a pathway for 9-cw-RAs synthesis in this species [60]. This membrane-bound enzyme is able to oxidize 9-c/5-retinol into 9-c/5-retinaldehyde which can be subsequently oxidized to 9-cis-RA. The expression of this enzyme is temporally and spatially controlled during embryogenesis in parts of the nervous system, sensory organs, somites and myotomes, and several tissues of endoder-mal origin. Mertz et al. have also identified a stereospecific human enzyme that catalyzes 9-cis-retinol oxidation and is likewise a member of the short chain alcohol dehydrogenase protein family [61]. The mRNA for the protein is most abundant in human mammary tissues. 

Taste-active chemicals react with receptors on the surface of sensory cells in the papillae causing electrical depolarization, ie, drop in the voltage across the sensory cell membrane. The collection of biochemical events that are involved in this process is called transduction (15,16). Not all the chemical steps involved in transduction are known however, it is clear that different transduction mechanisms are involved in different taste quaUties different transduction mechanisms exist for the same chemical in different species (15). Thus the specificity of chemosensory processes, ie, taste and smell, to different chemicals is caused by differences in the sensory cell membrane, the transduction mechanisms, and the central nervous system (14). 

CGRP has a wide distribution in the nervous system (19) and was the first peptide to be localized to motoneurons (124). It is also found in primary sensory neurons where it is colocalized with substance P (125). CGRP is derived from a precursor stmcturaHy related to the calcitonin precursor. The latter precursor produces two products, calcitonin itself and katacalcin, while the CGRP precursor produces one copy of CGRP (123). Like other peptides, CGRP is cleaved from its precursor by tryptic breakdown between double basic amino acid residues. 

CGRP is widely distributed throughout the peripheral and central nervous systems and is found ia sensory neurons and ia the autonomic and enteric nervous systems. In many iastances CGRP is co-localized with other neuroregulators, eg, ACh ia motor neurons, substance P, somatostatin, vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP), and galanin ia sensory neurons. It is also present ia the CNS, with ACh ia the parabigeminal nucleus and with cholecystokinin (CCK) ia the dorsal parabrachial area. CGRP functions as a neuromodulator or co-transmitter. 

As a neurotransmitter in the sensory nervous system, high levels of substance P are found in the dorsal horn of the spinal cord as well as in peripheral sensory nerve terminals. However, substance P also plays a significant role as a neuromodulator in the central, sympathetic, and enteric nervous system. NKA and NKB are also localized selectively in the CNS. 

Air-poUutant effects on neural and sensory functions in humans vary widely. Odorous pollutants cause only minor annoyance yet, if persistent, they can lead to irritation, emotional upset, anorexia, and mental depression. Carbon monoxide can cause death secondary to the depression of the respiratory centers of the central nervous system. Short of death, repeated and prolonged exposure to carbon monoxide can alter sensory protection, temporal perception, and higher mental functions. Lipid-soluble aerosols can enter the body and be absorbed in the lipids of the central nervous system. Once there, their effects may persist long after the initial contact has been removed. Examples of agents of long-term chronic effects are organic phosphate pesticides and aerosols carrying the metals lead, mercury, and cadmium. 

Peripheral nervous system Nerve tissues lying outside the brain and spinal cord, functions include the transmittal of sensory information such as touch, heat, cold, and pain, and the motor impulses for limb movement. 

The sensory nervous system which governs cough is subject to plasticity ( nerve plasticity) - such that there... 

Cholinergic neurotransmission ChEs terminate cholinergic transmission in the central nervous system (CNS), in NMJs and in the autonomic system (the parasympathetic system, somatic motor nerves and pre-ganglionic sympathetic nerves). A few sensory cells and the NMJ in nematodes also include ChEs. 

The PNS is further divided into the somatic nervous system and the autonomic nervous system. The somatic branch of the PNS is concerned witii sensation and voluntary movement. The sensory part of the somatic nervous system sends messages to the brain concerning die internal and external environment, such as sensations of heat, pain, cold, and pressure The voluntary part of die somatic nervous system is concerned witii die voluntary movement of skeletal muscles, such as walking, chewing food, or writing a letter. 

Because of its motor, i.e., activating effect on vascular smooth muscle and its inhibitory effect on intestinal smooth muscle, the sympathetic nervous system has been cast into the role of the component of the nervous system that executes control of visceral function in times of physical emergency for the organism. The phrase fight or flight has been often used to describe the circumstances in which the adrenergic transmitters of the sympathetic system are dominant over the cholinergic parasympathetic system. This concept is perhaps oversimplified but it has the utility of a first approximation of how the two components of the ANS interact in the periphery. Sensory inputs which lead to increased blood pressure, for example, activate the sympathetic pathways. 

Animal behavior has been dehned by Odnm (1971) as the overt action an organism takes to adjnst to its environment so as to ensure its survival. A simpler definition is the dynamic interaction of an animal with its enviromnent (D Mello 1992). Another, more elaborate, one is, the outward expression of the net interaction between the sensory, motor arousal, and integrative components of the central and peripheral nervons systems (Norton 1977). The last dehnition spells out the important point that behavior represents the integrated function of the nervous system. Accordingly, disruption of the nervous system by neurotoxic chemicals may be expected to cause changes in behavior (see Klaasen 1996, pp. 466-467). 

Many tests have been devised to provide quantitative measures of behavioral disturbances caused by neurotoxic chemicals. Tests have been devised that assess the effects of chemicals on four behavioral functions (D Mello 1992). These are sensory, cognitive, motor, and affective functions. However, because the entire nervous system tends to work in an integrated way, these functions are not easily separable from one another. For example, the outcome of tests focused on sensory perception by rats may be influenced by effects of the test chemical on motor function. 

The neuropathological analysis of HIV-associated neuropathies should include the different central and peripheral nervous system structures associated with sensory pathways, including spinal cord, dorsal root ganglia (DRG), peripheral nerve, and cutaneous nerve fibers (Pardo et al. 2001) (Fig. 4.1). The majority of studies have focused on the evaluation of the peripheral nerve, often from sural nerve biopsies and the DRG. Few studies have examined the pathology of sensory pathways in the... 

---