Nervous System Vocabulary:
How Much Do You Know?

You can practice nervous system vocabulary with the online crossword below. All the words in the puzzle are included in the introduction. (The purpose of this overview is to demonstrate the vocabulary in context.)

So if you need more than the crossword clues to guess a word, look through the introduction to find it.

(If you would prefer to download a pdf crossword, right-click here. (The answers are here.) It’s a different puzzle using the same words and clues.

Click here to go directly to the online crossword puzzle.

Introduction to the Nervous (or Neurological) System

drawing of an individual neuron (nerve cell)a neuron

The nervous system is the body’s communication network.

In a healthy person, individual nerve cells (neurons) carry sensory messages from all parts of the body (the peripheral nerves) to the spinal cord and up it to the brain.

(The brain and spinal cord make up the Central Nervous System.)

Then motor (or locomotor) neurons carry messages from the brain back to the different parts of the body, telling the hand or foot to move, etc.

Neurons are very unusual cells. They are designed for carrying electrical impulses for long distances through the body. Most neurons have a long, thin extension called an axon that reaches far beyond the cell’s nucleus. Many axons are protected by a fatty covering called myelin.

Neurons also have dendrites. They are like little branches off the nucleus or axon that come close to the dendrites of other neurons. Synapses are the tiny gaps (spaces) between neurons. The neurons use chemicals called neurotransmitters to send messages across the synapses. That's the way neurons pass on messages.

These neural signals (electrical or chemical messages) direct our movements. If there is a sudden abnormal surge of electrical activity, it can cause a seizure with muscle convulsions.

Irregular electrical activity can also cause tremors or twitching (jerky small muscle contractions). A deficit or excess of any of the neurotransmitters can also cause serious problems.

Doctors may tap a knee or foot at an exact place to check for reflexes. (Reflexes are involuntary muscle contractions-- contractions not under our conscious control. They show that the nerves in that area can respond to stimulation.)

Reflexes are important when the body needs to act instantly, without thought. For example, if you touch a hot stove your hand should immediately jerk away. That reflex action that could protect you from a serious burn.

If the spinal cord is cut, crushed, or otherwise injured, some or all electrical messages may be blocked. Those messages are unable to reach their destination and tell that part of the body to move. This can result in partial or complete paralysis. 

Recently, neuroscientists have discovered that under certain conditions nerves can regenerate. Earlier scientists had believed they could not because nerve repair is much slower than in other body tissues like the skin.

Partial sensory nerve blockages can result in numbness—an inability to feel in that part of the body. (A dentist will deliberately numb part of the mouth before working on it.)

Problems can also originate in the brain. For example, in a cerebrovascular accident (also called a CVA or stroke), the blood supply to part of the brain is suddenly blocked.

A CVA can result from either an embolism blocking a blood vessel or from hemorrhage. Stroke victims may lose part of their ability to move their right or left side, or their speech may be affected. The damage depends on the area of the brain where the blockage occurs.

Neurological diseases include cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, Alzheimer’s and other dementias, Parkinson’s disease, and many other less common conditions.

Online Crossword Puzzle: Nervous System Vocabulary

Instructions: Complete the crossword, then click on "Check" to check your answer. If you are stuck, you can click on "Hint" (the tiny box to the right of "enter") to get a free letter. Click on a number in the grid to see the clue or clues for that number. Type your answer into the box to the right of the clue. (All the clues are visible at once at the bottom of the grid.)

Note that 2- or 3-word answers have no spaces between the words. (The pdf version does have spaces.) So if an answer should be “the nervous system,” on the puzzle you would write “thenervoussystem.”

Also, omit apostrophes in names. (Another example, not used in this puzzle, is “Down’s syndrome.” It would be written “Downssyndrome” or just “DOWNS.” It should be capitalized, but if you prefer to type in small letters that’s O.K. for this online crossword.)

1                         
                       
2                         
                       
              3           
4               5            
                       
                       
   6            7            
  8                       
                       
   9                10        
                       
                11         
      12                   
                       
         13    14              
                       
                       
15                         
                       
 16                        
         17                
                       
        18                 
                       

Across:

1. a sudden hemorrhage or blockage that decreases blood supply to an area of the brain (also called a CVA or stroke)
2. chemicals in the brain (like serotonin and dopamine) that transmit signals across \the nerve synapses
4. a progressive dementia caused by brain changes
5. lack of something that should be present
7. sudden convulsion caused by abnormal electrical activity in the brain
8. lack of feeling in an area
9. a neuromuscular disorder of children that causes various motor dysfunctions
11. nerve cell
12. the part of the central nervous system that connects the brain and the peripheral nerves
13. a progressive disorder causing tremors, weakness, and other motor disturbances
15. a CNS disorder in which nerves are demyelinated
16. the long extension of a neuron beyond its nucleus
17. loss of voluntary movement
18. jerky fast contractions of muscles in an area like a hand or part of the face

Down:

1. the brain & spinal cord, also called the CNS
3. involuntary muscle movements caused by nerve impulses
6. hereditary degenerative muscle disease
10. fatty protective covering of neurons
12. something that causes increased activity
14. grow back after an injury

You might also be interested in Psychology Vocabulary (an overview with links to more psych vocabulary pages and then a quiz) or Science Vocabulary (a matching game, again with links to other related vocabulary pages.)

Home> Vocabulary Games> Nervous System Vocabulary: an Online Crossword.

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