Nervous System Word Search

Print 16 nervous system words with an answer key, or swap in the neuron, the brain or the senses.

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0 of 16 words found

GCSCRDCENTRALRT

SGRRATSSEOLPTEC

PCPCUEUTRCRDNHQ

IEAETRIIVLFBKIA

NOBROEWMEYSNWPO

AOHENCQUMIICBPC

LIGBOEMLYYGEXOE

CIUEMPGUEHNLICI

OYILITASLSAMSAR

REBLCONUIYLOAMB

DERURRGLNNUTWPH

CAAMOHLRQAAOEUE

MGIDSXIJEPERASE

XTNEURONBSTHTVO

HILYSSNTMEDULLA

This grid is wider and taller than its box. Slide it to see every letter.To drag, hold the first letter for a moment, then slide.Keyboard: Tab to the grid, arrow keys to move, Enter on the first and last letter.

NeuronNEURON
SynapseSYNAPSE
MyelinMYELIN
ReceptorRECEPTOR
CerebellumCEREBELLUM
HippocampusHIPPOCAMPUS
MedullaMEDULLA
BrainBRAIN
NerveNERVE
Spinal cordSPINAL CORD
CentralCENTRAL
AutonomicAUTONOMIC
GanglionGANGLION
MotorMOTOR
StimulusSTIMULUS
SignalSIGNAL

16 of 24 words from the Nervous System Key Terms list.

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Answer key: Nervous System Word Search

GCSCRDCENTRALRT

SGRRATSSEOLPTEC

PCPCUEUTRCRDNHQ

IEAETRIIVLFBKIA

NOBROEWMEYSNWPO

AOHENCQUMIICBPC

LIGBOEMLYYGEXOE

CIUEMPGUEHNLICI

OYILITASLSAMSAR

REBLCONUIYLOAMB

DERURRGLNNUTWPH

CAAMOHLRQAAOEUE

MGIDSXIJEPERASE

XTNEURONBSTHTVO

HILYSSNTMEDULLA

NEURON, SYNAPSE, MYELIN, RECEPTOR, CEREBELLUM, HIPPOCAMPUS, MEDULLA, BRAIN, NERVE, SPINAL CORD, CENTRAL, AUTONOMIC, GANGLION, MOTOR, STIMULUS, SIGNAL

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All 118 words

Neurons and Their Parts 22

Acetylcholine The chemical messenger that motor nerve cells release to activate muscles.
Astrocyte A star-shaped glial cell found in the brain and the spinal cord.
Axon The long, slender fiber that carries impulses away from a nerve cell's body.
Dendrite A branch of a nerve cell that receives signals; its name comes from the Greek for tree.
Dopamine A chemical messenger with a major role in reward and motivation.
Glia Support cells of the nervous system that do not produce electrical impulses.
Glutamate The most abundant excitatory chemical messenger in the vertebrate nervous system.
Impulse The electrical signal that travels along a nerve cell, also called an action potential.
Membrane The thin outer layer of a cell; quick changes in voltage across it carry the signal.
Myelin The fatty material around many axons that insulates them and speeds up impulses.
Neuron A nerve cell: it fires electric signals and passes them on to other cells.
Node of Ranvier A gap in the myelin along an axon; the impulse seems to jump from one gap to the next.
Nucleus The part of a cell that holds its DNA; in a nerve cell it sits in the soma.

Show all 118 words (105 more)

Neurons and Their Parts, continued

Potassium Ions of this metal flow out of a nerve cell as it returns to rest.
Receptor A protein that a chemical messenger binds to, which passes the signal into the cell.
Schwann cell A glial cell that wraps axons outside the brain and spinal cord in myelin.
Serotonin A chemical messenger that helps regulate mood, appetite and sleep.
Sheath A covering layer; the one made of myelin wraps around an axon.
Sodium Ions of this metal flow into a nerve cell as an impulse begins.
Soma The cell body of a nerve cell: the bulbous part that holds the nucleus.
Synapse The junction where a nerve cell exchanges signals with another cell.
Vesicle A tiny sac at the end of an axon that stores chemical messengers until release.

Parts of the Brain 24

Amygdala A paired part inside the temporal lobes with a main role in emotions such as fear.
Brainstem The stalk that joins the cerebrum to the spinal cord: midbrain, pons and medulla.
Cerebellum The 'little brain' at the back; it adds coordination, precision and timing to movement.
Cerebrum The largest part of the brain, with two hemispheres and the cortex.
Corpus callosum The thick band of nerve fibers that connects the left and right hemispheres.
Cortex The outer layer of the cerebrum, with a key role in thought, memory and language.
Forebrain The forward-most division; its main structures include the cerebrum and thalamus.
Frontal The largest lobe, at the front; its motor cortex controls voluntary movements.
Gray matter Tissue made mostly of nerve cell bodies, with few myelinated axons.
Gyrus A ridge on the folded surface of the cortex.
Hindbrain The rear division, which includes the medulla, the pons and the cerebellum.
Hippocampus A part with an important role in turning short-term memory into long-term memory.
Hypothalamus A small part that controls body temperature, hunger, thirst and sleep.
Lobe One of the four major regions of the cortex on each half of the cerebrum.
Medulla The lowest part of the brainstem; its centers control breathing and heart rate.
Meninges The three protective membranes that cover the brain and spinal cord.
Midbrain The top portion of the brainstem, linked with vision, hearing and alertness.
Occipital The lobe at the back of the head: the center for processing vision.
Parietal The lobe behind the frontal one; the main area for the sense of touch is here.
Pituitary The gland at the base of the brain, attached to the bottom of the hypothalamus.
Pons The part of the brainstem above the medulla; its name is Latin for bridge.
Sulcus A groove on the folded surface of the cortex.
Temporal The lobe at the side, involved in hearing, understanding language and memory.
White matter Tissue made mainly of myelinated axons, which link different regions.

Nerves and the Spinal Cord 25

Afferent Describes nerve fibers that carry information toward the central nervous system.
Autonomic The part that works largely unconsciously and regulates heart rate and digestion.
Brain The organ that, with the spinal cord, makes up the central nervous system.
Central The division of the nervous system made up of the brain and spinal cord.
Cervical The neck region of the spine, with 7 vertebrae.
Cranial Describes the twelve pairs of nerves that emerge directly from the brain.
Efferent Describes nerve fibers that carry impulses away from the central nervous system.
Enteric The mesh of nerve cells that governs the digestive tract, often called the second brain.
Ganglion A group of nerve cell bodies outside the brain and spinal cord.
Interneuron A nerve cell that is neither sensory nor motor; it links other nerve cells.
Lumbar The lower-back region of the spine, with 5 vertebrae.
Motor The kind of nerve cell that carries commands out to muscles and glands.
Nerve A cable-like bundle of axons outside the brain and spinal cord.
Peripheral The division of the nervous system outside the brain and spinal cord: nerves and ganglia.
Plexus A branching network of intersecting nerves.
Reflex An involuntary, nearly instant response to a stimulus.
Sacral The region of the spine below the lumbar; the sciatic nerve branches from its plexus.
Sciatic The longest and widest single nerve in the human body; it runs down the leg.
Sensory The kind of nerve cell that carries information from the body's receptors inward.
Somatic The voluntary part of the nervous system, linked to the skeletal muscles.
Spinal cord The long, thin tube of nervous tissue that runs down from the brainstem inside the backbone.
Sympathetic The branch that sets off the body's fight-or-flight response.
Thoracic The chest region of the spine, with 12 vertebrae.
Vagus The tenth cranial nerve, which connects the brain to the heart, lungs and digestive tract.
Vertebra One of the bones that make up the spine.

Senses and Signals 24

Auditory Describes the sensory system for hearing.
Balance The sense that keeps you from falling over; the inner ear plays a large part in it.
Chemoreceptor A sensory receptor that turns a chemical substance into a signal.
Hearing The sense that detects sound as vibrations, through the ears.
Itch A sensation that causes a strong desire to scratch.
Nociceptor A sensory nerve cell that responds to damaging or potentially damaging stimuli.
Olfactory Describes the sensory system used for smell.
Optic Describes the nerve that carries visual information from the retina to the brain.
Pain A distressing feeling often caused by intense or damaging stimuli.
Photoreceptor A cell in the retina that converts light into signals.
Pressure A push on the skin, picked up by receptors there.
Proprioception The sense of self-movement, force and body position.
Reaction What the body does in answer to a stimulus.
Sight The sense that begins when cells in the retina turn light into signals.
Signal A message passed along and between nerve cells.
Smell The sense that perceives odors, which bind to receptors inside the nose.
Stimulus A change inside or outside the body that can be detected and lead to a reaction.
Tactile Describes anything to do with the sense of touch.
Taste The sense that works through receptor cells in buds, mostly on the tongue.
Temperature How hot or cold something is; the body has receptors for its changes.
Thalamus A mass of gray matter that relays sensory signals to the cortex.
Thermoreceptor The receptive part of a sensory nerve cell that codes changes in temperature.
Touch The sense that picks up pressure and vibration on the skin.
Vestibular Describes the system that creates the sense of balance and spatial orientation.

What the Nervous System Controls 22

Alertness The state of being awake and ready; the midbrain and thalamus help regulate it.
Attention Focus on one thing among many; the cerebellum and the cortex both take part.
Blinking Closing the eyelids; a reflex does it when something touches the cornea.
Breathing Its control center, the respiratory center, lies in the medulla.
Coordination Many body parts moving together as one action; the cerebellum fine-tunes it.
Decision A choice between options; the amygdala and the frontal lobe have roles in making one.
Fight or flight The body's response to a threat, driven by the sympathetic nervous system.
Habit A routine done almost without thinking; the basal ganglia help form it.
Heartbeat Its rate is adjusted by nerves from centers in the medulla.
Homeostasis Keeping conditions inside the body, such as temperature, relatively stable.
Hunger The drive to eat, controlled by the hypothalamus.
Mood A lasting state of feeling; serotonin helps regulate it.
Movement Voluntary motion of the body, controlled from the motor cortex in the frontal lobe.
Planning Thinking ahead about the future, an executive function of the frontal lobe.
Posture How the body is held; damage to the cerebellum disturbs it.
Shivering Muscle shaking that warms the body, started by a center in the hypothalamus.
Sleep A state of rest; waking from it starts with activity in the thalamus.
Speech Spoken language; Broca's area and Wernicke's area in the brain underlie it.
Swallowing Moving food from the mouth down the throat, coordinated by a center in the medulla and pons.
Sweating Cooling the skin with moisture; sympathetic nerve cells switch on most of the glands.
Thirst The drive to drink, controlled by the hypothalamus.
Thought Thinking; the cortex plays a key role in it.

Hard Nervous System 1

Microglia Small glial cells that are the main immune defense of the brain and spinal cord.

How this list was compiled: Own work: the word list and every clue were written for this page. The facts in the clues were checked on 2026-10-08 against English Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0), among them the articles on the nervous system (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nervous_system), the neuron (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuron), the human brain (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_brain), the lobes of the brain (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lobes_of_the_brain), the spinal cord (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spinal_cord) and the autonomic nervous system (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autonomic_nervous_system). The page is vocabulary practice, not medical advice. Licence: own work

How it works

This nervous system word search works from the cell up: the parts of a neuron, the parts of the brain, the nerves and the spinal cord, the senses that feed them, and what the system controls, from speech to shivering.

Read the full guide

The neuron list

Pick Neurons and Their Parts under Start from a list and the sheet prints under that title. Its 22 words run from Axon, Dendrite, Soma and Synapse to Myelin, Sheath and Node of Ranvier, with four chemical messengers: Dopamine, Serotonin, Acetylcholine and Glutamate.

The brain, the nerves and the senses

Parts of the Brain has 24 words: the four lobes, Frontal, Parietal, Temporal and Occipital, with Cerebellum, Hippocampus, Amygdala and Corpus callosum. Nerves and the Spinal Cord has 25, such as Vagus, Sciatic, Ganglion and Plexus. Senses and Signals has 24. Easy Nervous System keeps to 20 words of 4 or 5 letters.

Brain reads inside Brainstem and Midbrain, so it sits with the nerves, not in Parts of the Brain.
Thalamus reads inside Hypothalamus: the first is in Senses and Signals, the second in Parts of the Brain.
Spinal cord, Gray matter and Corpus callosum each hide as one run of letters: SPINALCORD.

Questions and answers

What are the parts of a neuron?

The soma, or cell body, holds the nucleus. Dendrites are branches that receive signals. The axon is a long fiber that carries impulses away from the cell body. At a synapse the neuron passes its signal to another cell.

What are the two main parts of the nervous system?

The central nervous system is the brain plus the spinal cord. The peripheral nervous system is the nerves and ganglia outside them. Its autonomic part works largely unconsciously and regulates heart rate and digestion.

What do the four lobes of the brain do?

The frontal lobe's motor cortex controls voluntary movement. The parietal lobe holds the main area for touch. The temporal lobe plays a part in hearing, language and memory. The occipital lobe processes vision.

Is there a nervous system word search printable with an answer key?

Yes: this one prints its key as page 2 on Letter or A4. The clues are class vocabulary, not medical advice. For bones, muscles and the heart, print the human body word search.

All 118 words

Neurons and Their Parts 22

Neurons and Their Parts, continued

Parts of the Brain 24

Nerves and the Spinal Cord 25

Senses and Signals 24

What the Nervous System Controls 22

Hard Nervous System 1

How it works

The neuron list

The brain, the nerves and the senses

Questions and answers

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