This part of the neuron receives information from other cells and is the primary input structure.
What is a dendrite?
This type of ion carries a positive charge and includes sodium, potassium, and calcium.
What is a cation?
This type of synapse allows for the direct transfer of ionic current between cells through gap junctions.
What is an electrical synapse?
This molecule must be synthesized and stored in the presynaptic neuron, released upon stimulation, act on receptors, and have a termination mechanism.
What is a neurotransmitter?
This primary vesicle forms the forebrain
What is Prosencephalon?
This structure connects the two cerebral hemispheres and allows communication between them.
What is the corpus callosum?
This is the typical voltage range of a neuron at rest, indicating that the inside of the cell is more negative than the outside.
What is –50 to –80 millivolts?
This ion enters the presynaptic terminal when voltage-gated channels open, triggering neurotransmitter release.
What is calcium (Ca²⁺)?
This neurotransmitter is the brain’s primary inhibitory signal
What is GABA?
This secondary vesicle forms the midbrain
What is the mesencephalon?
This brain structure relays nearly all incoming sensory information to the appropriate cortical areas—except for olfactory signals.
What is the thalamus?
This protein uses energy to pump three sodium ions out and two potassium ions in, helping maintain the resting membrane potential.
What is the sodium-potassium pump?
This is the primary mechanism by which neurotransmitters are cleared from the synaptic cleft.
What is reuptake?
Degeneration of this dopamine pathway, which connects the substantia nigra to the striatum, is associated with Parkinson’s disease.
What is the mesostriatal pathway?
This secondary vesicle forms the cerebellum and pons
What is the Metencephalon?
This brain region is part of the limbic system and plays a key role in learning and memory.
What is the hippocampus?
During this phase of the action potential, voltage-gated sodium channels open and sodium rushes into the neuron.
What is the rising phase (or depolarization)?
This type of postsynaptic potential makes a neuron more likely to fire by depolarizing the membrane.
What is an excitatory postsynaptic potential (EPSP)?
This brainstem nucleus is the primary source of norepinephrine projections to the forebrain.
What is the locus coeruleus?
This stage of neural development involves cells expressing particular genes and becoming distinctive types of neurons or glial cells through cell-cell interactions.
What is cell differentiation?
This structure at the base of the brain controls vital functions like respiration, heart rate, and blood pressure.
What is the medulla?
This process allows action potentials to "jump" from one Node of Ranvier to the next in a myelinated axon.
What is saltatory conduction?
This type of receptor is slower but longer-lasting, and works through intracellular signaling cascades.
What is a metabotropic receptor?
This neurotransmitter is produced in dendrites, diffuses immediately, and acts as a retrograde signal without binding to receptors.
What is nitric oxide?
This stage of neural development involves the selective loss and strengthening of synapses to fine-tune neural circuits.
What is synapse rearrangement?