Organization of the Nervous System
What are the two parts of the nervous system?
Central Nervous System (CNS)
Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)
What is gray matter vs. white matter?
Gray Matter - dark in color, mostly soma and dendrites
White Matter - Light in color, mostly axons - contain fat from myelin
What are the three main regions of the brain?
Hindbrain
Midbrain
Forebrain
What does GABA do in comparison to Glutamate (glu)?
GABA - generates IPSPs
Glu - generates EPSPs
What is neurophysiology?
The study of neuron communication
What is the function of Oligodendrocytes vs Schwann Cells?
Oligodendrocyte - produce myelin around neuron axons in the central nervous system (CNS)
Schwann Cells - produce myelin around neuron axons in the peripheral nervous system (PNS)
What is myelin?
Fatty covering from glial cells around axon
What are the three functions of the Cerebellum?
Coordinates muscle movements
Muscle Memory
Motor Learning
What does Dopamine (DA) do?
Plays important role in movement through substantia nigra
Reward/pleasure pathway
What is Hyperpolarization vs. Depolarization?
Hyperpolarization - neurons become more negative inside
Depolarization - neurons become more positive inside
What two types of cells make up the nervous system and what do they do?
Neurons - produce, integrate, and respond to electrical signals
Glial Cells - support and nourish neurons, do not generate electrical signals
What are the Nodes of Ranvier?
Spaces between glial cells that make myelin
What is the function of the Basal Ganglia?
Controls motivated behaviors by facilitating desired movements and inhibiting unwanted ones
What does Serotonin (5-HT) do?
What does it mean for all action potentials to be the same?
No stronger or weaker action potentials
Information from neurons is encoded by the frequency or number of action potentials
Stronger signals = more action potentials
Weaker signals = less action potentials
What does the autonomic motor/efferent system control?
Muscles of the heart (cardiac)
Internal Organs (smooth) - stomach, intestines, glands, blood vessels
What is the function of astrocytes?
Star-shaped cells that help to regulate the extracellular environment
What is the function of the Pineal Gland vs. the Pituitary Glland?
Pineal Gland - secretes melatonin when it is dark to promote sleep
Pituitary Gland - secretes a variety of hormones controlling reproduction, growth, metabolism, and water/salt balance
What does Norepinephrine (NE) do?
Excitatory
Activates fight or flight response of the autonomic nervous system
What do Excitatory and Inhibitory Post-synaptic potentials do? (be specific!)
EPSP - opens Na+ channels to slightly depolarize the neuron
IPSP - opens Cl- channels to slightly hyperpolarize the neuron
What does the visceral sensory/afferent system do? What is one example of these senses?
Senses that are not consciously perceived
Stretch of organs, body temp., blood composition
Name three of the structures involved in synaptic transmission and the role that they play.
Pre-synaptic Neuron - First neuron in a synapse that generates a message
Post-synaptic Neuron - Second neuron in a synapse that receives the message
Synaptic Cleft - Space between the axon terminal of the pre-synaptic neuron and dendrite of the post-synaptic neuron
Vesicles - Sacs filled with chemical messages in the axon terminal of the pre-synaptic neuron
Neurotransmitters - Chemical messages in the vesicles of the pre-synaptic neuron's axon terminal
Neurotransmitter Receptors - Proteins on the dendrites of the post-synaptic neuron that bind to and respond to neurotransmitters released into the cleft
What are the regions of the temporal lobe and what are their functions?
Auditory Cortex - perceives all auditory information from the ears after it is processed by the thalamus
Wernicke's Area - involved in language and specifically the understanding of spoken language
What does Acetylcholine (ACh) do?
Stimulates skeletal muscle contraction for voluntary movements (somatic movements)
Blocks cardiac muscle contraction
What is continuous conduction vs saltatory conduction?
Continuous Conduction - no myelin along axon, Na+ channels along entire axon, causing SLOW movement of A.P.s
Saltatory Conduction - myelin along axon, Na+ channels found only in Nodes of Ranvier, causing FAST movement of A.P.s