Central Nervous System
Brain
Spinal Cord
Peripheral Nervous System
Sensory Neurons (Afferent)
Visceral Senses: signals sent from internal organs
Somatic Senses: signals sent from the body surfaces, muscles, tendons, and bones
Motor Neurons (Efferent)
Somatic Motor Division: signals sent to muscles and glands
Visceral Motor Division (Autonomic): signals sent to internal organs and smooth muscle
Sympathetic Division: Fight or Flight response
Parasympathetic Division: Rest and Digest response
General Functions
Sensation – taking information from the environment and transmitting it to the CNS
Integration – processing the information to determine an appropriate response
Reaction – activating muscles or glands to survive changes in the environment
Neurons
3 components of a typical neuron
Dendrites: receive incoming signals
Body: Contains nucleus and cellular machinery
Axon: Relays outgoing signal
Collateral Branches: an axon splits into multiple branches to innervate multiple targets
Axon Terminal: Swollen distal portion of the axon where it contacts the target cell
Neuron Types (named for the number of process attachments connected to the neurosoma)
Unipolar: Single process, dendrites and axon connect directly and are linked to the cell at one point
Bipolar: 2 processes, all dendrites merge and connect to the cell at a single point
Multipolar: many processes, many dendrites connect independently to the neurosoma
Sensory (afferent) Neurons: relay information from receptors or receptor cells to CNS (often unipolar)
Interneurons: Most common, found in CNS; responsible for integration (multipolar)
Motor (efferent) Neurons: relay instructions to effectors (bipolar or multipolar commonly)
Neuroglia: support cells for neuronal tissues
CNS Microglia: Neuronal immune cells
Astrocytes: provide metabolic support for neurons
Ependymal Cells: line choroid plexuses in the brain and produce cerebrospinal fluid
Oligodendrocytes: Myelin sheath wraps axons insulating them, axon is exposed at Nodes of Ranvier
Allows for saltatory conduction, signal jumps from node to node at a high rate
PNS Schwann cells - Form or neurolemma around peripheral axons, isolating them from surrounding tissues
Can also myelinate axons (same effect as CNS myelination)
Satellite cells: surround and protect neurosoma in ganglia of the PNS
Nerves
Axon Signal transmission is referred to as an action potential
Voltage across membrane is build up by sodium/potassium pumps
Pumps 3 Na+ out for every 2 K+ in, helps make the cytosol more negative than the surroundings
Resting membrane voltage is -70mV
Local potentials from incoming signals converge on the axon hillock, where they are integrated
If the potential exceeds threshold voltage (usually) -55 mV, sodium channels open allowing Na+ to enter
This increases the amount of + ions in the cell, depolarizing the axon (up to around +30 mV)
Once depolarized, Na+ channels close and K+ channels open, allowing K+ to flow out of the cell
This repolarizes the cell as the cytosol becomes more negative
The cell becomes hyperpolarized as the membrane potential dips below -70 mV
The channels are prevented from opening again for a short period of time (refractory period)
This prevents the signal from going backwards
The action potential activates the voltage gated channels in the next segment or node
Sending the signal down the axon
The Na/K pumps then restore the resting potential
Axon connects to downstream neuron at dendrite or cell body
This connection is not a direct connection, separated by synaptic cleft
Synaptic cleft is where neurotransmitters are exocytosed by presynaptic axon
Vesicles in axon terminal contain neurotransmitters for signal transmission
The neurotransmitters bind to proteins on the postsynaptic cell, causing a reaction
Neurotransmitters must be cleared from the synapse to clear the cleft for the next signal
Reuptake: some neurotransmitters are taken back into the axon terminal for reuse
Enzymatic breakdown: some neurotransmitters are broken down by enzymes in the synapse
Diffusion: neurotransmitters diffuse out of the synaptic cleft, clearing the cleft for the next signal
Key Terms:
Excitability, Conductivity, Secretion, Somatic, Visceral, Blood-brain Barrier, White Matter, Grey Matter, Myelin,
Potential, Sodium/Potassium Pump, Leak Channel, Gated Channel (ligand vs voltage), Local Potential, Summation,
Threshold, Action Potential, All-or-none Principle, Refractory Period, Continuous Conduction, Saltatory Conduction,
Node of Ranvier, Neurotransmitter, Synapse, Synaptic Cleft, Acetylcholine (ACh), Norepinephrine (NE), Excitation,
Inhibition
Sample Questions
1) Myelin sheaths in the CNS are produced by __.
a. Schwann Cells
b. Microglia
c. Macroglia
d. Oligodendrocytes
e. Satellite Cells
2) Depolarization describes the change in the membrane potential brought about by __.
a. Na+ channels opening
b. K+ channels opening
c. Cl- channels opening
d. Na+/K+ pumps
e. exocytosis of neurotransmitters
3) The __ neuron secretes neurotransmitters into the synaptic cleft.
a. postsynaptic
b. parasynaptic
c. inhibitory
d. presynaptic
e. excitatory
4) The __ of a neuron are processes that receive signals.
a. dendrites
b. axons
c. Nissl bodies
d. synaptic terminals
e. synaptic vesicles
5) What prevents the signal from going the wrong direction through an axon?
a. The channels are electrically linked in series to permit flow in one direction
b. ATP is used to drive the signal in only one direction against the ion gradient
c. Upon closing, gated channels enter a refractory period.
d. Myelin closes off every other segment of the neuron, alternating flow to establish a directionality
e. The axon functions as a single large ion gradient and the flow naturally goes in one direction
6) What is significant about the threshold voltage of an axon membrane?
a. The action potential will only fire once the threshold is reached.
b. The threshold voltage causes K+ gates to close, beginning repolarization.
c. The threshold voltage is triggered when the cell is hyperpolarized, activating the ion pumps.
d. The threshold voltage begins exocytosis of neurotransmitters.
e. The threshold voltage opens K+ channels, beginning depolarization.
7) ___ are neural cells which clear waste, damaged molecules, and infectious agents from the nervous system.
a. Satellite cells
b. Schwann cells
c. Ependymal cells
d. Astrocytes
e. Microglia
1. d
2. a
3. d
4. a
5. c
6. a
7. e
