LECTURE NOTES

3/29/21
MEMBRANE AND EXCITABLE TISSUE PHYSIOLOGY
Course outline:

a) Membrane potential: Action potential (AP), nerve cells, classification of nerve, synapses,
neurotransmitters, receptors, neuromuscular transmission, excitation -contraction coupling.
b) Muscle, skeletal, cardiac muscle: Morphology, contractile elements, electrical phenomena,
contractile response, energy sources and metabolism.
c) Pacemaker tissue; smooth muscle structure, electrical behaviour and contractile response
Excitability: the property to respond to stimuli from the external or internal environment

THE NERVOUS SYSTEM (NS)

Three basic functions:

a) Sensory function b) Integrative function c) Motor function

Nervous System- 2 distinct parts

The central nervous system (CNS): The brain and spinal cord
The peripheral nervous system: Cranial, spinal and associated nerves

Or

Sensory (afferent) division: carries impulses to the CNS

Motor (efferent) division: Carries impulses form CNS to the other body organs, muscles &
glands

Nervous system can be divided into:

The somatic nervous system: systems which control organs under voluntary control
The autonomic nervous system (ANS): It is concerned with sensory and motor innervation of
the blood vessels and internal organs and for the most part is not subject to voluntary control.
It includes the:
 The sympathetic nervous system
 The parasympathetic nervous system

Types of cells within the nervous system

Glial cells (75- 80%)

Types of glial cells include
 Oligodendroglia or oligodendrocytes: These cells form the myelin sheath of axons in
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the CNS and bind nerves to each other

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LECTURE NOTES | TKNP
 LECTURE NOTES
3/29/21
MEMBRANE AND EXCITABLE TISSUE PHYSIOLOGY
 Microglia: These cells are phagocytes
 Ependymar cells: Secrete the cerebrospinal fluid
 Astroglia/astrocytes: Form the blood- brain barrier. Synthesize growth factors that are
responsible for regulating the structure, proliferation, differentiation and survival of
neuronal populations in the brain
Neurons (20-25%); They are the structural and functional units of the nervous system. They
are specialized to:
 Respond to stimuli (chemical and physical)
 Conduct electrochemical impulses (action potentials)
 Release chemical regulators

The Main Parts of the Nerve Cell

The nerve cell may be divided on the basis of its structure and function into three main parts:

The cell body (soma)

Numerous short processes of the soma called dendrites
The single long nerve fibre, the axon

The body of a nerve cell is similar to that of all other cells. The cell body includes the nucleus,
mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum, ribosomes, and other organelles. The short processes of the
cell body, the dendrites, receive impulses from other cells and transfer them to the cell body
(afferent signals). The effect of these impulses may be excitatory or inhibitory. A cortical
neuron may receive impulses from tens or even hundreds of thousands of neurons.

The long nerve fiber, the axon, transfers/conducts the signal from the cell body to another nerve or to
a muscle cell. The axon may be covered with an insulating layer called the myelin sheath, which is
formed by Schwann cells. The myelin sheath is not continuous but divided into sections, separated at
regular intervals by the nodes of Ranvier.
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LECTURE NOTES | TKNP
 LECTURE NOTES
3/29/21
MEMBRANE AND EXCITABLE TISSUE PHYSIOLOGY
The Synapse

The junction between an axon and the next cell with which it communicates is called the synapse.
Information proceeds from the cell body unidirectionally over the synapse, first along the axon and
then across the synapse to the next nerve or muscle cell. The part of the synapse that is on the side of
the axon is called the presynaptic terminal; that part on the side of the adjacent cell is called
the postsynaptic terminal.

Between these terminals, there exists a gap, the synaptic cleft, with a thickness of 10 - 50 nm. The
fact that the impulse transfers across the synapse only in one direction, from the presynaptic terminal
to the postsynaptic terminal, is due to the release of a chemical transmitter by the presynaptic cell.
This transmitter, when released, activates the postsynaptic terminal. The synapse between a motor
nerve and the muscle it innervates is called the neuromuscular junction.

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