1 Vphy112 Nervous System Merged

VPHY 112
Systemic Physiology
1. Sensory Input
2. Integration
3. Homeostasis
4. Mental Activity
5. Controls of Muscles and Glands
1. Brain
2. Spinal cord
3. Nerves
4. Sensory receptors
1. Central Nervous System (CNS)
- Encased in bone
- Brain and Spinal Cord
1. Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)
- Not encased in bone
- Contain both motor and sensory neurons
- Sensory neurons are not subdivided into
somatic and autonomic since there is overlap
in function (e.g., pain receptors can stimulate
both somatic and autonomic reflexes)
1. Spinal cord level
- Responsible for:
• Walking movement
• Reflexes that withdraw portion of the body
from painful object
• Reflexes that stiff the legs to support the
body against gravity
• Reflexes that control local blood vessel, GI
movement and urinary excretion
- Concerned primarily with automatic,
instantaneous motor response of the body to
sensory stimuli
2. Lower brain subcortical level
- Medulla oblongata, mesencephalon,
hypothalamus, thalamus, cerebellum and basal
ganglia
- Responsible for:
• Subconscious control of arterial pressure and
respiration (medulla and pons)
• Feeding reflexes, salivation and licking of the
lips (medulla, pons, mesencephalon,
amygdala and hypothalamus)
• Emotional pattern such as anger, sexual
response, reaction to pain, pleasure
3. High brain
cortical level
a) Cerebellum
b) Basal ganglia
c) Hypothalamus
d) Cerebral cortex
3. High brain cortical level
- Functions:
• Store memory
• Function in association with the lower
center of the nervous system
• Converts imprecise function of the lower
brain center to determination and precise
operation
• Essential for most of out thought process
(but cannot function alone)
BRAIN – has three developmental divisions:
a) Forebrain
– Cerebrum
– Diencephalon
(Thalamus and
Hypothalamus)
b) Midbrain
c) Hindbrain
 7/8 of the brain’s weight
 Surface layer of gray matter (cerebral cortex) is
greatly expanded by convolutions or gyri
 Functions:
 Responsible for discriminatory identification
and integration of sensory information
 Memory
 Reasoning
 Use of language
 Emotional behavior
 Initiation of movement
a) Frontal lobe
 Voluntary motor function , motivation,
aggression, sense of smell, mood
b) Parietal lobe
 Reception and evaluation of sensory information
except smell, hearing, and vision
c) Occipital lobe
 Reception and integration of visual input
d) Temporal lobe
 Reception and evaluation for smell and hearing;
memory, abstract thought, judgment
 Paired mass of gray matter situated below corpus
callosum
 Functions:
 Relay center for sensory impulses (except olfactory)
from peripheral receptors to cerebral cortex
 Responsible for crude awareness of sensation
(protopathic sensibility)
 Processes and relays coordinating motor impulses from
the basal ganglia and cerebellum to the cerebral motor
cortex
 Relay and integration center for emotional behavior
- Involved in controlling motor function
- Connects the limbic system to other parts of the brain.
- Hypothetically causes sleepiness
- Helps regulate biological clock
- May play a role in onset of puberty
 Regulation of body temperature, feeding activities,
concentration and volume of ECF, ANS responses,
endocrine functions
 Receives input from viscera, taste receptors, limbic
system, nipples, external genitalia, prefrontal
cortex, efferent fibers to brainstem, spinal cord,
through infundibulum to posterior pituitary, and
to cranial nerves controlling swallowing and
shivering
 Important in regulation of mood, emotion, sexual
pleasure, satiation, rage and fear
- Involved in:
• Visual reflexes
• Hearing
• Aid in unconscious regulation and
coordination of motor activities
 Integration center for promoting smooth, coordinated,
voluntary movements
 Receives input from proprioceptors and receptor for
touch, vision, and hearing as well as from motor cortex
 Sends inhibitory signals to monitor cortex that prevent
inappropriate movements
 Involved in control of locomotion, posture, balance
and eye movements
 Fine motor coordination leading to smooth, flowing
movements, works with cerebrum to plan, practice,
learn complex movements
 Lies anterior to cerebellum
between midbrain and
medulla
 Bridge-like structure
consisting almost entirely
of white matter, linking
various parts of the brain
 Sleep center and
respiratory center –
coordinates with center in
medulla
 Continuous with
spinal cord through
foramen magnum
 Ventrally are pyramids
(corticospinal tracts)
 Functions:
 Contains pathways for discriminatory touch and
kinesthesia
 Contains centers for regulating:
a) Cardio-vascular functions
b) Maintaining and controlling breathing
c) Coordinating swallowing
d) Vomiting
e) Coughing
f) Sneezing reflexes
 Regulates: heart rate, blood vessel diameter,
respiration, swallowing, hiccupping, coughing, and
sneezing
- Diffusely scattered neurons throughout the area of
medulla, pons, and midbrain
 Functions:
a) Receives afferent projections providing all
types of sensory input and is essential for
arousal and maintaining wakefulness
b) Contains center for facilitating or inhibiting
stretch reflexes
c) Controls cyclic activities such as sleep-wake
cycle
 Four cavities or ventricles of the brain are
continuous with the central canal of the spinal
cord
a) Two (lateral ventricles) one in each
hemispheres
b) One (third ventricle) in the diencephalon
c) One (fourth ventricle) anterior to the
cerebellum
1. Dura mater - outermost dense fibrous tissue
consisting of two layers:
 Endosteal Dura
– outermost; forms the internal periosteum of
the cranial bones
 Meningeal Dura
– continuous with the epineurium of the
spinal nerves
2. Arachnoid
- Middle meninx
- A loose, delicate
membrane with
microscopic
appearance of a
spider web
- Thin and wispy
3. Pia mater
- Inner meninx
- Avascular membrane
- Bound tightly to surface of the brain and spinal
cord
- Forms the filum terminale, which anchors spinal
cord to coccyx and the denticulate ligaments that
attach the spinal cord to the dura mater
a) Epidural space
- Anesthesia injected
- Contains blood vessels, areolar connective
tissue and fat
b) Subdural space
- Serous fluid
c) Subarachnoid space
- CSF and blood vessels within web-like strands of
arachnoid tissue
 Circulates with:
 ventricles
 central canal of spinal cord
 subarachnoid space of the brain and spinal
cord (between arachnoid and pia mater)
 Serves as protective jacket
 Provides buoyancy for brain
 Continuously formed in ventricles, principally
by choroid plexus
CHOROID PLEXUS – pouch-like projections of pia
mater into ventricles; covered with ependymal cells
 Circulates from lateral ventricles through foramina
of Monro into third ventricles
 Passes through cerebral aqueduct into fourth
ventricle (and spinal cord)
 Passes through three foramina into subarachnoid
space
 Drains into the superior sagittal sinus
 A separation between endosteal and meningeal
dura through arachnoid villi (projections of
arachnoid into sinus)
 Capillary endothelial cells along with astrocytes
and basement membrane
 To be considered when developing drugs
 Endothelial cells have tight junctions between
them
 Astrocytes have foot processes that influence
capillary permeability
 Basement membrane of endothelium
 Functions:
1. Allows careful selection of what substances
can cross to neurons
2. Capillary walls are different
 Fewer pores
 Tight junctions
 Special carriers
3. Water soluble substances do not cross easily
 Lipophilic molecules can cross
 The total volume of CSF in the adult ranges from 140 to
270 ml. The volume of the ventricles is about 25 ml.
CSF is produced at a rate of 0.2 - 0.7 ml per minute or
600-700 ml per day.
 Composition: similar to plasma
o Higher concentration of sodium and chloride
o Lower concentration of glucose, protein,
potassium and calcium
 Extends from foramen
magnum to 2nd lumbar
vertebra
 Gives rise to spinal nerves
 Segments of spinal nerves
 Cervical
 Thoracic
 Lumbar
 Sacral
 Central H-shaped core of gray matter
surrounded by white matter
 Not uniform in diameter
throughout length
 Cervical enlargement:
supplies upper limbs
 Lumbar enlargement:
supplies lower limbs
 Conus medullaris:
tapered inferior end
 Cauda equina
- Origins of spinal nerves
extending inferiorly
from lumbosacral
enlargement and conus
medullaris
 Slender extension of pia
mater below spinal cord is
called filum terminale.
 Arise as rootlets then combine to form roots
 Dorsal (posterior) root has a ganglion
o Dorsal root ganglion
- Collections of cell bodies of unipolar sensory neurons
forming dorsal roots.
 Ventral (anterior)
a) Motor neuron cell bodies are in anterior and lateral horns of
spinal cord gray matter
b) Multipolar somatic motor neurons in anterior (motor) horn
c) Axons of motor neurons form ventral roots and pass into spinal
nerves
d) Autonomic neurons in lateral horn
e) Two roots merge laterally and form the spinal nerve
 Includes: Peripheral Nerves
a) Sensory receptors – ending of neurons
– separate, specialized cells that detect
temperature, pain, touch, pressure, light, sound,
odor
b) Nerve – bundle of axons and their sheaths
– connects CNS to sensory receptors, muscles and
glands
c) Cranial nerves – originate from the brain
d) Spinal nerves – originate from spinal cord
e) Ganglion – collection of neuron cell bodies
outside CNS
f) Plexus – extensive network of axons, sometimes
neuron cell bodies, located outside CNS
Fig. 13.15
CN Name General Specific Function
Function
I Olfactory Sensory Smell
II Optic Sensory Vision
III Oculomotor Motor, Motor to four of six eye extrinsic
Parasympathetic muscles and upper eyelid;
Parasympathetic: constrict pupil
IV Trochlear Motor Motor to one extrinsic eye muscle
V Trigeminal Sensory, Motor Sensory to face and teeth;
Motor to muscle of mastication
(chewing)
VI Abducens Motor Motor to one extrinsic eye muscle
VII Facial Sensory, Motor, Sensory: Taste;
Parasympathetic Motor to muscle of facial expression;
Parasympathetic to salivary and tear
gland
CN Name General Specific Function
Function
VIII Vestibulocochlear Sensory Hearing and balance
IX Glossopharyngeal Sensory, Sensory: taste and touch to back of

Motor, tongue;
Parasympathetic Motor to pharyngeal muscles;
Parasympathetic to salivary glands
X Vagus Sensory, Sensory to pharynx, larynx, and
Motor, viscera;
Parasympathetic Motor to palate, pharynx and
larynx;
Parasympathetic to viscera of
thorax and abdomen
XI Accessory Motor Motor to two neck and upper back
muscle
XII Hypoglossal Motor Motor to tongue and muscles
 CONSIST OF:
a) Axon bundles
b) Schwann cells
c) Connective tissue
 Endoneurium
- Surrounds individual neurons
 Perineurium
- Surrounds axon groups to from fascicles
 Epineurium
- Surrounds the entire nerve
PERIPHERAL NERVOUS SYSTEM
Sensory Motor
Autonomic Somatic
Nervous System Nervous System
Sympathetic Parasympathetic
Nervous System Nervous System
1. Sensory (afferent): transmits action potentials
from receptors to CNS
2. Motor (efferent): transmits action potentials
from CNS to effectors (muscles and glands)
1. Somatic Nervous System
- Afferent and efferent nerves that innervate the
musculoskeletal and integumentary systems
(motor function and sensation)
- From CNS to skeletal muscles
- Voluntary
- Single neuron system
- Synapse: junction of a nerve cell with another cell
• e.g., neuromuscular junction is a synapse
between a neuron and skeletal muscle cell
2. Autonomic Nervous System
- Afferent and efferent nerves that innervate the
body organs to coordinate the internal
environment (homeostasis)
- From CNS to smooth muscle, cardiac muscle
and certain glands
- Subconscious or involuntary control
(Unconscious regulation)
- Target tissues: stimulated or inhibited
2. Autonomic Nervous System
- Two neuron system:
• First – from CNS to ganglion
• Second – from ganglion to effector
- Two synapses (2 neuron chain leads to an
effector)  distinctive anatomical feature of ANS
a) Preganglionic neurons
b)Postganglionic neurons
- Receptor molecules: varies with synapse and
neurotransmitter
COMPARISON OF THE SOMATIC AND
AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM
FEATURES SOMATIC NS AUTONOMIC NS
Target Skeletal muscle Smooth, cardiac
Tissues muscles and glands
Regulation Controls all Unconscious
conscious and regulation, although
unconscious influenced by
movements of conscious mental
skeletal muscle function
Response to Skeletal muscle Target tissues are

Stimulation contracts stimulated or inhibited
COMPARISON OF THE SOMATIC AND AUTONOMIC
NERVOUS SYSTEM
Neuron One neuron Two neurons in series; the
arrangement extends from the Preganglionic neuron extends
CNS to skeletal from the CNS to an autonomic
muscle ganglion and the
Postganglionic neuron extends
from the autonomic ganglion to
the target tissues
Neuron Cell Neuron cell bodies Preganglionic neuron cell
Body are motor nuclei of bodies are in autonomic nuclei
Location the cranial nerves of the cranial nerves and in the
and in the ventral lateral part of the spinal cord;
horn of the spinal Posganglionic neuron cell
cord bodies are in autonomic ganglia
NERVOUS SYSTEM
Number of One synapse Two synapses: first in the
Synapse between the autonomic ganglia; second is
somatic neuron at the target tissue
and the skeletal
muscle
Axon Sheaths Myelinated Preganglioonic axons are
myelinated; Postganglionic
axons are unmyelinated
Neuromuscular Acetylcholine Acetylcholine is released by
substance Preganglionic neuron; either
acetylcholine or
norepinephrine is released by
Postganglionic neuron
NERVOUS SYSTEM
Receptor Receptor In autonomic ganglia,
molecule for receptor molecules for
acetylcholine acetylcholine are
are nicotinic nicotinic; in target
tissues, receptor
molecules for
acetylcholine are
muscarinic; whereas
receptor molecule for
norepinephrine are
either α or β adrenergic
 Activated mainly by the centers located in the
spinal cord, brain stem, hypothalamus, and
portion of the cerebral cortex (limbic cortex)
 Often operate by visceral reflex
 Efferent autonomic signals are transmitted to
various organs of the body through two major
divisions:
a) Sympathetic Nervous System
b) Parasympathetic Nervous System
 Outflow tracts comprise:
a) Pre-ganglionic neurons
- cell body located within the CNS
- axon extending to ganglion (group of
neurons) outside CNS
a) Post-ganglionic neurons
- cell body occurs outside the CNS within an
autonomic ganglia
- axon extending to muscle or gland
1. Sympathetic Nervous System
- Prepares body for physical activity
2. Parasympathetic Nervous System
- Regulates resting or vegetative functions
such as digesting food or emptying of the
urinary bladder
3. Vascular Nervous System
- The network of nerves that innervate the
blood vessels and coordinate vascular
smooth muscle function
4. Enteric Nervous System
- Network of nerves that innervate the gut and
coordinate gut function
- Plexuses within the wall of the digestive tract.
- Can control the digestive tract independently
of the CNS – still considered part of the ANS
because of the parasympathetic and
sympathetic neurons that contribute to the
plexi.
THE
NEURON
Neuron
• Other name: Nerve cell
• Basic functional unit of nervous tissue
• Functional unit of nervous system
• Excitable
• Can generate and carry electrical signals
• Specialized for the conduction of nerve impulses,
consisting of a cell body containing a nucleus and
processes transmitting impulses to and from the
cell body
Main Parts of Neuron
1. Soma/ Cell Body/ Nissl Bodies/ Neuronal Body
- Acts as a
processing
center for the
nerve fiber
- Nucleus
- Rough
Endoplasmic
Reticulum (RER):
primary site of
protein synthesis
Main Parts of
Neuron
2. Protoplasmic processes
a) Axon
- A single, elongated,
sheathed process
conducting impulses away
from the cell body.
- Side branches arising along
the course of an axon are
called collaterals.
a) Axon
- Extends from the soma into the peripheral
nerves that leaves the spinal cord
- Function: conducts impulses away from the
soma
Parts of Axon
1. Axon Hillock – initial
segment or beginning
of axon that ends in a
nerve terminal which
contains vesicles filled
with neurotransmitters
(origin of axon)
2. Axoplasm (Cytoplasm)
3. Axolemma (Cell
Membrane)
Parts of Axon
4. Presynaptic Terminals
(Terminal Buttons)
5. Synaptic vesicles
6. Trigger Zone – site
where action potentials
are generated; axon
hillock and part of the
axon nearest the cell
body
b) Dendrites
- Branching projections of the soma
- Group of unsheathed processes arranged like
branches of a tree that transmit impulses to the
cell body
- Short, often highly branched
- Function: conducts impulse towards the soma
- Plasma membrane is densely populated with
ligand-gated receptor to provide high affinity
binding sites for chemical transmitters released by
surrounding neurons
b) Dendrites
- Incoming signals enter through synapse mainly on
the dendrites, but also on the cell body
- Output signals travel by way of a single axon
leaving the neuron, but has main branches to
other parts of the nervous system or peripheral
body
- Special feature of most signals: passes only in
forward direction (from axon to dendrites)
Axonic (Axoplasmic/Axonal)
Transport Mechanism
• Axoplasm moves from cell body toward
terminals
• Supply for growth repair, and renewal
• Anterograde or Orthograde – movement of
molecules/organelles outward; from cell body
(soma) to the synapse (cell membrane)
– Mediated by kinesins
– Can move cytoskeletal proteins, organelles
away from cell body toward axon terminal
Axonic (Axoplasmic/Axonal)
Transport Mechanism
• Retrograde - movement of molecules/organelles
inward; away from the synapse or plasma membrane
toward the cell body or soma.
• Mediated by dynein
• Into cell body:
 Damaged organelles, recycled plasma
membrane, and substances taken in by
endocytosis can be transported up by the axon
to the cell body
 Rabies and Herpes virus can enter axons in
damaged skin and be transported to CNS
Types of neurons
• Functional classification
• Structural classification
Functional Classification
a) Sensory or afferent
- Action potentials toward CNS (from sensory
receptors to CNS)
b) Motor or efferent
- Action potentials away from CNS (from CNS to
effectors)
c) Interneuron or association neurons
- Within CNS from one neuron to another
(connect the sensory to the efferent)
Sensory, Motor and
Interneuron
Structural Classification
a) Multipolar neuron
- Most neurons in CNS; motor neurons
b) Bipolar neuron
- Sensory in retina of the eye and nose
c) Unipolar neuron
- Single process that divides into two
braches
- Part that extends to the periphery has
dendrite-like sensory receptors
Nerve Fiber
• Any single,
elongated
neuronal process
(such as an axon
or a peripheral
process of a
sensory neuron)
• All peripheral nerve fibers have a wrapping formed
of accessory cells of the nervous system called
schwann cells
• Myelinated fibers have multiple wrapping of Schwann cell
membrane called myelin.
• The outermost wrapping, containing the nuclei of the
Schwann cells and most of the cytoplasm is called
neurilemma.
• Unmyelinated fibers have a thin Schwann cell wrapping
called by some anatomist as the neurilemma of these fibers
• Myelin is an effective insulator and in myelinated
fibers, impulses jump from one node of Ranvier
(gap in the myelin sheath covered by
neurilemma) to another - saltatory conduction,
greatly increasing transmission velocity.
• In fibers of the CNS, the myelin sheath is formed by accessory
cells, called oligodendroglia, which send out processes, each
wrapping around a segment of a nerve fiber.
• Schwann cells are essential for regeneration of damaged
nerve fibers; hence, fibers of CNS, where Schwann cells are
absent, cannot regenerate.
Neuroglia of the CNS
Neuroglia of
CNS: Astrocytes
• Processes form feet that cover
the surfaces of neurons and
blood vessels and the pia mater
• Regulate what substances reach
the CNS from the blood (blood-
brain barrier)
• Lots of microfilaments for
support
• Produce chemicals that promote
tight junctions to form blood-
brain barrier
This picture illustrates the relationship
between astrocytes and blood vessels. The
dark 'star-like' figures are the astrocytes.
BLOOD-BRAIN BARRIER
BLOOD-BRAIN BARRIER
1. Protects neurons from toxic substances
2. Allows the exchange of nutrients and waste
products between neurons and blood
3. Prevents fluctuations in the composition of the
blood from affecting the functions of the brain
4. Regulate extracellular brain fluid composition
Neuroglia of CNS:
Ependymal Cells
• Line brain
ventricles and
spinal cord
central canal
• Specialized
versions of
ependymal cells
form choroid
plexuses
CHOROID PLEXUS
• Within certain
regions of ventricles
• Secrete
cerebrospinal fluid
• Cilia help move fluid
thru the cavities of
the brain
• Have long processes
on basal surface
that extend within
the brain tissue,
may have astrocyte-
like functions
• Choroid plexus is present in all parts of the ventricular
system except for the cerebral aqueduct, the frontal
horn and the occipital horn of the lateral ventricles
• The choroid
plexus is also a
major source
of transferrin that
plays a part
in iron
homeostasis in
the brain.
Neuroglia of CNS: Microglia
• Specialized macrophage
• Respond to inflammation
• Phagocytize necrotic tissue, microorganisms, and
foreign substances that invade the CNS
• (Left) Note the highly ramified branches of the
unactivated microglia.
• (Right) The activated microglia have an enlarged
cell body with shorter, stouter branches.
Neuroglia of CNS:
Oligodendrocyte
• Form myelin
sheaths if it
surround axon
• Single
oligodendrocyte
can form myelin
sheaths around
portions of
several axons
Neuroglia of PNS: Schwann
Cells or Neurolemmocytes
• Wrap around portion of
only one axon to form
myelin sheath
• During development, as
cells grow around axon,
cytoplasm is squeezed
out and multiple layers
of cell membrane wrap
the axon
• Cell membrane is
primarily phospholipid
Neuroglia of PNS: Satellite Cells
• Surround neuron cell bodies in ganglia
• Provide support and nutrients
Types of Axon
1) Myelinated Axon (Medullated)
• Covered with myelin sheath (white matter)
• Myelin protects and insulates axons from one
another, speeds transmission, functions on
repair of axons
• Not continuous
• Nodes of Ranvier – no myelin sheath
• Completion of development of myelin sheaths
at 1 year
• Degeneration of myelin sheaths occurs in
multiple sclerosis and some cases of diabetes
mellitus
Parts of Typical Myelinated
Nerve Fiber
• Axon – central core
• Axoplasm
• Myelin sheath
(sphingomyelin) –
excellent electrical
insulator
• Node of Ranvier
Types of Axon
2) Unmyelinated
Axon
(Unmedullated)
• Rest in
invaginations of
schwann cells or
oligodendrocytes
• Not wrapped
around the axon;
gray matter
1. White matter
• Myelinated axons
• Nerve tracts propagate action potentials
from one area in the CNS to another
2. Gray matter
• Unmyelinated axons, cell bodies, dendrites,
neuroglia; Integrative functions
• In brain: Gray matter is outer cortex as well as
inner nuclei; white is deeper
• In spinal cord: White is outer, gray is deeper
Sensory Receptor
• Sensory division of the NS
• Initiate most activities of the NS
• e.g. Visual receptor (eye), auditory receptor
(ear), tactile receptor
Sensory Receptor
• Somatic portion transmits sensory information from the
receptor of the entire body and from some deep
structures to the CNS through peripheral nerves and is
conducted to multiple areas in the:
a) Spinal cord at all level
b) Reticulum substance of the medulla, pons, and
mesencephalon
c) Cerebellum
d) Thalamus
e) Cerebral cortex from sensory areas, secondary
signals are relayed to essentially all other parts of
the NS
Motor Division
• The effectors (glands and muscles)
• Most important role of NS is to control body
activities by:
1. Contraction of appropriate skeletal muscle
2. Contraction of smooth muscle
3. Secretion by both exocrine and endocrine glands
• Activities are collectively called motor function of
the NS
• Facilitation is the ability of the synapse to transmit
the same type of signal through sequence of synapse
Synapse
• Joint junction from one neuron to the next
• Junction between two cells
Functions of Synapse
1. Determine the directions that the neurons will
spread in the nervous system
2. Site where action potentials in one cell cause
action potentials in another cell
3. Site for control of signal transmission
4. Selective in action (block weak signals while
allowing strong signal to pass)
5. Amplify weak signal and channel the signal in
many direction
6. Facilitatory and inhibitory signal
7. Conduction of synapse: transmit signals in one
direction (from presynaptic neuron to
postsynaptic neuron)
Types of Synapse
Electrical synapse Chemical synapse
Electrical Synapse
• Gap junctions that allow local current to flow between
adjacent cells
• Found in cardiac muscle and many types of smooth
muscle
• Action potential of one cell causes action potential in
next cell, almost as if the tissue were one cell
• Important where contractile activity among a group of
cells
• In addition to ions, substances that diffuse through gap
junction pores include molecules with molecular weights
as great as several hundred daltons.
• This permits ATP and other important intracellular
metabolites, such as second messengers, to be transferred
between neurons.
Electrical
Synapse
Characteristics:
a) Has direct open fluid
channels that conduct
electricity from one cell
to the next
b) Has small protein tubular
structure (gap junctions)
that allow free movement
of ions from interior of
one cell to the interior of
the next cell
Chemical synapse
• Signal transmission in the CNS
• 1st neuron secretes neurotransmitter and acts on
receptor protein in the membrane of the next
neuron to excite the neuron
• Use neurotransmitter to carry information from
cell to cell
• Axon terminals have mitochondria and synaptic
vesicles containing neurotransmitter
Components of
Chemical
Synapse
a) Presynaptic terminal
b) Synaptic cleft
c) Postsynaptic
membrane
d) Synaptic vesicles:
action potential causes
neurotransmitter to be
released from vesicles
General Characteristics of
Chemical Synapse
1. An AP in the presynaptic cell causes depolarization of
the presynaptic terminal
2. As a result of the depolarization, Ca enters the
presynaptic terminal. Ca entry causes release of the
neurotransmitter into the synaptic cleft
3. Neurotransmitter diffuses across the synaptic cleft
and combines with the receptor on the postsynaptic
cell membrane, causing a change in its permeability to
ions and its MP
4. Inhibitory neurotransmitters hyperpolarize the
postsynaptic membrane; excitatory neurotransmitter
depolarize the postsynaptic membrane
Ligand (Chemical) Channel
Structure of Synapse
1. Presynaptic Terminal
• End of the nerve fibril
• Secrets either:
• Excitatory neurotransmitter – excite the
postsynaptic neuron
• Inhibitory neurotransmitter – inhibit the
postsynaptic neuron
• Shape: small round or oval knobs (terminal
knob, button, end-feet, or synaptic knob)
Basic Structure of
Presynaptic Terminal
• Transmitter vesicle
– contains the
transmitter
substance
• Mitochondria
– provide ATP, which
supplies energy to
synthesize new
transmitter
substance
Structure of Synapse
2. Postsynaptic Neuronal Membrane
a) Receptor Protein
• Either:
• Excitatory receptor or Inhibitory receptor
• Has two components
1) Binding component
• Protrudes outward from the entrance into the
synaptic cleft
• Binds with neurotransmitter from the presynaptic
terminal
2) Ionophore component
• Passess all the way through the membrane to the
interior of the postsynaptic neuron
Types of Ionophore Component
a) Cation Channels
• Allows Na ions to pass (sometimes K and/or Ca ions
• Lined with negative charges
• Opens by excitatory transmitter
Types of Ionophore Component
b) Anion
Channels
• Allow mainly
Cl ions to pass
• Open by
inhibitory
transmitter
Postsynaptic Neuronal
Membrane
b) Second Messenger Activator
• Not an ion channel but, instead, is a molecule
that protrudes into the cell cytoplasm and
activates one or more substances inside the
postsynaptic neuron
• Achieve prolonged neuronal action (ion
channels are not suitable for prolonged
postsynaptic neuronal change because
channels close within milliseconds)
• G (guanine nucleotide-binding) proteins
Structure
of Synapse
3.Synaptic Cleft
- space
separating the
presynaptic
neuron from
neuronal soma
Role of Calcium Ions
1. Cell membrane covering the presynaptic terminal contains
large numbers of voltage-gated calcium channels.
2. When an action potential depolarizes the terminals, the
channels open and allows large number of calcium ions to
flow into the terminal.
3. The quantity of transmitter substance that is released into
the synaptic cleft is directly related to the number of ions
that enter into the terminal.
4. When the calcium ions enter the presynaptic terminal,
they bind with release sites (special protein molecule on
the inside surface of the presynaptic membrane)
5. This binding in turn causes transmitter vesicle in the
terminal to fuse with the release sites and to open through
the terminal to the exterior by exocytosis.
Excitation
1. Opening of Na channels
• Influx of + charges into the
interior of the postsynaptic cell
• Raise the MP in the positive direction
• Most widely used means of causing excitation
2. Depressed conduction through CL or K channels or
both
3. Varies changes in the internal metabolism of the cell
to excite cell activity
• Increase in number of excitatory membrane receptor
• Decrease in number of inhibitory membrane receptor
Inhibition
1. Opening of Chloride ion channels through the
receptor molecules
• Allows rapid diffusion of negatively charged Cl ion
from outside the postsynaptic neuron to the inside
• Carry negative charges inward and increasing the
negativity inside the neuron
2. Increase in the conductance of K ions through the
receptor causes increased negativity inside the
neuron
3. Activation of the receptor enzyme that inhibit
cellular metabolic function or that increase the
number of inhibitory receptor.
• Neurotransmitters are excitatory in some cells
and inhibitory in others
• Some neurotransmitters (Norepinephrine) attach
to the presynaptic terminal as well as
postsynaptic and then inhibit the release of
more neurotransmitter
• Neurotransmitters produce either EPSPs or IPSPs
modifying the reflex
Neuromodulators
• Chemicals or messenger released from a neuron
in the central nervous system, or in the
periphery, that affects groups of neurons, or
effector cells that have the appropriate
receptors.
• It may not be released at synaptic sites; it often
acts through second messengers (metabotropic
receptors) and can produce long lasting effects.
• Examples: Dopamine, Serotonin, Acetylcholine,
Histamine
Neuromodulators
• Functions:
a) Facilitate action potentials
b) Act by increasing or decreasing the amount of
neurotransmitter released by the presynaptic
neuron
c) Act in axoaxonic synapses (axon of one neuron
synapses with axon of second neuron). Second
neuron is actually presynaptic. This type of
connection leads to release of neuromodulators
in the synapse that can alter the amount of
neurotransmitter produced by the second
neuron.
Neurotransmitter
• A messenger released from a neuron at an
anatomically specialized junction, which diffuses
across a narrow cleft to affect one or sometimes two
postsynaptic neurons, a muscle cell or another
effector cell.
• Diffusion across synapse:
• Postsynaptic membrane: when Ach binds to
receptor (ionotropic receptor), ligand-gated Na
channels open
• If enough Na diffuses into postsynaptic cell, it fires
*Chemical substances that function as synaptic transmitter

are released by action potentials in presynaptic terminal.
A neuromodulator is
a type of
neurotransmitter.
Neurotransmitter
Neuromodulator
• Examples of neuromodulators: opioid peptides
such as enkephalins, endorphins, dynorphins.
• Examples of Neuromodulators that are also

neurotransmitters: acetylcholine, dopamine,
histamine, norepinephrine, serotonin and
octopamine.
Small molecules, rapidly acting transmitter
• Causes acute response of the NS
• e.g. transmission of sensory signals to the brain
and of motor signals back to the muscles
• Synthesized in the cytosol of the presynaptic
terminal
• Absorbed into the transmitter vesicle in the
terminal by active transport
• Action potential at the presynaptic terminal cause
the release of the transmitter into the synaptic
cleft
Small molecules, rapidly acting transmitter
• Effect is to increase or decrease conductance
through ion channel
• Re-cycling occurs
• e.g. Acethycholine is degraded by
cholinesterase into acetate and choline which
is actively transported back into the terminal
to be used again for synthesis of new
acetlycholine
ACETYLCHOLINE
• Made from acetyl co-enzyme A and choline
• Synthesized in the axon terminal
• Quickly degraded by acetylcholinesterase
• Cholinergic neurons and receptors  Nicotinic
(agonistic) and Muscarinic (antagonistic)
• Have inhibiting effect at some of the peripheral
parasympathetic system
• e.g. Inhibition of the heart by the vagus nerve
ACETYLCHOLINE
• Ach is secreted by:
a) Neuron of the brain specifically by the terminal of
the large pyramidal cells
b) Several different types of neuron in the basal ganglia
c) Motor neuron that innervates the skeletal muscle
d) Pre-ganglionic neuron of ANS
e) Post-ganglionic neuron of the parasympathetic
system
f) Some of the post-ganglionic neuron of the
sympathetic system
• Effect: Excitatory or Inhibitory
DOPAMINE
• Effect: generally excitatory
• Amine neurotransmitter derived from Tyrosine
(amino acid)
• Play a role in reward-motivated behavior
GABA (Gamma Amino
Butyric Acid)
• Secreted by nerve terminal in the spinal cord,
cerebellum, basal ganglia, and cortex
• Effect: Inhibition
GLUTAMATE
• Secreted by the presynaptic terminals in many of
the sensory pathways entering the CNS and
many areas of the cerebral cortex
• A purine
• Effect: Excitation
SEROTONIN
• Secreted by the nuclei in the median raphe of
the brainstem and project to many brain and
spinal cord areas, especially to the dorsal horn of
the spinal cord and hypothalamus
• Causes sleep
• Amine derived from Tryptophan
• Effect: As inhibition of pain pathways in the cord
and inhibition action in the higher region of the
NS
• High levels of serotonin are associated with
wakefulness and lower levels with sleep
NITRIC OXIDE
• Occurs in areas of the brain that are responsible
for long term behavior and for memory
• A gas
• NO is created from L-arginine essential aa via
catalytic action of NO synthase (NOS) enzyme.
• This neurotransmitter gets produced by the
blood vessels lining called endothelium.
• Recent research work has shown NO
neurotransmitter can help regulate anxiety,
social behaviors, and other emotional
and psychological aspects.
Physiologic Roles of NO
• Reduced cholesterol and physical activity are
aspects of a healthy heart. These are detected
by the endothelium which then secretes
additional nitric oxide. NO causes the blood
vessels to expand, raises blood supply, and
reduces blood clotting and plaque development.
• The level of nitric oxide in the body also
contributes to penile erection. Medications like
Viagra which decrease erectile dysfunction
issues trigger enzymatic responses which lead to
a rise in NO levels.
Physiologic Roles of NO
• When emotional or psychological distress,
smoking, hypertension, or high cholesterol, etc.
are detected by the endothelium, it causes a
reduction in NO release. Low nitric oxide levels
are linked to anxiety and other conditions.
• Low nitric oxide neurotransmitter levels also
causes reduction in dopamine and endorphins,
which are the limbic system’s feel good
hormones. This increases risk to anxiety,
dementia, Alzheimer’s, and depression.
Causes of NO level fluctuation
• A poor diet consisting of junk food, processed
foods, etc.
• Production of this neurotransmitter naturally
decreases as individuals grow older
• Nil or reduced physical activity or exercise can
cause severe dip in nitric oxide levels
• Smoking reduces NO levels in the body
• Excessive use of mouthwash destroys good
bacteria and reduces NO levels
• Using proton pump inhibitors or other drugs that
reduce stomach acids decrease nitric oxide levels
GLYCINE
• A purine derivative
• Effect: generally inhibitory
• The action of glycine is mediated by the
strychnine-sensitive glycine receptor, whose
activation produces inhibitory post-synaptic
potentials.
• In some areas of the CNS, glycine seems to be
co-released with GABA, the main inhibitory
amino acid neurotransmitter.
GLYCINE
• Glycine modulates excitatory neurotransmission
by potentiating the action of glutamate at N-
methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors.
• It is believed that the termination of the
different synaptic actions of glycine is produced
by rapid re-uptake through two sodium-and-
chloride-coupled transporters, GLYT1 and GLYT2,
located in the plasma membrane of glial cells or
pre-synaptic terminals, respectively.
NOREPINEPHRINE
• Amine devolved from Tyrosine
• Secreted by the terminal of many neurons
whose cell bodies are located in the brainstem
and hypothalamus
• Most of the post-ganglionic sympathetic nervous
system where it excites some organs but inhibits
others
• Fight or flight
• Repackaged or degraded by Monoamine oxidase
to Vanillylmandelic acid
• Effect: Excitatory or Inhibitory
ENDORPHINS
• Inhibits pain impulse
• Effect: generally inhibitory
• Amine derived from histidine

• Effect: Inhibitory
Small Molecule Transmitter
(Mechanism of formation in the
presynaptic terminal and action on the
postsynaptic neuron)
• Not prolonged and stored in vesicle at the
presynaptic terminal
• Synthesized almost instantly as needed
• Diffuses rapidly out of the presynaptic terminal,
rather than released in vesicular pocket
• Does not greatly alter the membrane potential
but instead changes intracellular metabolic
function that modify neuronal excitability
Neuropeptides
(Slow-acting Transmitter or
Growth Factor)
• Large molecules and strongly acting
• Cause prolonged action
• Long term changes in the numbers of neuronal
receptors
• Long term opening or closure of certain ion
channel
• Long term changes in the number of synapses or
sizes of synapse
Neuropeptides
(Slow-acting Transmitter or
Growth Factor)
• Not synthesized in the cytosol of presynaptic
terminal but synthesized as integral parts of large
protein molecules by ribosome in the neuronal
body then to ER and GA
• Released in smaller quantities (laborious method of
forming)
• e.g. Thyrotropin-stimulating hormone, LH,
Prolactin, Angiotensin II, Calcitonin, Oxytocin,
Growth hormone (STH), Insulin, Glucagon, Gastrin,
Cholecystokinin, Bradykinin
Electrical Events During
Neuronal Excitation
• RMP of neuronal soma
• -65 mV (less than -90 mV of large peripheral
nerve fiber and skeletal muscle fibers)
• Low voltage is important because it allow both
positive and negative control of the degree of
excitability of the neuron
• Less negative makes the membrane of neuron
more excitable
• Increase negative makes neuron less excitable
Four Basic Components of
Signal Movement Through
Neuron
• Input signal (graded potential)
• Integration of input signal at trigger zone
• Conduction signal to distal part of neuron (action
potential)
• Output signal (usually neurotransmitter)
Examples of Graded Potential
Generation of AP: initial
segment of axon leaving the neuron
• Reason:
a) Soma has relatively few voltage-gated
sodium channels in its membrane, which
makes it difficult for EPSP to open the
required number of Na channel to elicit AP
b) Initial segment of the axon has numerous
voltage-gated Na channels
Generation of AP: initial
segment of axon leaving the neuron
• Has three phases:

1. Rising (Na
permeability
increases)
2. Falling (K
permeability
increases)
3. “Undershoot” or
Hyperpolarization
Ion Movement Across Cell Membrane
During AP
Sudden increase in Na permeability
Na enters cell down electrochemical gradient

(+feedback loop for ~.5 msec)
Influx causes depolarization of membrane potential

 electrical signal (action potential)
K diffuses out of the cell down electrochemical

gradients  Repolarization
Hyperpolarization  Return to normal ionic

concentration by Na-K pump  RMP
Spread of Action Potential
• Travels peripherally along the axon and usually
backward over the soma, sometimes backward
to the dendrites (but could not cause excitation
due to less voltage-gated Na channels same with
soma)
Main Determinants of the
Velocity of AP Propagation
1. Myelination increases the speed of AP
propagation along the axon. The Node of
Ranvier provide a sequence of high efficiency
sites to transmit the nerve impulses as it jumps
between nodes.
Myelin acts as an insulator around nerve axon
and increase conduction velocity. Myelinated
nerve exhibits saltatory conduction because AP
can be generated only at the Nodes of Ranvier,
where the gaps are in the myelin sheath
Main Determinants of the
Velocity of AP Propagation
2. Diameter of the nerve fibers also positively
influences the velocity of the AP. Hence large
myelinated nerve fibers such as those
innervating skeletal muscle, show the highest
conduction velocity. Small unmyelinated nerve
fibers, such as the sympathetic postganglionic
fibers, show a low speed of impulse
propagation.
Increasing diameter of a nerve fiber results in
decreased internal resistance and so
conduction velocity down the nerve is faster.
Conduction speed depends on:
1. Axon diameter (the larger, the faster)
- Size constraints on axons become problem
with increasing organismal complexity
2. Membrane Resistance
- High resistance of myelin sheath reduces
leakage of current (ion) flow between axon
and ECF saltatory conduction from node to
node
Control of Ion Permeability
1. Gated ion channels – alternate between open
and closed state
a) Mechanically gated channels
b) Chemically gated channels
c) Voltage gated channels
2. Net movement of ions depolarizes or
hyperpolarizes cell
2 Types of Electrical Signals
1. Graded Potentials – travel over short distances
2. Action Potentials – travel very rapidly over long
distances
How are Chemical Messages
Transmitted Between Nerve Cells?
• When a nerve impulse is propagated to the axon
terminal of the transmitting nerve, the influx of Ca ions
through voltage-gated channels in the plasma membrane
of the presynaptic nerve terminal triggers the release of
chemical neurotransmitters from vesicles stored in the
axon terminal.
• Neurotransmitter diffuse across the synaptic cleft and
bind to specific high affinity receptors on the plasma
membrane of the postsynaptic neuron.
• If the signal is adequate, the activation of these ligand-
operated receptors initiates intracellular signals that alter
the electrical and functional properties of the
postsynaptic neuron.
Mechanism by which Action Potentials Cause
Transmitter Release from the Presynaptic Terminal
• Presynaptic membrane contains large number of

voltage-gated Ca channels
• AP depolarizes the terminal, channels open and
allow entry of Ca ions to flow into the terminal
• Ca bind with release site on the inside of the
presynaptic membrane which cause the
transmitter vesicle in the terminal fuse with the
release site and open through the membrane to
the exterior (exocytosis)
Factors that Determine the Concentration of
Neurotransmitter in the Synaptic Cleft
1. Amount of neurotransmitter released by the
presynaptic terminal
2. Passive diffusion of the transmitter down its
concentration gradients from the synaptic cleft to
adjacent areas of extracellular fluid
3. Active uptake of neurotransmitter by transport
protein in the plasma membrane of the surrounding
neurons
4. Breakdown of neurotransmitter molecules by
enzymes located in the presynaptic cleft or in the
plasma membrane of the presynaptic or
postsynaptic neurons
Removal of Neurotransmitter
• Acetylcholine
• Acetylcholinesterase splits Ach into acetic acid
(acetate) and choline
• Choline is recycled within the presynaptic
neuron
• Acetic acid (acetate) goes to the bloodstream
Removal of Neurotransmitter
• Norepinephrine
• Recycled within presynaptic neuron
• Diffuses away from synapse into circulation
• Absorbed into circulation, broken down in the
liver
• Enzyme Monoamine Oxidase (MAO)
• End products of degradation: Either
Vanillylmandelic acid or 3-methoxy-4-
hydroxyphenylglycol (MHPG)  excreted in
the urine
Effect of the Following on
Synaptic Transmission
• Acidosis increases neuronal excitability
• Alkalosis decreases neuronal excitability
• Hypoxia – inexcitability
• Theobromine, Caffeine, and Theophylline
increases neuronal excitation
• Strychnine increases neuronal activity
• Most anesthetics decrease neuronal activity
Presynaptic Inhibition
• Reduction in amount of neurotransmitter
released from presynaptic terminal
• Inhibition often occurring at the presynaptic
terminal before the signal reaches the synapse
• Endorphins can inhibit pain sensation
• Due to discharge of inhibitory transmitter
• e.g. GABA
Presynaptic Facilitation
• Amount of neurotransmitter released from
presynaptic terminal increases
• Glutamate facilitating Nitric oxide production
Facilitated Neuron
• Summated postsynaptic potential is excitatory
but has not raised high enough to reach the
threshold for excitation
• Membrane potential is nearer the threshold for
firing than normal, but not yet firing level
• Consequently, another excitatory signal entering
the neuron from some other source can excite
the neuron very easily
Input to Synapses
• The postsynaptic cell integrates excitatory and
inhibitory inputs. When the sum of all the input
brings its membrane potential to threshold, it
fires an AP.
Excitatory Postsynaptic
Potentials (EPSP)
• Input that depolarize the postsynaptic cell, bringing
it closer to threshold and closer to firing an AP
• Depolarization occurs and response is stimulatory
• Depolarization might reach threshold producing an
action potential and cell response
• Caused by opening of channels that are permeable
to Na and K, similar to the Ach channels. The
membrane potentials, about 0 mV.
• Excitatory neurotransmitters include Ach,
Norepinephrine, Epinephrine, Dopamine,
Glutamate, and Serotonin
Effect of Synaptic Excitation
on Postsynaptic Membrane
1. Neurotransmitter into the cleft acts on a membrane
excitatory receptor to increase the membrane permeability
to Na ions because of the large Na concentration gradients
and large electrical negativity inside the neuron, Na ions
rush to the inside of the membrane.
2. Rapid influx of Na ions neutralizes the negativity of the
resting membrane potential (RMP).
3. RMP has increased in the positive direction from -65 to -85
mV
4. Positive increase in voltage above the normal resting
neuronal potential, to a less negative is called EPSP (will
elicit action potential in the neuron)
Inhibitory Postsynaptic
Potentials (IPSP)
• Input that hyperpolarize the postsynaptic cell,
moving it away from threshold and farther from
firing an AP
• Caused by opening Cl channels
• The membrane potential is hyperpolarized
toward the Cl equilibrium (-90 mV)
• Inhibitory neurotransmitters: GABA and Glycine
Effect of inhibiting Synapses on
the Postsynaptic Membrane
• Opens mainly Cl channels allowing easy passage
of Cl ions (from ECF to ICF)
• Decrease voltage from -65 to -70 mV
• Potential is more negative than -65 mV
• Opening of K channels move K ions to the
exterior, this also makes the interior more
negative
• Both Cl influx and K efflux increases the degree of
the intracellular negativity hyperpolarization
• An increase in negativity beyond the normal RMP
level is called IPSP
Most dendrites cannot transmit
AP but can transmit signals by
electronic conduction
Reasons:
1. Dendrite’s membrane has few voltage-gated Na
channels, so their threshold for excitation is too
high for AP to occur
2. Transmission of electronic current from
dendrite to soma means direct spread of
current by ion conduction in the fluids of the
dendrite with no generation of AP
Characteristics of Neuron Stimulated
or Inhibited by Electronic Conduction
• Decrement of electronic conduction in the dendrite
• Decrease in membrane potential as it spread
electronically along the dendrite toward the soma
• Reasons:
• Dendrites are long and their membranes are thin
• Excessively permeable to K and Cl making them
“leaky” to electric current
• Before the excitatory potential can reach the
soma, a large release of the potential is lost by
leakage through the membrane
Excitatory State of a Neuron
• Summated degree of excitatory drive to neuron
• There is a high degree of excitation than
inhibition of the neuron at any given instant
• Rise above the threshold excitation, the neuron
will fire repetitively as long as the excitatory
state remains at this level
Inhibitory State of a Neuron

• More inhibition than excitation
Neuronal Pool
• Some contains few neuron, other have vast
number
• Cerebral cortex, basal ganglia, thalamus,
cerebellum, mesencephalon, pons, and medulla
Transmission and Processing
of Signals in the Neuronal Pool
• Two Pathways:
1. Divergence
2. Convergence
Divergence
• Axons of most presynaptic
neurons divide into many
branches that diverge to end
on many postsynaptic
neurons
• Signal entering a neuronal
pool to excite greater
number of nerve fiber
leaving the pool
• e.g. Important information
can be transmitted to many
parts of the brain
Types of Divergence Pathway
a) Amplifying Type
- Input signals spread to an
increasing number of
neuron as it passes
through the successive
order of neurons in its path
- Characteristic of the
corticospinal pathway in its
control of skeletal muscle
Types of Divergence Pathway
b) Divergence into Multiple

tracts
- Signal is transmitted
into two directions from
the pool
Convergence
• Signals from multiple
inputs uniting to excite a
single neuron
• Many converge and
synapse with smaller
number of neurons
• e.g. Synthesis of data in
the brain
Types of Convergence Pathway
a) Convergence from a
single source
- Multiple terminals from a
single incoming fiber tract
terminate on the same
neuron
- Spatial summation
Types of Convergence Pathway
b) Convergence from multiple sources
Reciprocal Inhibition Circuit
• Type of circuit is characteristic for controlling all
antagonistic pair of muscle
• Neuronal circuit cause both excitatory and
inhibitory signals
After Discharge
• A signal entering a pool cause prolonged output
discharge
• Mechanism of after discharge to occur:
1. Synaptic Discharge
2. Reverberatory (Oscillatory) Circuit
Synaptic Discharge
• When excitatory synapses discharge on the
surface of the dendrite or the soma of the
neuron
• Postganglionic potential develop in the neuron
that last for many milliseconds especially when
some of the large acting synaptic transmitter
substances are involved
• As long as the potential last, it can continue to
excite the neuron, causing it to transmit a
continuum train or output
Synaptic Discharge
• A single instantaneous input signal to cause a
sustained signal output
• Series of repetitive discharges lasting for several
milliseconds
Reverberatory (Oscillatory)
Circuit
• Caused by positive feedback within a neuronal circuit
that feeds back by collateral branches to re-excite the
input of the same circuit
• Arranged in circular fashion to allow action potentials
to cause a neuron in a farther along circuit to produce
an action potential more than once
Circuit
• Once stimulated, the circuit may discharge
repetitively for a long time
• Can be a single neuron or a group of neurons
that are self-stimulating
• Continue until neurons are fatigued or until
inhibited by other neurons
*Fatigue of synapse- cause sudden cessation of

reverberation
Circuit
Fatigue of the Synapse
• Due to the exhaustion of the store of transmitter
substance in the presynaptic terminal
• Part of the process results from two other
factors:
a) Progressive inactivation of many of the
postsynaptic membrane receptor
b) Slow development of abnormal
concentration of ion inside the postsynaptic
neuronal cell
Fatigue of the Synapse
• Important characteristic
- Reason:
• When areas of the nervous system becomes
over excited, it causes them to lower this
excess excitability after a while
• e.g. Epileptic seizure
Summation (Frequency
Summation)
Types:
1. Temporal summation
2. Spatial summation
Temporal Summation
• Refers to the additive effect of sequential
multiple EPSPs or IPSPs
• Sequential stimuli added up
• Originating from a single presynaptic neuron on
the membrane potential of the postsynaptic
neuron
For Example:
• The repetitive firing of a single excitatory presynaptic
neuron may result in summated EPSP, which may
depolarize the membrane potential to its firing
threshold for AP generation.
• Because an EPSP results only a small increment of
membrane depolarization that is not sufficient to
activate voltage-gated Na channels, a refractory
period does not occur.
• This permits multiple EPSP to exert a summating
depolarizing effect on the MP of the postsynaptic
neuron.
• Occurs when two excitatory inputs arrive at a
postsynaptic neuron in rapid succession. Because the
resulting postsynaptic depolarization overlaps in time,
they add in stepwise fashion.
Spatial Summation
• Refers to the additive effect of multiple EPSPs or
IPSPs simultaneously originating from multiple
presynaptic neurons
• Occurs when two excitatory inputs arrive at a
postsynaptic neuron simultaneously. They add
together to produce greater depolarization.
• Under physiologic conditions, spatial and
temporal summation act concurrently to
regulate the membrane potential of the
postsynaptic neuron.
SYMPATHETIC and
PARASYMPATHETIC
Nervous System
SYMPATHETIC NS
• Nerve fibers originate in the spinal cord
between T1 and L2
• Also known as thoraco-lumbar flow
• Paravertebral sympathetic chain of ganglia
lie to the two sides of the vertebral column
• Prevertebral ganglia:
o Celiac
o Hypogastric
Sympathetic
Thoraco-lumbar Division
1. Pre-ganglionic Fiber
• Cell body lies in the intermediolateral
horn of the spinal cord and fiber passes
through the anterior root of the cord
into the corresponding spinal nerve
• Pre-ganglionic fiber synapse with
ganglia
Sympathetic
Thoraco-lumbar Division
2. Post-ganglionic Fiber
• Originate in one of the sympathetic
chain of ganglia or in one of the
peripheral sympathetic ganglia
• Post-ganglionic fiber travels to the
destination in the various organ
• Secretes epinephrine and
norepinephrine
PARASYMPATHETIC NS
• Parasympathetic fiber leave the CNS
through cranial nerves III, VII, IX, X and
through S2 and S4.
• Also called cranio-sacral flow
• Axons are long and synapse with
postganglionic fibers in four ganglia in head
(cranial part) or in minute ganglia lying near
or within the walls of innervated organs
(sacral part)
Cranial
Parasympathetic
Fiber
• Majority of the
parasympathetic fiber
is in the vagus nerve
which supplies the
heart, lungs,
esophagus, small
intestine, proximal half
of the colon, liver, gall
bladder, pancreas,
and upper portion of
the ureters
Cranial
Parasympathetic
Fiber
• Fiber of the CN III goes
to the papillary
sphincter and ciliary
muscle
• Fibers of the CN VII
passes to the lacrimal,
nasal, and
submandibular gland
• Fiber of the CN IX goes
to the parotid gland
Cranial
Parasympathetic
Fiber
• Pelvic nerve passes
through the sacral
plexus on each side of
S2 and S4 level
• Distributed to the
descending colon,
rectum, urinary bladder
and lower portion of
the uterus, external
genitalia that causes
erection
Cranial
Parasympathetic
Fiber
• Parasympathetic
pre-ganglionic neuron
o Fiber passes
uninterrupted all the
way to the organ
that is to be
controlled
• Parasympathetic
post-ganglionic neuron
Comparison of Sympathetic and
Parasympathetic Divisions
Features Sympathetic Parasympathetic
Location of Lateral horns of Brainstem and

Preganglionic Cell spinal cord gray lateral part of spinal
Body matter (T1-L2) cord gray matter
Location of Sympathetic ganglia Terminal ganglia

Postganglionic Cell or collateral ganglia near or embedded in
Body the walls of target
organs
Outflow from the Spinal nerves Cranial nerves

CNS Sympathetic nerves Pelvic nerves
Splanchnic nerves
Comparison of Sympathetic and
Parasympathetic Divisions
Features Sympathetic Parasympathetic
Ganglia Sympathetic chain Terminal ganglia
ganglia along spinal near or on effector
cord for spinal and organ
sympathetic nerves;
collateral ganglia for
splanchnic nerve
Number of Many (more Few (less
postganglionic divergence) divergence)
neurons for each
preganglionic
neuron
Relative length of Short preganglionic Long preganglionic
neurons Long postganglionic Short postganglionic
Sympathetic Receptors
(Adrenergic/Adrenoreceptors)
1. Alpha 1 Receptors
• Located on smooth muscle (except bronchial smooth
muscle)
• Produce excitation
• Equally sensitive to norepinephrine and epinephrine,
but only norepinephrine is present in concentration
that is high enough to activate alpha receptors
• Neurotransmitter is norepinephrine
• Excitation: Ca ↑  muscle contraction or secretion
by exocytosis
• Inhibition: inhibit action of GIT and pancreas
2. Alpha 2 Receptors
• Located in the presynaptic nerve terminal,
platelets, fat cells and smooth muscle
• Often produce inhibition
3. Beta 1 Receptors
• Located in the heart
• Sensitive to both epinephrine and
norepinephrine, and are more sensitive than
alpha receptors
• Clinically more important receptors
• Excitation of the heart:
o Epinephrine = Norepinephrine
• “Beta-blockers” = antagonists (e. g.
Propanolol)
4. Beta 2 Receptors
• Located on vascular smooth muscle,
bronchial smooth muscle, and in the GIT
• Produce relaxation
• More sensitive to epinephrine than
norepinephrine
• More sensitive to epinephrine than alpha
receptor
4. Beta 2 Receptors
• e.g. When small amounts of epinephrine
are released from the adrenal medulla,
vasodilation (beta 2) occurs
• e.g. When large amounts of epinephrine
are released from the adrenal medulla,
vasoconstriction (alpha) occurs
• Usually inhibitory: Smooth muscle relaxation
of some blood vessels and bronchioles (E
and NE)
5. Dopaminergic Receptors
- Effects of epinephrine ad norepinephrine
on adrenergic receptor differs:
• Noerpinephrine – excites mainly alpha
receptor, excite less the beta
• Epinephrine – excites both types of
receptor; approximately equal
Synthesis of Norepinephrine
(Postganglionic Nerve axon)
Hydroxylase
Phenylalanine Tyrosine
Tyrosine hydroxylase (Hydroxylation)
Dihydroxyphenylalanine
(DOPA)
DOPA decarboxylase (Decarboxylation)
Transported Dopamine
into vesicles
Dopamine β-hydroxylase (Hydroxylation)
NOREPINEPHRINE
Synthesis of Epinephrine
(Adrenal medulla)
NOREPINEPHRINE
Phenylethanolamine-N-methyltransferase
(adds a methyl group to the NE molecule)
EPINEPHRINE
Catecholamine Reuptake
• Repackaging
• Degradation (MAO)
• Blocked by cocaine –
• Cocaine increases junctional NE
concentrations by blocking its reuptake
and subsequent metabolism. (This is a
major mechanism by which cocaine
stimulates cardiac function and raises
blood pressure.)
Removal and Metabolism of NE and E
1. Most (~90%) of the NE is transported back into the
nerve terminal by a neuronal reuptake transport
system. This transporter is blocked by cocaine;
2. Some of the junctional NE diffuses into capillaries and
is carried out of the tissue by the circulation. Therefore,
high levels of sympathetic activation in the body
increase the plasma concentration of NE and its
metabolites.
3. Some of the junctional NE is metabolized within the
extracellular space before reaching the capillaries.
4. A small amount of NE (~5%) is taken up by the
postjunctional tissue (termed "extraneuronal uptake")
and metabolized.
Norepinephrine and
Epinephrine Degradation
Dopamine
• Prominent in midbrain neurons
• Released from hypothalamus and inhibits
prolactin secretion
• Metabolized by MAO and COMT
Parasympathetic Receptors
on Effector Organs
• Acetylcholine receptor (cholinergic
receptor)
- Types:
 Muscarinic receptor
 Nicotinic receptor
Muscarinic Receptor
• Muscarine – agonist
• Found in neuro-effector junctions of
parasympathetic branch
• G-protein coupled mechanisms
• Located in the smooth muscle (except
vascular smooth muscle) and glands
• Activated by muscarine or acetylcholine
• Stimulation produces muscarinic effect
similar to the effect of acetylcholine in the
gland
Muscarinic Receptor
• Increased salivary gland secretion
(salivation)
• Enhanced contraction of smooth muscles
• Decreased cardiac muscle activity
• Inhibitory in the heart and excitatory in
smooth muscle and glands
• Atropine – antagonist
• Atropine blocks muscarinic receptors for
acetylcholine
Muscarinic Receptor
• Mechanism of action:
a)Heart SA node inhibition of adenylate
cyclase and opening of K channels,
which slows the rate of spontaneous
depolarization and decrease the heart
rate
b)Smooth muscle and gland  increase in
intracellular action
Nicotinic Receptor
• Located in the autonomic ganglia and at
the neuromuscular junction. The receptors
at the two locations are similar but not
identical
• Activated by nicotine and acetylcholine
• Produce excitation
• Stimulation produces nicotine effect, which
is similar to the action of Ach at the
parasympathetic and sympathetic ganglia
and neuro-effector junction (increase
skeletal muscle contraction)
Nicotinic Receptor
• Mechanism of action:
o Nicotine Ach receptors are ions channels
for Na and K
o Directly opens Na and K channels
o In autonomic ganglia and somatic NS
o Nicotine = agonist
o Curare = antagonist
Reflex Arc
• Basic functional unit of nervous system and
simplest portion capable of receiving a
stimulus and producing a response
• Automatic response to stimulus that occurs
without conscious thought
• Homeostatic
• Action potentials produced in sensory
receptors transmitted to sensory neuron 
interneuron  motor neuron  effector
organ which responds with a reflex
Variety of Reflexes
• Some are integrated within spinal cord ;
some within brain
• Some involve excitatory neurons yielding a
response; some involve inhibitory neurons
that prevent an action
• Higher brain centers can influence, suppress,
or exaggerate reflex responses
• Reflex arcs that contain only two neurons, a
sensory and a motor neuron, are considered
monosynaptic.
o e.g. Patellar reflex and Achilles reflex
(ankle jerk reflex)
• Most reflex arcs are polysynaptic, meaning

multiple interneurons (also called relay
neurons) interface between the sensory and
motor neurons in the reflex pathway.
o e.g. Withdrawal reflex
Stretch Reflex
• Muscles contract in response to a stretching
force applied to them
• Unique because it has no interneuron
a) Muscle spindle
b) Golgi tendon reflex
a) Muscle Spindle
• Specialized muscle
cells that respond to
stretch
• Innervated by specific
motor neurons: gamma
motor neurons (small
diameter neurons)
• Controls sensitivity of
muscle spindle
a) Muscle Spindle
• Sensory neurons innervate
the noncontractile
centers of muscle spindle
cells
• Sensory neuron synapse
with motor neurons of the
spinal cord called alpha
motor neurons which in
turn innervates the muscle
in which the muscle
spindle is embedded
Patellar Reflex (Knee-jerk)
(L2 – L4)
Jaw-jerk Reflex (CN V)
Achilles Reflex (S1 spinal
segment of the spinal cord)
b) Golgi
Tendon
Reflex
• Prevents contracting muscles from applying
excessive tension to tendons
• Golgi tendon organ
• Encapsulated nerve endings that have at their
ends numerous terminal branches with small
swellings associated with bundles of collagen
fibers in tendon. Located in tendon near muscle
b) Golgi Tendon Reflex
• Prevent damage to tendons that could be
caused by excessive tension
• Produces sudden relaxation of the muscles
Withdrawal Reflex
• Function: remove a body limb or other part
from a painful stimulus
• Reciprocal innervation: causes relaxation of
extensor muscle when flexor muscle contracts
Withdrawal Reflex
• Also involved in
stretch reflex
• Crossed extensor
reflex: when a
withdrawal reflex
is initiated in one
lower limb, the
crossed extensor
reflex causes
extension of
opposite lower
limb
Senses
• Means by which brain receives information
about environment and body
Sensation (Perception)
• Conscious awareness of stimuli received by
sensory receptors
Steps to Sensation
Stimulus
Sensory receptor (transducer)
Afferent sensory neurons
Central Nervous System
Integration, Perception
Types of Senses
1. General
- Distributed over large part of the body
- Receptor generates an action potential
called a generator potential that then
travels to the brain called primary receptors
2. Somatic (General senses)
- Information about the body and
environment
- Touch, pressure, temperature,
proprioception, pain
Types of Senses
3. Visceral
- Information about internal organs
- Pain, pressure
4. Special senses
- Smell, taste, sight, hearing, balance
- Receptor produces a receptor potential
and the receptor then releases a
neurotransmitter that binds to receptors
on the membrane of a neuron, which
then travels to the brain and called a
secondary receptor
Types of Sensory Receptors
1. Mechanoreceptors
- Compression, bending, stretching of cells, touch,
proprioception, hearing and balance
2. Chemoreceptors
- Chemicals become attached to receptors on their
membranes
- Specific ligands
- Chemical senses – taste and smell
- Stimulated by chemicals in solution
- Taste has four types of receptors
- Both senses complement each other and respond
to many of the same stimuli
Mechanoreceptors: Skin Tactile
Sensibilities (Epidermis and Dermis)
1. Free Nerve Endings
- Detects touch and pressure
- Simplest, most common sensory receptor
- Scattered through most of body (skin and other
tissues)
- Visceroceptors are of this type
2. Merkel’s (tactile) Disc
- Expanded tip, axonal branches
end as flattened expansions
associated with epithelial cells
- Continuous touch of object on
the skin
- Basal layers of epidermis
- Associated with dome-shaped
mounds of thickened epidermis
in hairy skin
- Light touch and superficial
pressure
2. Merkel’s (tactile) Disc
- Found in fingertip and other areas that contain
large number of Meissner’s corpuscle
- Moderate numbers are found on the hairy part
- Transmits an initially strong but partially
adapting signals and then a continuing weaker
signals that adapt only slowly
- Responsible for locating touch sensation to
specific surface area of the body and
determining the texture of what is left
3. Ruffini’s End Organ
- Sensory nerves in the
dermis
- Prolonged touch and
pressure
- Found in joint
capsules and help
signal the degree of
joint rotation
- Respond to
continuous touch or
pressure
3. Ruffini’s End Organ
- Multi-branched, encapsulated endings
- Important in signaling continuous states of
deformation of the skin and deeper
tissues such as heavy and prolonged
touch and pressure signals
4. Meissner’s (tactile) Corpuscle (encapsulated
ending)
- Elongated, encapsulated nerve endings that
exits a large myelinated sensory nerve fiber
ending)
- Present in the non-hairy parts of the skin
(glabrous skin like palm and sole) and are
particularly abundant in the fingertips, lips and
other areas of the skin where one’s ability to
discern special characteristic of sensation is
highly developed
- Adapt in fraction of a second after they are
stimulated
ending)
- Sensitive to movement of objects over the
surface of the skin and low frequency vibration
- Touch receptor
- Numerous and close together: tongue and
fingertips
- Two-point discrimination
 Ability to detect simultaneous stimulations at
two points on the skin
 Used to determine texture of objects
5. Hair End Organ (touch receptor)
- Detects mainly movement of the objects on the
surface of the body or initial contact with body
- Hair follicle receptors
- Respond to slight bending of hair as occurs in light
touch
- Slight movement of any hair on the body stimulates
the nerve fibers entwining its base
- End organ receptor fields overlap; sensation not
very localized, yet very sensitive
6. Pacinian Corpuscle
- Determine vibration
- Lamellated corpuscles (concentric layers of c.t. for
large receptive field detection of vibration)
- Single dendrite to layers of corpuscles arranged
like leaves of an onion
- Deep dermis of hypodermis
6. Pacinian Corpuscle
- Deep cutaneous pressure and vibration
- When associated with joints, involved in
proprioception
- Stimulated only by rapid movement of the
tissues because they adapt in a few
hundredths of a second important for
detecting tissue vibration or other rapid
changes in mechanical state
Mechanoreceptors: Muscle
Ending
• Belly of the muscle
• Muscle length or rate of degree of muscle
length
• Controls muscle movement
• 3-10 specialized skeletal muscle cells
• Provide information about length of muscles
• Involved in stretch reflex
Mechanoreceptors: Golgi
Tendon Receptor
• Tendon tension or rate of change of tension
• Proprioceptors associated with tendons
• Respond to increased tension on tendon
Mechanoreceptors: The Ear
• The ear houses two senses:
1. Hearing
2. Equilibrium (balance)
Organ
of
Hearing
• Organ of Corti
- Sound receptor of cochlea
- Located within the cochlea
- Receptors = hair cells on the basilar membrane
- Gel-like tectorial membrane is capable of bending
hair cells
- Cochlear cells attached to hair cells transmit nerve
impulses to auditory cortex on temporal lobe
Mechanism of Hearing
• Vibrations from sound waves move tectorial
membrane
• Hair cells are bent by the membrane
• An action potential starts in the cochlear
nerve
• Continued stimulation can lead to
adaptation
Organ of Equilibrium
(Vestibular Receptor)
• Two functional parts of
equilibrium:
a)Static equilibrium – sense of
gravity at rest
b)Dynamic equilibrium
– angular and rotatory head
movements
• Maculae – receptors in the
vestibule
o Report on the position of the
head
o Send information via the
vestibular nerve
Organ of Equilibrium
(Vestibular Receptor)
• Anatomy of the maculae
o Hair cells are embedded in the otolithic
membrane
o Otoliths (tiny stones) float in a gel around
the hair cells
o Movements cause otoliths to bend the
hair cells
• Receptor cells are in two structures:
o Vestibule
o Semicircular canals
Mechanoreceptors:
Arterial Pressure
• Baroreceptor of
carotid sinus and
aorta
Chemoreceptors: Olfaction
(Sense of Smell)
• Olfactory epithelium
• Olfactory receptors are in the roof of the nasal cavity
• Neurons with long cilia
• Chemicals must be dissolved in mucus for detection
Chemoreceptors: Olfaction
(Sense of Smell)
• Impulses are transmitted via the olfactory nerve
• Interpretation of smell is made in the cortex
• Cilia (olfactory hairs) of olfactory neuron are
embedded in mucus
• Odorants dissolve in mucus. Somehow odorants
attach to receptors, cilia depolarize and initiate
action potentials in olfactory neurons
(mechanism unknown)
• One receptor may respond to more than one
type of odor
Chemoreceptors: Gustation
• Taste buds
house the
receptor
organs
• Location of
taste buds:
most are on
the tongue
• Covered with
projections
called papillae
Filiform Papillae
• Most numerous; sharp
with no taste buds
• They appear as very
small, conical or
cylindrical surface
projections
• Histologically, they are made up of
irregular connective tissue cores with a
keratin–containing epithelium which has
fine secondary processes.
• These processes have a whitish tint, owing
to the thickness and density of their
epithelium.
Fungiform Papillae
• Mushroom-shaped; Rounded with
taste buds
• Scattered irregularly over the
superior surface of tongue
• They have taste buds on their
upper surface which can
distinguish the five
tastes: sweet, sour,
bitter, salty,
and umami
Foliate Papillae
• Short vertical folds and are
present on each side of the
tongue
• Foliate papillae appear as a
series of red colored, leaf–like
ridges of mucosa
Circumvallate
Papillae
• Large papillae with taste buds
• Largest; Least numerous
• Dome-shaped structure that vary in
number (from 8 – 12)
• Situated on the surface of the tongue
just in front of the foramen cecum and
sulcus terminalis, forming a row on either
side
Taste Sensations
• Sweet receptors • Bitter receptors
• Sugars • Alkaloids
• Saccharin • Salty receptors
• Some amino • Metal ions
acids
• Sour receptors
• Acids
Taste Sensations
• Sweetness appears to have the highest
taste recognition threshold, being
detectable at around 1 part in 200 of
sucrose in solution.
• By comparison, bitterness appears to have
the lowest detection threshold, at about 1
part in 2 million for quinine in solution.
Neuronal Pathways for Taste
Chorda tympani (part of CN VII) CN IX and X carry information
carry sensations from anterior 1/3 from posterior 1/3 of the tongue,
of tongue (except for circumvallate papillae, superior
circumvallate papillae) pharynx, and epiglottis
Information goes to medulla oblongata
Thalamus
Projects to taste area of the cortex (extreme inferior

end of the postcentral gyrus)
Chemoreceptor:
Arterial Oxygen
• Chemoreceptor of aorta and carotid
Chemoreceptor:
Blood Oxygen
• Chemoreceptor in or on the surface of
medulla and in aortic and carotid body
Chemoreceptor:
Blood Pressure, Amino Acid
and Fatty Acid
• Chemoreceptor in the hypothalamus
Thermoreceptors
• Respond to changes in temperature
a) Cold receptors lower than body temperature
– 10 to 15 times more numerous than warm
receptors
b) Warm receptors (37-45ºC)
• Type responsible for temperature sensation
• It has been found that sensory nerve fibers
of dorsal root ganglia neurons detect
temperature changes by direct activation
of thermosensitive excitatory transient
receptor potential (TRP) ion channels.
Photoreceptors
(Electromagnetic Receptor)
• Respond (detect) to light: vision
• Sensory tunic (retina)
• Signals pass from photoreceptors and leave the
retina toward the brain through the optic nerve
• Rhodopsin
Rhodopsin
• Also called visual purple
• Pigment-containing sensory chromoprotein that
converts light into an electrical signal.
• It is made up of opsin (a colourless protein) and 11-
cis-retinal (11-cis-retinaldehyde), a pigmented
molecule derived from vitamin A.
• Was discovered in 1876 by German physiologist
Franz Christian Boll, who observed that the normally
reddish purple frog retina turned pale in bright light.
• The fading of colour was later attributed to the
destruction of rhodopsin, via a process known as
bleaching.
Rhodopsin
• When the eye is exposed to light, the 11-cis-
retinal component of rhodopsin is converted to
all-trans-retinal, resulting in a fundamental
change in the configuration of the rhodopsin
molecule.
• The change in configuration initiates a
phototransduction cascade within the rod,
whereby light is converted into an electrical
signal that is then transmitted along the optic
nerve to the visual cortex in the brain.
• The change in configuration also causes opsin
to dissociate from retinal, resulting in bleaching.
Rhodopsin
• Bleaching limits the degree to which the rods are
stimulated, decreasing their sensitivity to bright light
and allowing cone cells to mediate vision in bright
environments.
• All-trans-retinal that is released during bleaching is
either stored or changed back to 11-cis-retinal and
transported back to the rods  known as recycling,
allows for the regeneration of rhodopsin.
• Rhodopsin regeneration takes place in darkness
and is central to dark adaptation, when rhodopsin
levels, depleted from bleaching in a brightly
lit environment, gradually increase, enabling rod
cells to become increasingly sensitive to dim light.
• Two main types:
a) Rod cells
- More sensitive to light
- Allow vision in dim light (view in the dark) and peripheral
vision
- Most are found towards the edges of the retina
b) Cone cells
- Operate best in bright light (color vision)
- Enable high acuity, color vision
- 3 types detect different colors (lack of one type = color
blindness)
- Densest in the center of the retina
- Fovea centralis  area which contains cone cells only
- No photoreceptor cells are at the optic disk, or blind spot
• Humans normally have three types of cones.
1. The first responds the most to light of long
wavelengths, peaking at about 560 nm (564–
580 nm); this type is sometimes designated L for long.
2. The second type responds the most to light of
medium-wavelength, peaking at 530 nm (534–
545 nm), and is abbreviated M for medium.
3. The third type responds the most to short-wavelength
light, peaking at 420 nm (420–440 nm), and is
designated S for short.
• The difference in the signals received from the three
cone types allows the brain to perceive a continuous
range of colours, through the opponent
process of colour vision. (Rod cells have a peak
sensitivity at 498 nm, roughly halfway between the peak
sensitivities of the S and M cones.)
• The wavelengths of visible light are:
o Violet: 380-450 nm
o Blue: 450-495 nm
o Green: 495-570 nm
o Yellow: 570-590 nm
o Orange: 590-620 nm
o Red: 620-750 nm
 There is no wavelength assigned to indigo. If you

want a number, it's around 445 nanometers, but it
doesn't appear on most spectra.
 Most people, even if they see color well, can't
actually distinguish indigo from blue or violet.
Color Blindness
• An inherited condition that affects males
more frequently than females.
• The genes responsible for the most common
forms of color blindness are on the X
chromosome.
• As females have two X chromosomes, a
defect in one is typically compensated for
by the other, while males only have one X
chromosome.
Types
• Red-green color blindness
o Protanopia, deuteranopia, protanomaly, and
deuteranomaly
• Blue-yellow color blindness
o Tritanopia and tritanomaly
• Total color blindness
o is defined as the inability to see color.
o Although the term may refer to acquired
disorders such as cerebral
achromatopsia also known as color agnosia,
Types
Nociceptors
• Extreme mechanical, chemical, or thermal
stimuli (pain)
• Free nerve ending
• Responds to extreme cold and heat
Osmoreceptor
• Concentration of solutes
Types of Receptors Based on
Location
1. Exteroreceptors – associated with skin
2. Visceroceptors – associated with organs
3. Proprioceptors – associated with joints and
tendons – provide information about the
precise position and the rate of movement
of various body parts, weight of an object
being held in the hand and the range of
movement of a joint
Responses of Sensory
Receptors
Local potential (Receptor or Generator potential)
– results from interaction of sensory receptor
with stimulus
a) Primary receptors: axons conduct action
potentials in response to receptor potential
b) Secondary receptors: cause release of
neurotransmitters that bind to receptors on a
neuron causing a receptor potential. Smell,
taste, hearing, balance
Transduction of Sensory Stimuli
into Nerve Impulse
Receptor potential – changes in the membrane electrical
potential of the receptor
Mechanism:
a) Mechanical deformation of the receptor which
stretches the receptor membrane and opens ion
channel
b) Application of a chemical to the membrane which
also opens ion channels
c) Change in temperature of the membrane which
alter its permeability
d) Effect of electromagnetic radiation which either
directly or indirectly change its membrane
characteristics and allow ions to flow through the
membrane channels
Accommodation
(Adaptation)
• Decreased sensitivity to a continued stimulus
• Special characteristics of all sensory receptor
• Response: either partially or completely to any
constant stimulus after a period of time
• When a continuous sensory stimulus is applied,
the receptor responds at a high impulse at first
and then at a progressively slower rate until
finally the rate of the AP decreases to very low or
often to none at all
• Some sensory receptor adapt to a few greater
extent than other
Accommodation
(Adaptation)
• Mechanoreceptor adapt completely than
chemoreceptor and pain receptor (never
adapt completely  non-adapting
receptor)
Sustained stimulation leads to adaptation

1. Tonic receptors
2. Phasic receptors
Slowly Adapting (Tonic)
Receptors
• Slow or no adaptation
• Continuous signal transmission for duration of
stimulus
• Monitoring of parameters that must be
continually evaluated
• Continues to transmit information keeping
the brain constantly appraised of the state
of the body and its relation to its surrounding
Slowly Adapting (Tonic)
Receptors
o e.g. Muscle spindle and Golgi tendon apparatus
allows the CNS to know the status of muscle
contraction and load on the muscle tendon at
each distant
o e.g. Know where the little finger is without looking
• Other slow adapting receptor:
o Receptor of the macula in the ventricular
apparatus
o Pain receptor
o Baroreceptor
o Chemoreceptor
Rate Receptor, Movement Receptor,
Phasic Receptor (True Receptor)
• Rapid adaptation
• Cease firing if strength of a continuous stimulus
remains constant
• Allow body to ignore constant unimportant
information
• Detect changes in stimulation strength
(accommodate rapidly)
• Cannot be used to transmit a continuous signal
because they are stimulated only when the stimulus
strength change
• React strongly while a change is actually taking
place
Rate Receptor, Movement Receptor,
Phasic Receptor (True Receptor)
• e.g. Pacinian corpuscle is important in appraising
the NS of rapid fiber deformation (sudden pressure
applied) but it is useless from transmitting
information about constant condition in the body
• Importance: Predictive function
o e.g. receptor of the semi-circular canal in the
vestibular apparatus of the ear detect the rate
at which head begins to turn when one runs
around a curve
o Adjust the motion of the legs ahead of time to
keep from losing balance
o Smell
Mechanism in the Transmission of
Different Intensity of Nerve Tract
1. Spatial Summation
- Increasing signal strength is transmitted by
using progressively greater number of fiber
- e.g. Skin innervated with hundred free
nerve ending that serve as pain receptor
2. Temporal Summation
- Increase the frequency of new impulse in
each fiber
Somatic Senses
• Nervous mechanism that collect sensory
information from the body
• Contradistinction to the special senses
(specifically vision, hearing, smell, taste, and
equilibrium)
Physiologic Types of Somatic Senses
1. Mechanoreceptive somatic senses
- Includes both tactile and position sensation that
are stimulated by mechanical displacement
2. Thermoreceptor senses
- Detect heat and cold
3. Pain senses
- Activated by any factor that damages the tissue
- Tactile sense include; touch, pressure, vibration,
tickle
- Position senses include: static position and rate of
movement senses
Other Classification of
Somatic Sensation
1. Exteroreceptive sensation - Surface of the body
2. Proprioceptive sensation
- Having to do with the physical state of the body,
including position sensation, tendon and muscle
sensation. Pressure sensation and sensation of
equilibrium
3. Viscero sensation – from the viscera of the body
4. Deep sensation
- Deep tissue (from fascia, muscle and bone)
- Includes mainly pressure, pain, and vibration
Detection and Transmission
of Tactile Sensation
1. Touch sensation – result from stimulation of
tactile receptor in the skin or in the tissue
immediately beneath the skin
2. Pressure sensation – generally results from
deformation of deeper tissue
3. Vibration sensation – result from rapidly
repetitive sensory signals
Critical Signals
• Sensory signals that determine precise
localization on the skin, minute gradation of
intensity, or rapid changes in sensory signal
intensity are all transmitted in more rapidly
conducting types of sensory nerve
• Crude type of signals (crude pressure, poorly
localized touch, and especially tickle) –
transmitted by way of much slower, very small
nerve fiber that require much less space in the
nerve bundle than fast fiber
Detection of Vibration
• All the different tactile receptors are involved in
detection of vibration but different receptor
detect different frequencies of vibration
• Pacinian corpuscle detect high grade
(frequency) vibration and respond extremely
rapidly to minute and rapid deformation of the
tissue and also transmit their signal over large
AB nerve fiber
• Meissner’s corpuscle – low frequency vibration
which is less adapting
Tickle and Itch
• Very sensitive, rapidly adapting
mechanoreceptive free nerve endings
which are found almost exclusively in the
superficial layers of the skin
• Sensation is transmitted by very small type C
unmyelinated nerve fiber
• Purpose: to call attention to mild surface
stimuli and the elicited signals then activate
the scratch reflex or other maneuvers that
rid the host of the irritant
Tickle
• The effect of a light touch that results in a tickling
sensation is the result of the analysis of two regions
of the brain.
o The somatosensory cortex is responsible for
analyzing touch; for example, the pressure
associated with it.
o The signal sent from the skin's sensory receptors
also passes through the anterior cingulate cortex,
which governs pleasant feelings.
• As anyone who's ever been tickled too hard can
attest, too much pressure can cause tickling to go
from pleasurable to painful.
Itch
• Itch can be relieved by scratching, if the
irritant is removed or if the scratch is strong
enough to elicit pain (pain signals are
believed to suppress the itch signals in the
cord by lateral inhibition)
• Two itch-sensitive pathways exist: a
histamine-stimulated pathway that uses
mechanically insensitive C-fibres, and a
cowhage-stimulated pathway primarily
involving polymodal C-fibres.
Sensory Pathway for Transmitting
Somatic Signal into the CNS
1. Dorsal Column – Medial Lemniscal System

2. Antero-Lateral System
Dorsal Column –
Medial Lemniscal
System
• Cause signal mainly in the
dorsal column of the cord
and then, after the signal
synapse and cross the
opposite side in the
medulla, they are passed
upward through the brain
stem to the thalamus by
way of the medial
lemniscus
Dorsal Column – Medial
Lemniscal System
a) Touch sensation requiring a high degree of
localization of the stimulus
b) Touch sensation requiring transmission of fine
gradation of intensity
c) Phasic sensation such as vibratory sensation
d) Sensation that signal movement against the skin
e) Position sensation of the joint
f) Pressure sensation having to do with fine degree of
judgment of pressure intensity
Antero-Lateral System
• Signal, after first entering the spinal cord from the
dorsal spinal cord from the dorsal spinal root, synapse
in the dorsal horn of the spinal gray matter, then cross
to the opposite side of the cord and ascend through
the anterior and lateral column of the cord
• Terminate at the levels of the brain stem and thalamus
a) Pain
b) Thermal sensation, including both cold and warm
sensation
c) Crude touch and pressure sensation capable of any
crude localizing ability on the surface of the body
d) Tickle and itch
e) Sexual sensation
Dorsal Column - Antero-Lateral System
Medial Lemniscal
System
1. Size of myelinated nerve Large Small
fiber that transmits signal
to the brain
2. Velocity of transmission Fast (30 to 110 Slow (few to 40 m/sec)
m/sec)
3. Degree of spatial High degree Small degree
orientation of the nerve
fiber with respect to their
origin
4. Transmission of sensory Rapidly Slowly
information
5. Type of sensation Limited to the High ability to transient
transmitted more discrete type broad spectrum of sensory
of modulation – pain,
mechanoreceptor warmth, cold and crude
tactile sensation
Pain
• Purpose: mainly a protective mechanism
from the body. It occurs wherever many
tissues are being damaged and it causes
the individual react to remove the pain
stimulus
• Types of Pain:
o Fast pain
o Slow pain
Fast Pain
• Felt above 0.1 second after a pain stimulus
• Also known as sharp pain, prickling pain,
acute pain, and electric pain
 e.g. needle stuck into the skin, skin cut
with sharp knife and skin acutely burned;
skin subjected to electric shock
• Not felt in most of the deeper tissue of the
body
Slow Pain
• Also known as burning pain, aching pain, throbbing
pain, chronic pain, nauseous pain
• Begin only after 1 sec or more and then increases
slowly over many seconds and sometimes even
minutes
• Usually associated with tissue destruction
• Can lead to prolonged, unbearable suffering
• Can occur both in the skin and in almost any deep
tissue or organs
Free Nerve Ending
• Pain receptor in the skin and other tissues as
well as on certain internal tissue
• Most other deep tissues are not extensively
supplied with pain ending but sparsely
supplied
• Any widespread tissue damage can still
cause slow chronic aching type of pain in
most of these areas
Types of Stimuli that Excite
Pain Receptor
1. Mechanical
Both elicit fast pain
2. Thermal
3. Chemical pain – elicit slow pain
• Bradykinin (most powerful), serotonin,
histamine, potassium ions, acetylcholine
and proteolytic enzyme, prostaglandin,
substance p
• Stimulate the slow, suffering type of
pain that occur after tissue injury
Hyperalgesia
• Increased in sensitivity of the pain receptor
• Importance of the non-adapting nature of pain
receptor: allow pain being appraised of a
tissue-damaging stimulus as long as it persists
• Hyperalgesia is induced by platelet-activating
factor (PAF) which comes about in an
inflammatory or an allergic response.
o This seems to occur via immune cells interacting
with the peripheral nervous system and releasing
pain-producing chemicals
(cytokines and chemokines)
Tissue Ischemia as a Cause
of Pain
• Causes accumulation of large amount of
lactic acid in the tissue
• Due to bradykinin and proteolytic enzyme
found in damaged tissue
Muscle Spasm as a Cause of
Pain
• Partially from the effect of muscle spasm in
stimulating mechanoreceptive pain
receptor
• From indirect effect due to compression of
blood vessels and cause ischemia
• Spaces increase the metabolite in muscle
ideal conditions for release of chemical
pain-inducing substances
Pain Suppression (Analgesic)
System in the Brain and Spinal Cord
• Pain control system activated the brain itself to
suppress input of pain signals to the nervous system
• Transmitter substances involved in the analgesic
system
a) Enkephalin
– cause both pre-synaptic and post-synaptic
inhibition
Block calcium channels at the pre-synaptic
membrane terminal
b) Serotonin – inhibits the dorsal horn neuron
Brain Opiate System
• Endorphins and Enkephalin
• Can totally or almost totally suppress many
pain signal entering through the peripheral
nerve
Referred Pain
• Pain considerably remote from the tissue
causing the pain
• Sensation in one region of the body that is
not the source of stimulus
• Organ pain usually referred to the skin
• Both the organ and that region of the skin
input to the same spinal segment and
converge on the same ascending neurons
Visceral Pain: Headache
• Type of pain on the surface of the head from deep
head structures
• Results from pain arising inside the cranium or outside
the cranium (nasal sinus)
• Types of Intracranial Headaches
o Meningitis
o Migraine
• Due to vasospasm of the arteries in the head
o Alcoholic headache – due to toxic effects of alcohol;
directly irritate the meninges
• Due to constipation
o Due to absorbed toxic products or from changes in
the circulatory system from loss of fluid into the gut
Thermal Sensation
• Thermal gradation are discriminated by 3
types of sensory receptor
1. Cold receptor
2. Warm receptor
3. Pain receptor
• Stimulated only by extra degree of heat or
cold
• Responsible only with cold and warm
receptor for freezing cold and being heat
sensation

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VPHY 112

IX Glossopharyngeal Sensory, Sensory: taste and touch to back of

Response to Skeletal muscle Target tissues are

*Chemical substances that function as synaptic transmitter

• Examples of Neuromodulators that are also

• Amine derived from histidine

• Has three phases:

Na enters cell down electrochemical gradient

Influx causes depolarization of membrane potential

K diffuses out of the cell down electrochemical

Hyperpolarization  Return to normal ionic

• Presynaptic membrane contains large number of

Inhibitory State of a Neuron

b) Divergence into Multiple

*Fatigue of synapse- cause sudden cessation of

Location of Lateral horns of Brainstem and

Location of Sympathetic ganglia Terminal ganglia

Outflow from the Spinal nerves Cranial nerves

• Most reflex arcs are polysynaptic, meaning

Sensory receptor (transducer)

Afferent sensory neurons

Central Nervous System

Information goes to medulla oblongata

Projects to taste area of the cortex (extreme inferior

 There is no wavelength assigned to indigo. If you

Sustained stimulation leads to adaptation

1. Dorsal Column – Medial Lemniscal System

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