- myelinSensory input: detesc stimuli

- Central integration: determine the significance of the environmental stimuli and make a decision
based on that stimuli. People treat stimuli differntly
- Motor output: execute the behavioral response
- Structures in the nervous system that are close to eachother are PROXIMAL, those that are far
apart are DISTAL
- Any signal towards a brain structure is AFFERENT while signals going away from the brain are
EFFERENT. Body to brain = afferent brain to body = efferent

Two categories of nervous system

- Central nervous system CNS: the brain and the spinal cord
o
- Peripheral nervous system PNS: all other parts of the nervous system, that extend through the
entire body, to collect the stimuli to send to the CNS
o Motor Nerves: transmit information from CNS to muscles and glands in the body
o Sensory Nerves: send information from the body to the CNS
o Somatic Nervous system: nerves from CNS directly connect skeletal muscles and skin for
somatosensory and the ability to move
o Nervous system
-
o Nucleus: an area for a collection of cell bodies in the CNS
o Ganglion: a location for a collection of cell bodies in the PNS.
o Collection of axons in the CNS is called a tract
o Collection of axons in the PNS is called a nerve
- Gray Matter contains cell bodies and dendrites which lake myelin, while White Matter has axons
and white myelin sheathes

Localization of brain

- Horizontal Plane: divides into lower an dupper region

- Sagittal plane: divides into right and left side
- Coronal plane: divide into dendrit and prosterior (front and back)

Crainial nerves: the peripheral nerves form two anatomical groups based on organization: cranial
nerves and spinal nerves

- 12 types/ pairs of cranial nerves: innervate the head, heck and visceral organs from the brain
- 3 types that are afferent nerves for senses: oflcatory, optic and vestibulochlear (hearing and
balance

Spinal Nerves: each spinal nerve consists of a group of motor fibers that project from the spinal cord

- 31 pairs o nerves that are named for the part of the spinal cord they are connected to:
o Cervical – neck
o Thoracic – trunk
o Lumbar – lowerback
 o Sacral – perlvic
o Coccygeal – bottom

Automatic nervous syste,

- Controls the bodys internal organs, two major divisions

- Sympathetic nervous system: sympathetic ganglia. Prepares the body for a flight or fight
response
- Parasympathetic nervous system: helps the body relax and recoperate
o These neurons extend longer distances from the CNS to the parasympathetic ganglia
o Parasympathetic ganglia are usually close to the organ the innervate

Neurotransmitters

- All pregangloic neurons in CNS release Acetlcholine

- Postgangloincinc neurons also release acetylcholine
- Postgaggloic neurons in the sympathetic release norepinephrine and epinephrine
- In somatic nervous system central neurons release acetlcholine to innervate skeletal muscles

Spinal cord

- One part of the CNS in the spinal column

- Dorsal horn: location of interneurons that receives sensory input from the perphreial sensory
neuron in the dorsal root
- The verntral horn is the location of motor neurons that project to peripheral organs through the
ventral root for motor control
- Connection between the spinal cord and spinal ganglia: sensory nerves of the dorsal root ganglia
anter the dorsal root ganglia to the dorsal horn while the motor nerves leave the ventral horn to
the ventral root ganglia

Cerebral cortex

- The cerebral cortex is the outermost layer of the brain

- The cortex has gyri (rigged raised portions) sulci (furrows) and fissures (deep groves)
- Longitudainal fissure: divides two hemispheres
- Sylvian fissure: boundary of the temporal lobe
- Central sulcus: divides the frontal lobe from the parietal lobe
- Postcentral gyrus: primary somatosensory cortex
- Precental gyrus” primary motor cortex

Occipital lobe: analysis of visual info

Parietal: process seneory information, pain, pressure, and body position/ the prosterior portion is
involved in spatial perception

Tempral lobe: includes the auditory cortex and language center (wernickes area)
Frontal lobe: anterior to central sulcus

- Motor cortex involved in muscle movement

- Brocas area: programming and sequencing the movement for speech
- Prefrontal cortex: controls complex intellectual functioning, self control of emotion and impulse
control, planning, decision making, and problem solving. Primary part involved in many mental
disorders like depression, addiction, and anxiety
- Association cortex: areas of the cortex that integrate and process information to produce
cognition
- Corpus collosum us the whuute matter fibers/axons that connect the two hemispheres of the
cerebrum. Provides communication between the two hemispheres.
-

Basal ganglia are important for motor control

- Dorsal striatum: caudate, putamen

- Globul pallidus GP, with both external and internal
- Substantia nigra and subthalmic nucleus

Libic system: includes important structures for emotion learning and memory

- Amygdala: emotional regulation and perception of odor

- Hippocampus: and fornux control leanrning and memory
- Cingulate gyrus: attention
- Olfactory bulb: smell
- Thalamus: sensory information cluster of nuclei
- Hypothalamus: controls the pituitary gland and homeostasis

Midbrain

- Superior colliculi: visual processing and visual attention, directing behaviror towards certain
objects and objectives
- Inferior colliculi: auditory processing and auditory attention
- Substantia nigra: voluntary movement and movement attention?
- Reticular formation: sleep and arrousal
- Periaqueductal gray: pain perception and pain regulation

Brainstem and cerebellum

- Cerebellum: motor coordination and control, motor learning

- Brainstem: controls bosy function
- Pons contains sensory and motor nuclei: orgin of some cranial nerves
- Medulla: marks transition from brain to spinal cord for sensory and morot regulation, origin od
some cranial nerves that drive essential processes like respiration and heart rate
We do not know all the functions of the brain because of the diversity of neurons and the complexity of
neural circuits

Meninges for brain protection

The brain and spinal cord are surrounded by three protective membranes the meninges

- Dura matter: toughest uoter layer

- Pia matter//; delicate intermost matter
- Arachnoid matter: lies inbetween the other two and is filled with cerebrospinal fluid
- Meningitis is an infection of the menengies
- Meningiomas are tumors formed in the meninges
- Traumatic brain injury caused by bleeding in menengie such as subdural hematoma and
subachnoid hemorrhage

Venticuar system: a series of chambers filled with cerebral spinal flud

The lateral ventricle in each hemisphere extends into all four lobe and is filed with the choroid plexus, a
membrane that makes spinal fluid

The brain depends on ample supply of oxygenated blood from the cerebral arteries

Stroke is caused by a rupture or blockage of blood vessals leading to insufficient oxygen

Hemorrhagic stroke from a rupture in an artery allowing blood into the brain

Ischemic stroke when clots or other debreis prevent blood from reaching parts of the brain causing
neurons to die

8/31/2021

Questions from last time

- Sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems oppose one another

- Dorsal horn sensory input
- CNS central nervous system and peripheral nervous system

How are learning and experience important for cognition

- Sensory and motor pathways are the same but some modulatory areas such as association
cortex and basal ganglia are distinct because of different TRAINING EXPERIENCE

Neurons
- What is the major difference of neurons from other cells
- Two types of polarization:
o Membrane potential polarization
o Structure polarization
o Distribution of ion channels and receptors contribute to polarization
- Camillo Golgi described the detailed structure of the nerve cells
o Developed the silver stain to visualize the nerve cell
- Santiago Tamon y Cajal was the first to cast doubt on the nerve net theory.
o Observed the stained animal nerve cells under the microscope
- Neurons have four functional zones
o Input: dendrites: receive information from other cells
 Dendritic spines: the post synaptic areas that form postsynaptic compontent of
synapse
o Integration: stoma: integrates the information it rceives
o Conduction: axon: the info then gets sent away from the cell body as an electrical
impulse
o Output: axon terminal: at the end of the axon communicate information to other cells
o The human brain has nearly 90 billion neurons, each one may be connected to 10,000
other neurons
- Motor neurons: are large and have long axons to stimulate out muscles
- Sensory neurons: have varied shapes that best respond to specific environmental simuli like light
or touch
- Interneurons: have tiny axons and analyse input from one set of neurons and communicate with
others
- Multipolar neurons: one axon, many dendrites (most common)
- Bipolar neurons: one axon, one dendrite
- Unipolar (pseudounipolar) neurons: a single extension branches in two directions forming an
input zone and an output zone
- Axon hillock: a cone shaped area of the cell body that gives rise to the axon. It is rich in voltage
gated sodium channels
o The hilcock initiates action potential that travels down the axon and innervates target
cells
- Nodes of ranvier: gaps between sections of myelin where the axon is exposed, also rich in the
sodium channels
- Myelin sheath: consitsts of gila cells that insulate the axon from electrical activity like insulation
for wires. It does not belong to the neuron but helps axon for action potential
- Axon collateral: a branch of an axon that also ends in terminals
- Synapses
o The neuronal cell body and dendrites receive information across synapses
o Information is transmitted from the presynaptic neuron to the postsynaptic neuron
o Synapses have three components:
 Presynaptic membrane: on the axon terminal of the presynaptic neuron
 Postsynaptic membrane: on the dendrite or the cell body of the postsynaptic
neuron
  Synaptic cleft: gap separating the membranes
o Synaptic vesicles: small spheres in presynaptic axon terminals that contain a
NEUROTRANSMITTER which are released in response to electrical activity in the axon
o Neurotransmitter receptors in the postsynaptic membrane are specialized proteins that
react to neurotransmitter molecules
- Protein transport
o Proteins are synthesized within the soma and are neded throughout the neuron and
moved via axoplasmic transport from/to distal areas such as axonal terminals
o Neurofillaments: control and transport membrane protein
o Microfilaments: abundant in dendrites and axons. Provide structural support for
dendrites and axons
o Microtubules: carry new synaptic vesicles to axon and recycle used synaptic vesicles
back to lysosomes in the soma
o Anterograde transport of microtubule carries newly synthesized proteins from the soma
to axon terminal.
o Retrograde transport carries waste materials from the axon terminals back to the soma
for recycling
o Neurofibrillary tangles in Alzheimers disease destroy the microtubules and lead to
dysfunction in synaptic transmission
- Cell membrane
o Phospholipid bilayer: it contains heads of the molecule that is permeable to water
(hydrophilic)
o
- Leak ion channels: ion channels randomly open for ion flux
- Gated ion channels the open of the ion channel is controlled by other factors. When the
configuration of the channel is changed by the factors such as chemical, membrane potential
and mechanical force (stretch) it opens to allow the ion flux.
- Na+/K+ pump: a special ion channel that needs ATP for transportation for both Na and K
- Ions are electrically charged molecules
o Anions are negatively charged
o Cations are positively charged
- Ions are dissolved in the intracellular fluid and the extracellular fluid
- Ion channels are proteins that span the membrane and can allow ions to pass through
o Some are gated opening and closing in response to a signal
o While others stay open all the time such as leak potassium ion channels that allow K to
pass through all the time
- Gated ion channels
o Major types of gated ion channels
 Ligand (chemical) gated ion channels
 Voltage gated ion channels
o Stages of ligand gated ion channels
 Closed: resting state without ligand binding
 Open: ligand binding changes the structure of the receptor and leads to channel
open
  Desensitized: the ligand (neurotransmitter) remains bound but the ion channel
is closed
o Stages od voltage gated ion channels
 Resting (closed): activation gate closed, inactivation gate open.
 Activated (open): both activation and inactivation gate open to allow ion flux
 Inactivated (close): activation gate is open but inactivation gate closed
 All types of voltage gated Na channels have inactivated stage
 Some types of voltage gated K channels have inactivated
- Gilal cells assist neuronal activity by providing raw materials, chemical signals, and structure and
also information processing
- Two types wrap around axons to provide fatty insulation layers called myelin
o Oligodendrocytes: form the myelin sheathes in the brain and spinal cord
o Schwann cells: form myelin sheathes outside the brain and spinal cord
- Two other types of gilal cells
o Astrocytes: star shaped cells with many processes that stretch around neurons and
sometimes blood vessels, secrete cheicals and help other outer membrane around the
brain
o Microgilial cells: tiny mobile cells that remove dead or injured cells

9/2/2021

Why is ion channel important for brain function

- Ions inside and outside the neuron

o Neurophysiolology is the study of life proesses of neurons
o A resting neuron is polarized, meaning there is a difference in electrical charge between
the inside and the outside of the cell.
o A mictoelectrode inserted into a resting cell wil show that the interior is more negative
than the exterior
o Membrane potential is the potential level of inside relative to outside the cell. This
resting potential is -50 to -80 millivolts (mV) the negative sign indicates that the cell’s
interop is more negative than the outside
o Ions: electrically charged molecules
 Anions are negatively charged
 Cations are positively charged
o Ions are dissolved in the intracellular fluid and the extracellular fluid
o Ion channels are proteins that span the cell membrane and can allow ions to pass
through
 Some are gated, opening and closing in response to signals
 Others may stay open all the time, like the leak Potassium Ion channel (k+) in
neurons that allow only K+ to cross
o At rest there are more Na and Cl outside the neuron then inside. Few K+ outside than
inside. Ion pumps and transporters play a major role in maintaining the transmembrane
ion gradient.
o Two forces drive ion movement
 Diffusion causes ions to spread towards a uniform concentration, along a
concentration gradient
 Electrostatic pressure: causes ions to flow towards oppositely charged areas
o Neurons use energy to operate sodium potassium pumps
 Pumps three sodium ions out for every two K ions out
o For neuronal membrane, both electrostatic pressure and concentration gradient
determine the direction of the ion flux through ion channels
o The equilibriu potential (reversal potential) is the electrical charge that balances two
opposing forces: the concentration gradient and electrostatic pressure
o Equilibrium potential can be calculated by Nernst equation based on intra cellular and
extracellular ion concentration which is mainly determined by the pump or ion
transporters
o The principle for the direction of ion flux
 The equilibrium potential is consistent for any given ion, while the memory
potential of a neuron is a variable
 When Vm is different as the Equilibrium potential of an ion, the ion always
fluxes to try and make the Vm reach the equilibirium potential of the ion
o Direction of the ion at resting state
 Open any Na channels leads to Na influx
 Open of ant K channels causes k efflux
 Open any Ca channels leads to Ca influx
 Open of Cl channels, it depends on the resting membrane potential and Ecl
since the Ecl is close to the resting membrane potential of the neurons. MOST
OF THE TIME it causes Cl Influx
o The resting membrane potential is maintained by a dynamic balance of ion
transmembrane flux. The Na/K pump, Leak K channel and leak Na channel all contribute
to the maintenance of the resting membrane potential at around -70mV, however leak
K channel plays a main role since more K leak channels open at rest
o NA/K pump contributes to reset the transmembrane concentration gradients of both Na
and K especially after action potential
o Local potential type and polarization/depolarization
 Action potentials are the brief but large changes in membrane potential that
originate in the axon, just after the axon hillock
 Local potential: as potential spreads across the membrane, it diminishes as it
moves away from the point of stimulation
 Hyperpolarization is an increase in membrane potential, the interior of the cell
becomes even more negative and farther from zero
 Depolarization is a decrease in membrane potential – the interor of the cell
becomes less negative and closer to zero
 Membrane depolarization increases the potential of Action potential production
 o Action potentials have an all or none property. The neuron either fires or does not, and
the amplitude of the action potential is independent of stimulus size
o Relative stimulus strength information is encoded in changes in the number of action
potentials produced
 Increased stimulus strength = more action potential
o Afterpotentials – small changes in membrane potential after action potentials
o Action potentials are produced by the sudden rush of Na ions into the cell
o At its peak the action potential approaches the equilibrium potential for Na: the
concentrarion gradient pulling Na ions into the cell equals the positive charge driving
them out
o The membranes shift rapidly
o Voltage gated Na channels change the shape and open in response to threshold
 More voltage gated channels open and more Na ions enter which continues
until the membrane potential reaches the Na equilibrium potential of +40 mV
 As the inside of the cell becomes more positive, voltage gated K channels open
and K rushes out until resting potential is restored
o For closely spaced stimuli, only the first is able to trigger an action potential – the
membrane becomes temporarily unresponsive to subsequent stimuli.
o During the absolute refractory phase, no action potentials can be produced. It caused by
inactivation of voltage gated sodium channels
o During the relativelt refractory phase, only very strong stimulation can produce an
action potential. It mainly caused by hyperpolarization

9/21/2021

How aelectrical signal is produced and propagated inside a neuron between two neurons

1. Action potential arrives at presynaptic terminals to induce Ca2+ influx

2. Presynaptic Ca dependent neurotransmitter release
3. Postsynaptic receptor activation produces EPSP or IPSP that are summed and propagated along
the membrane inside towards axonal hilcock
4. Summed potential leads to membrane depolarizatipon to about -40 mV at axonal hillock when

Key points that explain how the brain works to have electrical signals

- The transmembrane ion gradient is basis of membrane potential and is maintained by: ION
PUMPS LIKE NA AND K
- Why is membrane potential dynamic (depolarization, hyperpolarization, action potential): ION
CHANNEL OPEN AND CLOSE
- Why does open close of Ion channel cause depolarization (caused by inward current) or
hyperpolarization (caused by outward current): ion flux in or out
 - Why does depolarization increase the possibility of action potential: reach the threshold of
opening voltage gated NA channels
- What causes the open of ion channels: leak (naturally open), ligand gated channels, voltage
gated channels
- Where is the ligand from: mainly the neurotransmitter released from the presynaptic axonal
terminal; intrecellular second messengers activated following the activation of metaborphic
- What causes neurotransmitter release: increased intracellular CA2+ concentration at axonal
terminals
- What causes the increase in intercellular Ca2+ concentration: voltage gated Ca2+ channel open
when action potential arrives at the axonal terminal
- How does action potential propagate from axon hilcock to axon terminal: salatory conduction
from axonal hillock to the terminal due to the structure of axon (myelin sheath, node of ranvier)
- Why is action potential initiated at the axon hillock with high density voltage gated Ca2
channels: summation of graded potentials (from EPSP and IPSP) at axonal hillock depolarizes the
membrane potential to the threshold of opening voltage gated Ca channels
- What determines if a neurotransmitter produces depolarization or hyperpolarization: the type
of postsynaptic receptor that is activated by the neurotransmitter. The receptor determines
what ion channel is open
- Many neurotransmitters are found in the nervous system: one neurotransmitter can hinder and
activate different receptorts that determine the effect on the postsynaptic neuron (excitation or
inhibition)

All you need to know about the brain

- Brain areas with important functions

- Cerebral cortex: for sensory processing
- Parietal lobe: somatosensory
- Occipital lobe: visual
- Temporal lobe: auditory
- Frontal lobe: prefrontal cortex – personality, decision making, problem solving, working
memory, regulation of emotion and behavior, motor cortex (movement)
- Subcortical areas
o Limbic system: memory and emotion expression
o Basal Ganglia: voluntary movement regulation
o Ventral tegmental area and nucleus accumbens: reward and motivation center
- Specific brainstem areas that regulate the prefrontal cortex and limbic system for effecting
emotion and motivation. Serotonin neurons in raphe nuclei and norepinephrine neurons in
locus coeruleus
- Thalmus: relays sensory information
- Hypothalamus: integration center that activates automatic nervous system and pituitary
especially in HPA axis for homeostasis regulation
- Neuron and neural circuit: dendrite, soma, axon, axonal terminal, synapse
- Ion channels and membrane potential: inward current leads to membrane