Neuronal Signaling and the

Structure of the Nervous

System
Quiz 1 at the end of Lecture today
Quiz 2 next Thursday Feb 9 on Lectures 5+6

Lecture 5, February 2, 2022

BIO 161 Fred Wolf

Santiago Ramón y Cajal 1899

1

Why study the nervous system in

physiology class?
• One of the major inter-organ and inter-system communication
methods (endocrine is the other)

• Controls internal states to maintain body function and homeostasis

• heart rate, breathing, etc etc

• Interprets the sensory world to control homeostasis

• Keeping away from temperature extremes

• Finding food, water, mates

• social networks are protective mechanisms against danger

 The Nervous System
• The basic organization of the nervous system

• How membrane potential is used to transmit information

• The properties of neuronal connections

• Basic anatomy of the nervous system

 The Nervous System

• The Nervous System has two major divisions:

– The Central Nervous System (CNS), which is

composed of the brain and spinal cord.

– The Peripheral Nervous System (PNS) is composed

of the nerves that connect the brain or spinal cord with
the body’s muscles, glands, and sense organs.
Everything else.

• Neurons and Glia are the basic cell types of both

systems.

Structure of a Neuron

5
 Neurons
• Neurons are neurons. Nerves are neurons+glia.

• They are postmitotic, so they (mostly) do not

divide.

• They have a very high metabolic rate.

• They have very long lives!

• Clusters of neurons in the CNS are called nuclei.

• Neurons are not the most numerous cell in the

CNS; Glial cells are the most numerous.
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Glial Cells

Fig. 6.6
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 Glial Cells of the CNS
1. Astrocytes: support cells, control extracellular
environment of neurons

2. Microglia: ”immune system” of the CNS

3. Ependymal cells: ciliated, involved with

production of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and its
movement

4. Oligodendrocytes: responsible for myelination of

neurons

 Glial Cells of the PNS

• The PNS glial cells are Satellite cells and the
Schwann cells.

• Satellite cells surround neuron bodies located

in the PNS.

• Schwann cells surround and form myelin

sheaths around the larger nerve fibers. These
are vital to regeneration and proper nerve
signal conduction.

 PNS

Glial
Myelination

CNS

Fig. 6-2 10
 Best Known Roles for Glia

• Structural support
• Metabolic homeostasis
– Glutamate recycling
– Oxygen & glucose supply
– Ionic balance

• Insulation & Isolation

– Long range signal propagation
– Synaptic isolation

• Immune-like functions Cooper, Bloom, Roth 2003

How complicated is the brain?

# neurons: 10-100 billion

# glia: 100 billion - 1 trillion

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 Axonal Transport Maintains Axon

Structure & Function

Supports direction of information ow in neurons

13
fl
Functional Classes of Neurons

Affect

Effect

Fig. 6.4
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Relative #

10

200,000

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Synapses

Synapses can use Synaps

e
both chemical and
electrical stimuli to
pass information.

Synapses can also

be inhibitory or
excitatory depending
on the signal/
neurotransmitter
being transmitted.
LATER!
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 How complicated is the brain?

100-10,000 synapses per neuron
100 billion neurons
10-100 trillion synapses
1 neuron can have 10K inputs

Peak brain complexity at age 3! 😟

Neurogenesis and brain wiring

continue until early 20s.

Early experience is important!

- toxins
- drugs
- socialization
- anesthesia
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 How the Brain Communicates for

Whole Body Physiology
• Neuronal
• Peripheral Nervous System
• Sensory systems - external and interoceptive
• Hormonal
• Hypothalamus, mostly
• Circulatory
• Neurovasculature - neuroimmune, nutrient, O2
• Specialized sensors, for example O2 18

How the Brain Contributes to

Whole Body Physiology

Neurovasculature
Blood-brain barrier
fMRI based on local [O2]

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membrane potential
 Basic Principles of Electricity

Potential: Separated electrical charges of opposite sign have the potential to

do work if they are allowed to come together.
Current: Movement of electrical charge.
Resistance: Hindrance of electrical charge movement.
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 Basic Principles of Electricity

Ohm’s Law
I=V/R

Potential (V): Separated electrical charges of opposite sign have the

potential to do work if they are allowed to come together.
Current (I): Movement of electrical charge.
Resistance (R): Hindrance of electrical charge movement.

Body Fluid: Good conductor

Lipid Bilayer: Bad conductor (few charges, cannot carry current)

Plasma Membrane: high electrical resistance

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 The Resting Membrane Potential

By convention, extracellular is
0 Volts

Negative = excess -ve INSIDE

ALL cells have a Resting

Membrane Potential

Resting Potential: -70 mV

Range: -5 to -100 mV

Neurons: -40 to -90 mV

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The Resting Membrane Potential

Charge differences accumulate at the membrane
Charges otherwise neutral
Due to very small excesses of charge

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 Of the diffusible ions, these are present at the highest concentrations

What is responsible for these concentration differences?

Why is Ca2+ not listed?

Magnitude of potential depends on differences in

Ion concentration
membrane permeability
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Resting Membrane Potential is due to the

Equilibrium Potential of Na+, Cl-, and K+

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 Equilibrium Potential
The membrane potential when flux due to
ion concentration difference equals flux
due to charge difference.

Each ion has equilibrium potential

K+ in Compartment 2
Na+ in Compartment 1
But only K+ can move

At K+ Eq. potential, buildup of +ve

charge in 1 produces electrical potential
that exactly offsets chemical
concentration gradient
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