PSY102: BIOLOGICAL BASIS OF BEHAVIOUR

COMMUNICATION WITHIN THE NERVOUS

SYSTEM
LEARNING OBJECTIVES

 Know the structure of the neuron

 Describe electrical transmission

 Describe chemical transmission

 Understand synaptic activity

 Know the role of neurotransmitters

 Understand neural coding and neural networks

NEURONS

 Neurons
 Specialised cells
 Carry sensory information to the brain

 Carry out operations involved in thought, feeling,

and action
 Transmit commands to the body that control
muscles and organs
NEURONS

 Basic structure
 Soma - Cell body
 Contains nucleus which has cell’s chromosomes
 Biggest part of neuron – 0.005mm – 0.1mm

 Dendrites
 Branch out from cell body
 Receive information from other neurons
NEURONS

 Basic Structure
 Axon
 Extends like tail from cell body
 Carried information to other locations

 Myelin Sheath
 Wrapped around axons
 Insulates axon
 Protection
 Faster signal speeds
NEURONS

 Basic Structure
 Terminal buttons
 Bulbat the end of axons
 Contain neurotransmitters
 Communicate with muscle/organ/next neuron
NEURONS

 3 types
 Motor neurons
 Sensory neurons

 interneurons
NEURONS

 Motor neuron
 Conducts messages from brain and spinal cord to
muscles and organs
 Found throughout nervous system

 Multipolar
 Axons and dendrites extend in multiple directions
NEURONS

 Sensory neurons
 Carry information from body and outside world to
brain and spinal cord
 Unipolar or bipolar
 Axons and dendrites extend in one or 2 directions
 Unipolar – single stalk from soma divides into 2
branches
 Bipolar – axon and dendrites on opposite ends of soma
NEURONS

 Interneurons
 Conducts information between neurons in the same
area
 Multipolar

 Do not have long axons

 Most numerous
ELECTRICAL TRANSMISSION

 Neural membrane
 Most important for communication
 Made up of fat and protein – very thin

 Controls environment inside and around the cell

 Water, oxygen, and carbon dioxide pass freely

 Others are blocked
 Others have limited access
ELECTRICAL TRANSMISSION

 Polarisation
 Differencein electrical charge between the inside
and outside of the cell
 Resting potential
 Difference in charge between the inside and
outside of the cell
 -40 to -80 millivolts – usually -70millivolts
ELECTRICAL TRANSMISSION

 Resting potential
 Unequal distribution of ions
 Sodium (Na+) and Chloride (Cl-) outside the cell

 Potassium (K+) and proteins and amino acids (A-)

inside the cell
 Inside cell – more negative than positive ions

 Outside cell – more positive than negative ions

ELECTRICAL TRANSMISSION

 Force of diffusion
 Move from area of high concentration to low
concentration
 Ions move through membrane

 Electrostatic Pressure
 Ions attracted to side with opposite charge
ELECTRICAL TRANSMISSION

 Chloride ions – too big to pass through

membrane
 Potassium and Sodium do the moving
 Potassium moves outwards
 Sodium moves inwards

 Through channels
ELECTRICAL TRANSMISSION

 Resting state
 Potassium and sodium channels are closed
 Few ions trickle through

 Sodium-Potassium pump
 Large protein molecules that move Na+ outside
and K+ move inside (3:2)
 Inside stays negatively charged
ELECTRICAL TRANSMISSION

 Local Potential
 Neuron is excited by input at dendrites and cell
body
 Excitatory signal = partial depolarisation

 Voltage in small area = 0

ELECTRICAL TRANSMISSION

 Local Potential
 Disturbs ion balance  flows down dendrite
 Short distances – dies out

 Triggers action potential at axon hillock

 If
local potential exceeds threshold for activating the
neuron – 10millivolts more positive than resting potential
 Opens sodium channels – massive inflow
ELECTRICAL TRANSMISSION

 Action Potential
 Abrupt depolarisation of the membrane
 Allows neuron to communicate over long distances

 Complete depolarisation – sodium channels closed

ELECTRICAL TRANSMISSION

 Action Potential
 Repolarisation
 Potassium channels open – outflow
 Return to negative voltage

 Returns to resting potential

ELECTRICAL TRANSMISSION

 Action Potential
 Opens nearby sodium channels
 Triggers chain of action potentials
 Flows along the axon
ELECTRICAL TRANSMISSION

 Action potential vs local potential

 Graded potential (local potential)
 Varies in magnitude with the strength of stimulus that
produced it
 All-or-none law
 Occurs at full strength or not at all
 Ungraded potential
ELECTRICAL TRANSMISSION

 Action potential vs local potential

 Nondecremental
 Travels without any decrease in size
ELECTRICAL TRANSMISSION

 Absolute Refractory Period

 Rightafter the action potential
 Neuron cannot fire again

 Sodium channels cannot reopen

ELECTRICAL TRANSMISSION

 Absolute Refractory Period

 Limits how frequently the neuron fires
 Action potentials move forward
 Cannot set off sodium channels behind
ELECTRICAL TRANSMISSION

 Relative Refractory Period

 Intensitycoding in the axon
 K+ channels remain open few ms after absolute
refractory period
 Neuron can fire again
 Stronger-than-threshold stimulus
 Increase firing rate
GLIAL CELLS

 Nonneural cells
 Support functions to neurons
 Produce myelin
 Provide energy

 Development and maintenance of connections

MYELIN SHEATH

 Produced by Schwann cells (type of glial cell)

 Action potential does not happen there
 Conduction via graded potential
 Nodes of Ranvier
 Gaps between segments of myelin sheath
 Action potentials occur here

 Saltatory conduction
MYELIN SHEATH

 Benefits of segmented myelin sheath

 Graded potential gets boost in speed
 Renewed signal at every node

 Neurons use less energy

CHEMICAL TRANSMISSION

 Synapse – connection between two neurons

 Synaptic cleft – gap between neurons at
synapse
 Presynaptic neuron – transmitting neuron

 Postsynaptic neuron – receiving neuron

CHEMICAL TRANSMISSION

 Most synapses are chemical

 Neurotransmitters
 Stored in terminal buttons in vesicles
CHEMICAL TRANSMISSION

 Action potential arrives at terminal buttons

opens Ca+ channels Ca+ ions flow into
terminals  vesicles fuse with button
membrane  membrane opens 
neurotransmitter spills into synaptic cleft 
neurotransmitter diffuses across synaptic cleft
CHEMICAL TRANSMISSION

 Postsynaptic neuron
 Neurotransmitters
bind to receptors ion channels
in membrane open graded potential
CHEMICAL TRANSMISSION

 Ionotropic receptors
 Open channels directly
 Immediate actions – muscle activity and sensory
processing
 Metabotropic receptors
 Open channels indirectly
 Produce longer-lasting effects
CHEMICAL TRASNMISSION

 Excitation
 Cause local potential to shift toward zero
 Facilitates occurence of action potential

 Hypopolarisation
 Excitatory postsynaptic potential (EPSP)
 Receptors open sodium channels
CHEMICAL TRANSMISSION

 Inhibition
 Cause local potential to be more negative
 Makes action potential less likely to occur

 Hyperpolarisation
 Inhibitory postsynaptic potential (IPSP)
 Receptors open potassium and chloride channels
CHEMICAL TRANSMISSION

 Potentials do not directly correlate to observed

behaviour
 EPSP can activate a neuron that inhibits others
 IPSP can inhibit a neuron that inhibits others
POSTSYNAPTIC INTEGRATION

 Neuron can receive multiple signals

 Bothexcitatory and inhibitory
 Neurons are constantly firing

 Postsynaptic neuron requires multiple signals

to reach threshold to fire
 Individualneurons have small effect
 Signals combine at axon hillock
POSTSYNAPTIC INTEGRATION

 Spatial summation
 Potentials occurring simultaneously at different
locations on dendrites and cell body

 Temporal summation
 Potentials arriving at a short time apart
 Potentials last few milliseconds
POSTSYNAPTIC INTEGRATION

 Combination of EPSP and IPSP

 Difference between sum of hypopolarisations and
sum of hyperpolarisation
 Resulting potential – does it cross threshold to fire?
TERMINATING SYNAPTIC ACTIVITY

 Neurotransmitters must be deactivated

 Reuptake
 Neurotransmitter taken back into presynaptic
neuron to be reused later
 Glial cells absorb some neurotransmitters
REGULATING SYNAPTIC ACTIVITY

 Axoaxonic synapse
 Third neuron releases neurotransmitter onto
terminals of presynaptic neuron
 Presynaptic excitation or inhibition

 Affects presynaptic neuron’s release of

neurotransmitter
REGULATING SYNAPTIC ACTIVITY

 Autoreceptors
 On presynaptic terminal buttons
 Sense amount of neurotransmitters in the synaptic
cleft
 Regulates output of neurotransmitter
REGULATING SYNAPTIC ACTIVITY

 Postsynaptic receptors
 Adjustto changes in levels of neurotransmitter in
synaptic cleft
 Change sensitivity or numbers
REGULATING SYNAPTIC ACTIVITY

 Glial cells
 Surround synapse
 Prevent neurotransmitters from spreading to other
synapses
 Absorb neurotransmitters from synaptic cleft
 Recycle it to neuron
NEUROTRANSMITTERS

 Chemical messengers in the brain

 Synapses
 Varietyof neurotransmitters
 Different subtpyes of receptors

 Excitatory or inhibitory
NEUROTRANSMITTERS

 Acetylcholine
 Excitatory

 Stimulates muscles
 found in sensory and motor neurons

 Involved in REM sleep

 Involved in learning

 Wakefulness, attentiveness, anger, aggression

NEUROTRANSMITTERS

 Monoamines
 Serotonin

 Dopamine

 Norepinephrine

 Epinephrine
NEUROTRANSMITTERS

 Serotonin
 Inhibitory

 Involvedin mood, sleep and arousal, aggression,

depression, OCD, and alcoholism
 Low levels – decreased immune functioning
NEUROTRANSMITTERS

 Dopamine
 Inhibitory and excitatory
 Movement control

 Promotes reinforcing effects of food, sex, and

abused drugs
 Modulates mood

 Schizophrenia (too much) and Parkinson’s Disease

(too little)
NEUROTRANSMITTERS

 Norepinephrine
 Excitatory

 Hormone – noradrenaline
 Released during stress

 Increase arousal and attentiveness

 Low levels – low energy, lack of sleep

 High levels - anxiety

NEUROTRANSMITTERS

 Epinephrine
 Excitatory

 Hormone – adrenaline
 Released during stress

 Regulates heart rate and blood pressure

 Regulates focus and attentiveness

 Long term stress  low levels

NEUROTRANSMITTERS

 Amino Acids
 Glutamate

 GABA

 Glycine
NEUROTRANSMITTERS

 Glutamate
 Main excitatory neurotransmitter
 Learning and memory

 Schizophrenia

 High levels – kill neurons

NEUROTRANSMITTERS

 GABA
 Gamma-aminobutyric acid
 Main inhibitory neurotransmitter

 Prevents overstimulation – regulates glutamate

NEUROTRANSMITTERS

 Glycine
 Inhibitory

 Spinalcord and lower brain

 Regulates excitatory neurotransmitters
NEUROTRANSMITTERS

 Neuropeptides
 Endorphins

 Substance P
 Neuropeptide Y
NEUROTRANSMITTERS

 Endorphins
 Inhibitory

 Reduce pain
 Enhance reinforcement
NEUROTRANSMITTERS

 Substance P
 Neurons sensitive to pain
 Regulation of mood, anxiety, and learning
NEUROTRANSMITTERS

 Neuropeptide Y
 Excitatory

 Initiates
eating
 Produces metabolic shifts
NEURAL CODING

 Temporal coding
 Time-related

 Impulses vary in length and time intervals

 Different sensations have different codes
NEURAL NETWORKS

 Groups of neurons that function together to

carry out a process
 Can cover small or large areas

 Human Connectome Project

 Map brain's circuits
 Artificial neural networks
 Mimic brain