HUMAN SYSTEM ANATOMY &

PHYSIOLOGY I

NERVOUS SYSTEM 1

STRUCTURE & FUNCTION

DR WAN SAFWANI WAN KAMARUL ZAMAN

ORGANISATION OF NERVOUS SYSTEM
 HISTOLOGY OF NERVOUS TISSUE

1)Neurons - For processing, transfer, and storage of

information

2) Neuroglia – For support, regulation & protection of

neurons
 NEURONS

Characteristics:

1) Ability to conduct nerve impulses

2) Extreme longevity
3) Amitotic – as they involve in establishing communicating links, they lose
their ability to divide.
- except olfactory epithelium & some hippocampal regions.
4) High metabolic rate
5) Typically large, complex cells, vary in structure but all have cell body &
processes coming from it.
NEURON
 NEUROGLIA /GLIAL CELLS
CNS – astrocytes, microglia, ependymal cells & oligodendrocytes
PNS – Satellite cells & Schwann cells

Refer to Lecture 1 & 2

SCHWANN CELLS/NEUROLEMMOCYTES
 ROLE OF MEMBRANE ION CHANNELS
Passive or leakage

• Only allows specific ion

• Na+ attracts lots of water, makes it too big a package to
pass through the K+ channel
• K+ is too large to pass through a Na+ channel (Na+
channel proteins can strip off water molecules)

Active or gated

• Chemically-gated – NT binding causes channel to open

• Voltage-gated - open in response to ion flow (changes in
membrane polarization)
Have activation and inactivation gates that open
and close differentially
At rest the cytoplasmic sided inactivation gate is
open and the extracellular sided activation gate
is closed

Mechanically gated channels open when a membrane

receptor is physically deformed.

When ion channels are open, ions diffuse across the

membrane, creating electrical currents.
 RESTING MEMBRANE POTENTIAL

• The neuron cell membrane is polarized, being more negatively charged inside than
outside. The degree of this difference in electrical charge is the resting membrane
potential.
• Within cell – lower concentration of Na+ & higher concentration of K+ which, is also
balanced by the presence of anionic proteins (A-).
• Outside cell - Na+ & other ions which are balanced by Cl-
 BASIS OF RESTING MEMBRANE POTENTIAL

• Diffusion of K+ to cell exterior & Na+ to cell interior is promoted by concentration

gradient but less for Na+ because lack of Na+ leakage channels.

• Outward diffusion of K+ - negativity on inner cell membrane.

• RMP (-70mV) is maintained indirectly by Na-K pump – transports 3 Na+ out for
each 2 K+ transported back into cell.
 MEMBRANE POTENTIALS
• Changes in membrane potential relative to resting membrane potential can either be….
a) Depolarizations - the interior of the cell becomes less negative,
or
b) Hyperpolarizations - the interior of the cell becomes more negatively charged.
 GRADED POTENTIALS
• Short-lived, local changes in membrane potentials. They can either be
depolarizations or hyperpolarizations, and are critical to the generation of
action potentials.
a) Receptor potentials are graded potentials that occur at the receptor of
sensory neurons.
b) Post-synaptic potentials are graded potentials generated by NT binding to a
post-synaptic receptor on a dendrite, neuronal cell body, or even an axon.
 ACTION POTENTIALS

• Occur on axons and are the principle way neurons communicate.

• When a wave of depolarization (a graded local potential) reaches a voltage-regulated Na+ channel at
sufficient strength (above threshold) the voltage-regulated Na+ channel opens and allows a large
amount of Na+ to flood into the cell.

This depolarizes the cell to the point that the polarization of the plasma membrane actually
reverses briefly, and the depolarization wave generated (an action potential) will flow
across the membrane until it reaches the next voltage-regulated Na+ channel and be above
threshold, thus causing it to open.

• Action potentials are self-reinforcing because they always are above threshold when they reach the
next voltage-regulated Na+ channel.

• Repolarization, which restores resting membrane potential, follows depolarization along the
membrane.

As voltage-regulated Na+ channels close voltage-regulated K+ channels open, allowing K+ to

exit the cell and reestablish the resting membrane potential by creating an accumulation of
positive charges outside the cell.
GENERATION OF ACTION POTENTIAL
 PROPAGATION OF ACTION POTENTIAL

• Self-propagating & run along axon at a constant velocity – AP initiated at one end of axon &
conducted away from that point toward axon terminals.

• Propagation occurs along myelinated axon – saltatory conduction

 ACTION POTENTIAL

• Action potentials are an all-or-none phenomena: they either

happen completely, in the case of a threshold stimulus, or not
at all, in the event of a subthreshold stimulus.

• Stimulus intensity is coded in the frequency of action

potentials – number of impulses generated per second.

• This means the membrane must repolarize quickly enough to

be restimulated in a reasonable amount of time.
 REFRACTORY PERIODS

• Related to the period of time required so that

a neuron can generate another action
potential.

Absolute and Relative Refractory Periods

• Absolute – from opening of voltage gated Na+
channels until sodium inactivation gates close
Cannot be stimulated at all during this time
• Relative – period of repolarization (including
hyperpolarization)
Interval following absolute refractory period.
Takes a stronger stimulus to depolarize the
membrane enough to generate another
action potential
Na+ channels have to reset the activation
gates
K+ channels have to close - they close more
slowly than Na+ channels
 CONDUCTION VELOCITY

Influence by….

1) Axon Diameter
Larger diameter has lower resistance (greater cross-sectional area)

2) Myelin Sheath

Unmyelinated sheaths have voltage regulated channels relatively close to each other to
account for ion leakage across the membrane, conduct impulses relatively slowly
(continuous conduction)

Myelin insulates, the only place ion leakage occurs is at Nodes of Ranvier

This is also where voltage-gated Na+ channels occur, so action potentials are generated only
at nodes and travel from node to node (saltatory conduction) – much faster than in
unmyelinated sheaths

Saltatory conduction is faster than continuous conduction

 Nerve fibers classification

• Group A fibers
Somatic sensory & motor fibers serving skin, skeletal muscles & joints
Largest diameter & thick myelin sheath
Speed up to 150 m/s

• Group B fibers
Lightly myelinated fibers & intermediate diameter.
Average speed 15 m/s

• Group C fibers
Smallest diameter & unmyelinated
Incapable of saltatory conduction
Speed 1 m/s or less.
 SYNAPSE
• A junction that mediates information transfer between neurons or between a neuron and an effector
cell.

• Axodendritic synapse – between axon endings of one neuron & dendrities of another neuron

• Axosomatic synapse – between axon endings of one neuron & cell bodies of other neurons.

• Presynaptic neuron – conduct impulses towards synapse

• Postsynaptic neuron – conduct impulses away from synapse

 SYNAPSES

• Electrical synapses have neurons that are electrically

coupled via protein channels and allow rapid direct
exchange of ions from cell to cell.

• Chemical synapses are specialized for release and

reception of chemical neurotransmitters.
Indirect transmission
PROCESSES AT CHEMICAL SYNAPSE IN RESPONSE TO DEPOLARISATION

5 Neurotransmitter effects are terminated in 3 ways: 1)

degradation by enzymes from the postsynaptic cell or within
the synaptic cleft; 2) reuptake by astrocytes or the
presynaptic cell; or 3) diffusion away from the synapse.
 ORGANISATION OF NEURONS
• Organise into neuronal pools
• Neuronal pools are functional groups of neurons that integrate incoming
information from receptors or other neuronal pools and relay the
information to other areas.
 TYPES OF CIRCUIT
• Diverging, or amplifying, circuits are
common in sensory and motor
pathways. They are characterized by
an incoming fiber that triggers
responses in ever-increasing numbers
of fibers along the circuit.

• Converging circuits are common in

sensory and motor pathways. They
are characterized by reception of
input from many sources, and a
funneling to a given circuit, resulting
in strong stimulation or inhibition.

• Reverberating, or oscillating, circuits

are characterized by feedback by
axon collaterals to previous points in
the pathway, resulting in ongoing
stimulation of the pathway.

• Parallel after-discharge circuits may

be involved in complex activities, and
are characterized by stimulation of
several neurons arranged in parallel
arrays by the stimulating neuron.