Nerve Transmission

Neurons

• Basic units of the nervous system

• Receive, integrate, and transmit
information
• Operate through electrical impulses
• Communicate with other neurons
through chemical signals
 Structure of neuron

3. 1.

2.

Main functions of Neurons : Reception, Conduction, Transmission

Nerve transmission
 Mechanism of nerve transmission

• Axonal transmission: Voltage gated cation

channels generate action potentials in
electrically excitable cells.

• Synaptic transmission: Transmitter gated ion

channels convert chemical signals into
electrical ones at chemical synapses.
 Axonal transmission
• A nerve impulse can be initiated by mechanical,
chemical, thermal or electrical stimulation.
• When the axon is stimulated the resting potential
changes.
• It changes from -70mV inside the membrane to
+40mV.
• For a very brief period the inside of the axon becomes
positive and the outside negative.
• This change in potential is called action potential and
lasts about 3 milliseconds.
 Cont…

• Cell membrane permeability must be changed

for a nerve impulse to travel down a neuron.
• Na⁺- K⁺ ATPase pumps K⁺ into and Na⁺ out of the
neuron.
a) A cell is normally polarized when a neuron is at rest – called
it resting potential
b) A portion of the neuron becomes depolarized
–
Na⁺ moves into the cell

c) Cell repolarization - K⁺ moves out of the cell.

Action potential
Cont…
 Cont…
• The axon may be myelinated or non-myelinated
Saltatory conduction: It is the word used to
describe the “jumping” of the action potential
from node to node.
- Provides rapid conduction of impulses
- conserves energy for the cell
Multiple sclerosis is the disease in which the
myelin sheath is destroyed and associated with
poor muscle coordination.
Myelinated axon transmission
 Synaptic transmission

• Neuronal signals are transmitted from cell to cell at

specialized site known as synapses.
• It may be of 2 types:
a) Electrical synapse: synaptic cleft gap is 20Å and
direct action potential
b) Chemical synapse: synaptic cleft gap is >200Å and
action potential is by neurotransmitters.
• A change in electric potential in the pre-synaptic cell
triggers it to release small signal molecules known as
Neurotransmitters, which are stored in synaptic vesicles
and released by exocytosis.
 Neurotransmitters
– Chemical messengers that traverse the synaptic
gaps between neurons
– When released by the sending neuron,
neurotransmitters travel across the synapse and
bind to receptor sites on the receiving neuron,
thereby influencing whether it will generate a
neural impulse
 Types of neurotransmitters
• Excitatory (EPSP)
– usually when receptor channels admit sodium
Ex: Acetyl choline, glutamate, adrenaline
• Inhibitory (IPSP)
– usually when receptor channels admit
chloride/potassium
Ex: Dopamine, glycine, GABA
 Acetylcholine
• 1st substance identified as NT
• Links motor neurons and
muscles (contract or relax)
• Also involved in memory,
learning, sleep, dreaming.
• It is called as cholinergic
synapse, it has 2 receptors:
a) Nicotinic receptor
b) Muscarinic receptor
• It is a ligand gated cation
channel & degraded by
acetylcholineesterase.
 Neuromuscular transmission by
acetylcholine
It involves the sequential activation of gated ion channels
1. Arrival of an action potential at the terminus of a pre-synaptic
motor neuron induces opening of voltage gated Ca²⁺
channel
2. Subsequent release of acetylcholine, which triggers opening of
ligand gated acetylcholine receptors in the muscle plasma
membrane
3. The resulting influx of Na⁺ produces a localized
depolarization of the membrane leading to opening voltage
gated Na⁺ channels and generation of an action potential
 Cont…
4. When the spreading depolarization reaches the T tubules, it is
sensed by voltage gated Ca²⁺ channels in the plasma
membrane. This leads to opening of Ca²⁺ release channels in
the sarcoplasmic reticulum membrane releasing stored Ca²⁺
into the cytosol.

The resulting rise in cytosolic Ca²⁺ causes the muscle

contraction.
Synaptic Transmission
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