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Neurons are the information-processing and information- transmitting element of the nervous system They come in different shapes They may also be classified according to their major functions

Sensory neurons- They gather information from the environment and transmit them to the brain Motor neurons - Those that accomplish movement of the muscles Interneurons - Can be found in the central nervous system; responsible for perceiving, learning, remembering, planning, and deciding among other important neural activities

Flow of Neural Information

Soma- Contains the nucleus and other parts that are responsible proving the life processes of the cell. Dendrites- Tree-like structures that serve as the recipient of messages coming from the neighboring neurons. Axon- The axon is a long slender tube, covered by a fatty insulator called the myelin sheath, that carries information from the cell body to the terminal button. Bundles of axons constitute nerves

The Neuron

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Terminal Buttons - Knob-like structures at the end of the axons twigs. Action potential- brief electrical/ chemical event. The transmission of the messages occurs in the synapse, a junction between the terminal buttons of the sending cell and a portion of the somatic or dendritic membrane of the receiving cell.

The Synapse

Terminal Buttons release chemicals known as neurotransmitters or transmitter substances Neurotransmitters may be classified into two: excitatory or inhibitory

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Multipolar neurons Bipolar neuron Unipolar neuron

The membrane consists of a double layer of lipid, which defines the boundary of the cell Inside are a variety of protein molecules with specialized functions Cytoplasm a jelly-like substance that contains other specialized structures Mitochondria, which break down nutrients such as glucose and provide the cell with energy; they produce adenosine triphosphate (ATP)

Internal Structure of a Neuron

Nucleus - contains the chromosomes that are made up of long strands of deoxyribonucleic acid; contain the recipes for making protein Protein serves as:
Cytoskeleton which gives the neuron its shape Enzymes that join together or split apart molecules Transport substances within the cell; such as the case of microtubules in axoplasmic transport

Neural Communication
Insert Picture (reflex)

Neural Communication
Insert Picture (reflex)

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Neuroglia, nerve-glue, glial cells Isolate neurons from the rest of the body (and from each other), and hold them in place Supply neurons with chemicals they need to exchange messages Serve as housekeepers Astrocytes, oligodendrocytes and microglia

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star cells Provide physical support to the neurons Clean up debris in the brain phagocytosis Produce chemicals needed by neurons to fulfill their functions Maintain the chemical composition of the fluid surrounding neurons Keep neurons healthy by nourishing them Some astrocytes have processes or arms

Astrocytes

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Found in the central nervous system Their main function is to provide support to axons and to produce the myelin sheath Myelin sheath - segmented tube-like structure that serves as insulators of axons Produce by oligodendricytes out of they processes The bare portions of the axons are called nodes of Ranvier (raw vee ay)

Oligodendrocytes

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The smallest of glial cells Phagocytes Act as a representative of the immune system in the brain Primarily responsible for the inflammatory reaction in response to brain damage
Phagocytosis

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Peripheral nervous system Provide myelin sheath They wrap their entire bodies onto the axon to become the myelin sheath itself If axons become damaged are severed, they are digested by the Schwann cell; afterwards, they form a cylinder to provide a guide for re-growth of axons

Schwann Cells

There exist barriers between the blood and the fluids that surrounds and cells of the nervous system - selectively permeable Substances such a glucose (used by the brain as fuel), must be actively transported through the capillary walls by special proteins Necessary so as not to disrupt the critical level of chemicals used in communication and the composition of fluids for which these communications take place There are certain exemptions though - area posterma

The Blood-Brain Barrier Blood-

An axon has a membrane potential (a stored-up source of electrical energy) While not disturbed it amounts to -70mV (milliVolts) - resting potential Messages conducted don the axon consist of a brief change in this membrane potential If stimulated (by a positive electrical charge), the inside of the membrane produces depolarization

If the threshold of excitation (increasing the membrane potential to approximately -61 mV) is reached, the membrane potential is instantly reversed so that the inside becomes positive (and the outside becomes negative) It quickly returns to normal, but first overshoots the resting potential, becoming hyperpolarized (more polarized than normal) for a short time This very rapid reversal of membrane potential is called the action potential

Action Potential Graph

The electrical charge is the result of the balance between two forces: Diffusion- refers to the movement of molecules from regions high concentration to regions of low concentration. Electrostatic Pressure - the force exerted by the attraction and repulsion of positively or negatively charged ions

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Ions particles of broken down molucles Ions that are positively charged are called cations Negatively charged ones are anions Sodium cations (Na+) Chloride anions (Cl-) Particles of similar charge repel each other, while particle of different charge attract each other

Fluids inside and outside the cell contains ions of varying levels of concentration diffusion and electrostatic pressure of these ions give rise to the membrane potential Extracellular Fluid
sodium cations (Na+) chloride anions (Cl-)

Intracellular Fluid
potassium anions (K+) organic cations (A-)

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If depolarization happens, and the threshold of excitation is reached, sodium channels open and Na+ rushes in due to the forces of diffusion and electrostatic pressure. The inflow of positively charged ions produces a rapid change in the membrane potential, from -70 to +40 mV. Soon after, voltage-dependent potassium channels begin to open.

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By the time the action potential reaches its peak, sodium channel become refractory (they cannot open until; the resting potential is once again reached), thus no Na+ can enter the cell. Potassium channels are now open; the inside of the axon is positively charged. Both forces of diffusion and electrostatic pressure drive out K+. The outflow of these cations causes the membrane potential to return to its normal value. As it does, potassium channels begin to close again.

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As the membrane potential returns to normal value (repolarization), the potassium channels close, and no more potassium leaves the cell. The membrane overshoots its resting potential of -70mv (hyperpolarization) and gradually returns to normal. Eventually, sodium-potassium transporters remove the Na+ that rushed in and retrieves K+ that rushed out.

All-or-non law - An action potential either occurs or does not occurs, and is always in constant strength. Rate law - A high rate of firing causes a strong muscular contraction and an intense odor causes a high rate of firing in the axon the serves the nose. Saltatory conduction - action potentials are only conducted in a hopping fashion in the nodes of Ronvier

Saltatory Conduction

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Communication between neurons primarily occurs through synaptic transmission Neurotransmitter attach themselves to particular regions to receptor molecules called binding site This produces postsynaptic potentials depolarization or hyperpolarization increases or decreases the rate firing of the next neuron Neurotransmitters are ligands

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Axodendritic, Axosomatic, Axoaxonic At the end of the terminal buttons is the presynaptic membrane, which faces the postsynaptic membrane of the receiving dendrite Terminal buttons contain vesicles, small, rounded objects that contain neurotransmitters Across the gap, the postsynaptic membrane has an abundance of receptors- specialized protein molecules that detect the presence of neurotransmitters in the synaptic cleft

When action potentials are conducted down an axon, several synaptic vesicles located just inside the presynaptic membrane, fuse with the membrane and then break open, spilling their content into the synaptic cleft.

Release of a Neurotransmitter

Neurotransmitters attach to the binding site of the postsynaptic receptors The postsynaptic receptors open neurotransmitter-dependent ion channels, which permit the passage of specific ions in and out of the cell Changing the local membrane potential

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Depolarizing (excitatory) Hyperpolarizing (inhibitory) When the neurotransmitter-dependent sodium channels open, sodium (Na+) rushes in and causes a depolarization- an excitatory postsynaptic potential When the neurotransmitter-dependent potassium channels open, some potassium (K+) to leave the cell, and causes hyperpolarization- an inhibitory postsynaptic potential

Opening chloride channels sometimes serves to neutralize the excitatory postsynaptic potential

Reuptake - a rapid removal of neurotransmitter from the synaptic cleft by the terminal buttons Enzymatic deactivation - enzymes destroy some neurotransmitter molecules into its constituents

The rate an axon fires is determined by the relative activity of the excitatory and inhibitory synapses on the soma and dendrites of that cell The interaction of these activities is referred to as neural integration If the activity of the excitatory synapses goes up, the rate of firing will go up. If the activity of inhibitory synapses goes up, the rate of firing will go down

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Neuromodulators - chemicals released by neurons in larger amounts and diffused for the longer distances, modulating the activity of many neurons in a particular part of the brain Hormones secreted by endocrine glands Hormones affect the activity of the cells that contain specialized receptors, called target cells Many neurons contain hormone receptors, thus influencing their activity