3.1.1 CNS & neurotransmitters Flashcards
What is the central nervous system made up of ?
Brain and spinal cord
What is the nervous system made up of ?
Brain, spinal cord and network of neurons
What is the central nervous system responsible for ?
Sending, receiving and interpreting information from all parts of the body
What is the nervous system responsible for ?
Monitoring and coordinating internal organ functions and responds to changes in the external environment
What is the two parts of the nervous system ?
Central nervous system and peripheral nervous system
What is the brain responsible for ?
Processing and interpreting sensory information from the spinal cord
What is the spinal cord responsible for ?
Reflex actions
What is the outer layer of the brain ?
Cerebral cortex
What sends information via the spinal cord to the brain ?
Nerves in our body
How do neurons in the brain pass messages ?
Through electrical impulses
What is the function of a neutron ?
Receive and transmit messages in the brain in response to information received from the rest of the body
How are signals passed to the next neuron ?
By diffusing across a synapse
What is the function of dendrites ?
To carry impulses from neighbouring neurons
What is role of the axon ?
To pass electrical impulses to the axon terminals
What does the cell body (soma) carry ?
Genetic material
What is the myelin sheath ?
A fatty layer, glial cells wrapped around the axon
What is the axon hillock ?
Where the nerve impulse if triggered from
What is the function of the axon terminal ?
To pas nerve impulses from the cell body to parts of the body they control / activate
What is the function of the vesicles ?
Storing neurotransmitters ready for the next stage of neural transmission
What is action potential ?
Electrical impulse that is triggered by a change in electrical potential of the neuron
What is the resting membrane potential of a neuron ?
-70mV
What is depolarisation ?
Negative to positive charge switch rapidly
What are the steps of synaptic transmission ?
- Vesicles release neurotransmitters
- Diffuse across synaptic cleft
- Match to receptors on post synaptic neuron
- Chemical signal converted back to electrical signal
- Neurotransmitters molecules reabsorbed into presynaptic neurons through transporters
What are transporters ?
Proteins
What might fire another action potential during synaptic transmission ?
If the threshold for depolarisation is reached
What does excitatory mean ?
Increases positive charge of post synaptic neuron making action potential more likely to fire
What does inhibitory mean ?
Increases negative charge of post synaptic neuron making action potential less likely to fire
What are examples of neurotransmitters ?
Dopamine, serotonin, noradrenaline, acetylcholine
What is the sensory neuron ?
Carries messages from the sensory receptors along nerves in PNS to CNS
What is the motor neuron ?
Carries messages from CNS along nerve to PNS to effectors in body
What is the relay neuron ?
Connects the sensory and motor neurons together
