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Biopsychology > Chapter 1 > Flashcards

Chapter 1 Flashcards

1
Q

Nervous system consists of which two kinds of cells?

A
  • Neurons
  • Glia’s
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2
Q

What do neurons?

A

Receive information and transmit it to other cells

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3
Q

The adult human brain contains how many neurons on average?

A

86 billion. 16 billion in the cerebral cortex, 69 billion neurons in the cerebellum, 1 billion in the spinal cord and less than 1 billion in the rest of the brain

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4
Q

membrane (or plasma membrane)

A

A structure that separates the inside of the cell from the outside environment.

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5
Q

What is the surface of a cell?

A

The membrane

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6
Q

Which cells doesn’t have a nucleus?

A

Mammalian red blood cells

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7
Q

Protein channels in the membrane permit a controlled flow of…

A

Water, oxygen, sodium, potassium, calcium, chloride, and other important chemicals.

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8
Q

What is a nucleus?

A

The structure that contains the chromosomes

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9
Q

Mitochondrion

A

is the structure that performs metabolic activities, providing the energy that the cell uses for all activities

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10
Q

Ribosomes

A

are the sites within a cell that synthesize new protein molecules

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11
Q

Endoplasmic reticulum

A

a network of thin tubes that transport newly synthesized proteins to other locations. Some ribosomes might be attached.

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12
Q

All neurons have..

A
  • A soma
  • most also have dendrites, an axon and presynaptic terminals.
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13
Q

How does the motor neuron receives its actions

A

With its soma in the spinal cord, it receives excitation through its dendrites and conducts impulses along its axon to a muscle.

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14
Q

How does the sensory neuron receive

A

it is specialized at one end to be highly sensitive to a particular type of stimulation, such as light, sound, or touch. The sensory neurons conducts touch info from the skin to the spinal cord. Tiny branches lead directly from the receptors into the axon, and the cell’s soma is located on a little stalk off the main trunk.

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15
Q

What are dendrites?

A
  • Are branching fibers with a surface lined with synaptic receptors responsible for receiving info and bringing it into the neuron
  • Greater the surface area, more info it can receive
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16
Q

Dendritic spines

A
  • These further branch out and increase the surface area of the dendrit
  • The shape of dendrites vary and depend upon varying inputs
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17
Q

Cell body/Soma

A

a.Contains the nucleus, mitochondria, ribosomes, and other structures found in other cells
b. Responsible for the metabolic work of the neuron
c. Covered with synapses on its surface

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18
Q

Axon

A

a. Thin fiber of a neuron responsible for transmitting nerve impulses toward other neurons, organs, or muscles
b. Some neurons are covered with an insulating material called the myelin sheath with interruptions in the sheath known as nodes of Ranvier
c. Neuron can only have one axon

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19
Q

Presynaptic terminals

A

the end of an axon, releases chemicals that cross through the junction between that neuron and another cell

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20
Q

Afferent axon

A

Brings info into a structure

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21
Q

Efferent axon

A

carries information away from a structure

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22
Q

Interneurons/intrinsic neurons

A

Are those whose dendrites and axons are completely contained within a single
structure

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23
Q

Glia

A

Are the other major components of the nervous system that exchange chemicals with adjacent neurons and perform many functions

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24
Q

Astrocytes

A
  • A kind of Glia
  • Helps synchronize the activity of the axon by wrapping around the presynaptic terminal and taking up chemicals released by the axon
  • Helps synchronize closely related neurons, enabling their axons to send messages in waves
  • Important for generating rhythms, such as rhythm of breathing
  • Dilate blood vessels to bring more nutrients into brain areas that have heightened activity
  • Tripartite synapse– theory proposing that the tip of an axon releases chemicals that cause the neighboring astrocyte to release chemicals of its own, thus magnifying of modifying the message to the next neuron; possible contributor to learning and memory
  • In some brain areas, they also respond to hormones and thereby influence neurons
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25
Q

Microglia

A
  • Act as part of the immune system
  • Remove waste material and other microorganisms (viruses and fungi) that could prove harmful to the neuron
  • Proliferate after brain damage, removing dead or damaged neurons
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26
Q

Oligodendrocytes (in brain and spinal cord) & Schwann cells (in periphery of body

A
  • Build the myelin sheath that surrounds the axon of some neurons
  • Supply an axon with nutrients necessary for proper functioning
27
Q

Radial glia

A
  • Guide the migration of neurons and the growth of their axons and dendrites during embryonic development
  • When embryonic development finishes, most of them differentiate into neurons and some differentiate into astrocytes and oligodendrocytes
28
Q

What are the four major structures that compose a neuron

A
  • Dendrites
  • Soma
  • Axon
  • Presynaptic terminal
29
Q

Which kind of glia cell wraps around the synaptic terminals of axons?

A

Astrocytes

30
Q

The blood-brain barrier

A

a mechanism that surrounds the brain and blocks most chemicals from enterin

31
Q

Why we need the blood-brain barrier?

A
  • The immune system destroys damaged or infected cells throughout the body
  • Certain viruses do cross the blood-brain barrier. When they do, can lead to long lasting, fatal consequences and even death
    i. Examples– rabies, spirochete responsible for syphilis
  • Microglia are more effective against several other viruses that enter the brain, mounting an inflammatory response that fights the virus without killing the neuron; might control the virus without eliminating it
    i. Ex– chicken pox (cells remain in spinal cord long after they’ve been eliminated from the body and may emerge decades later)
32
Q

How does the blood-brain barrier works?

A
  • Depends on endothelial cells that form the walls of the capillaries– outside they’re separated by small gaps but in the brain they’re joined tightly to block viruses, bacteria, and other harmful chemicals from passing into the brain
  • Why similar defenses aren’t around our other organs—the barrier blocks useful chemicals too, such as fuels and amino acids; for these to pass through blood-brain barrier, there are special mechanisms that aren’t found in the rest of the body
  • No special mechanism needed for small, uncharged molecules (oxygen, CO2) that cross through cell walls freely- Same with molecules that dissolve in the fats of the membrane
33
Q

Active transport

A

a protein-mediated process that expends energy to pump chemicals from the blood into the brain

34
Q

What is brought into the brain true active transport?

A

Glucose,amino acids, purines, choline, vitamines and iron. Insulina and some hormones.

35
Q

What is a major advantage of the bloon-brain barrier

A

Keeps out viruses

36
Q

Glucose

A

GlucoseIs a simple sugar that is the primary source of nutrition for neurons, only neuron that crosses blood-brain barrier in large amounts. Is the brains main fuel.

37
Q

Thiamine

A

Is a chemical that is necessary for the use of glucose

38
Q

Electrical gradient/polarization

A

a difference in the electrical charge inside and outside of the cell.

39
Q

Resting potential

A

The difference in voltage in a resting neuron

40
Q

Selective permeability

A

allowing some chemicals to pass more freely than others true the membrane

41
Q

What can pass freely through channels that are always open?

A
  • Oxygen,
  • carbon dioxide,
  • urea
  • water
42
Q

What can pass through channels/gates in the membrane?

A
  • Sodium
  • potassium
  • calcium
  • chloride
43
Q

What happens when the membrane is at rest

A
  • Sodium channels are closed
  • Potassium channels are partially closed allowing the slow passage of sodium
44
Q

sodium–potassium pump

A

a protein complex, repeatedly transports three sodium ions out of the cell while drawing two potassium ions into it. The sodium–potassium pump is an active transport that requires energy.

44
Q

sodium–potassium pump

A

a protein complex, repeatedly transports three sodium ions out of the cell while drawing two potassium ions into it. The sodium–potassium pump is an active transport that requires energy.

45
Q

Concentration gradient

A

difference in distribution of ions across the membrane

46
Q

Why a resting potential?

A
  • The resting potential prepares the neuron to respond rapidly
  • Excitation of the neuron opens channels that allow sodium to enter the cell rapidly
  • Because the membrane did its works in advance by maintaining the concentration gradient for sodium, the cell is prepared to respond
47
Q

Action potentials

A
  • A rapid depolarization of the neuron
  • Messages sent by axons
48
Q

What happens when an axon’s membrane is at rest?

A

the recordings show a negative potential inside the axon

49
Q

Hyperpolarization

A

increasing the polarization or the difference between the electrical charge of two places

50
Q

Depolarize in the neuron

A

reduce its polarization toward zero

51
Q

Threshold of excitation

A

a level above which any stimulation produces a massive depolarization

52
Q

The all-or-none law

A

the amplitude and velocity of an action potential are independent of the intensity of the stimulus that initiated it, provided that the stimulus reaches the threshold

53
Q

3 principles behind the action potential

A
  1. At the start, sodium ions are mostly outside the neuron, and potassium ions are mostly inside.
  2. When the membrane is depolarized, sodium and potassium channels in the membrane open.
  3. At the peak of the action potential, the sodium channels close.
53
Q

3 principles behind the action potential

A
  1. At the start, sodium ions are mostly outside the neuron, and potassium ions are mostly inside.
  2. When the membrane is depolarized, sodium and potassium channels in the membrane open.
  3. At the peak of the action potential, the sodium channels close.
54
Q

Voltage-gated channels

A
  • Membrane channels whose permeability depends upon the voltage difference across the membrane
  • Sodium channels are voltage activated channels
  • When sodium channels are opened, positively charged sodium ions rush in and a subsequent nerve impulse occurs
55
Q

Voltage-gated channels

A
  • Membrane channels whose permeability depends upon the voltage difference across the membrane
  • Sodium channels are voltage activated channels
  • When sodium channels are opened, positively charged sodium ions rush in and a subsequent nerve impulse occurs
56
Q

propagation of the action potential

A

describes the transmission of an action potential down an axon. The propagation of an animal species is the production of off- spring. In a sense, the action potential gives birth to a new action potential at each point along the axon.

57
Q

Myelin

A

an insulating material composed of fats and proteins.

58
Q

Myelinated axons

A

those covered with a myelin sheath. Myelinated axons, found only in vertebrates, are covered with layers of fats and proteins. The myelin sheath is interrupted periodically by short sections of axon called nodes of Ranvier, each one about 1 micrometer wide

59
Q

Saltatory conduction

A
  • The “jumping” of action potentials from node to node
  • Provides rapid conduction of impulses
  • Conserves energy for the cell
  • Instead of admitting sodium ions at every point along the axon, and then having to pump them out via sodium-potassium pump, a myelinated axon admits sodium only at its nodes
60
Q

Local Neurons

A

Neurons without an axon exchange information with only their closest neighbors.

61
Q

Graded potential

A

When a local neuron receives information from other neurons, it has a graded potential, a membrane potential that varies in magnitude in proportion to the intensity of the stimulus.

Biopsychology (3 decks)

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