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Psychology 375 > Chapter 3 - Nervous system's functional units > Flashcards

Chapter 3 - Nervous system's functional units Flashcards

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1
Q

What was Camillo Golgi’s theory regarding the functional units of the nervous system?

A
  • Came up with the “nerve net”/reticular hypothesis: the nervous system is an interconnected network of fibres
  • Didin’t really think neurons were separate
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2
Q

How does the Golgi stain work?

A
  • Works by immersing thin slices of of brian tissue in a silver nitrate solution
  • Highlights 5-10% of the neurons in their entirety
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3
Q

What was Santiago Ramon Y Cajal’s theory regarding the functional units of the nervous system?

A
  • Came up with neuron theory: the nervous system is made up of discrete cells called neurons (not attached)
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4
Q

How were both Golgi and Cajal correct in a way?

A
  • There are specific synapses called gap junctions that are technically connected by channels that link their membranes
  • Allow contents of one cell to pass through, immediately affecting its partner
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5
Q

What’s the benefit of having a large magnitude of dendritic branching?

A
  • Greatly increases the cells surface area, allowing for many more connections to be established
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6
Q

What are the 4 common types of neuron morphology?

A
  • Unipolar cells - quite simple (like tadpoles) and often act as sensory neurons
  • Bipolar cells - Nucleus found in middle, found in retina and ears
  • Pyrimidal cells - Have a triangular-shaped cell body, found in CNS
  • Purkinje cells - found specifically in the cerebellum, have a 2D dendritic arbor
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7
Q

How are neurons plastic?

A
  • Dendrites are produced and retracted based off of experience
  • Dendritic spines may be added or pruned
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8
Q

How does an action potential move from an axon terminal to a neighboring dendrite?

A
  • Efferent axon terminal > Endfoot > synapse > afferent dendritic spine > through dendrite to soma
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9
Q

Where’s the axon hillock?

A
  • The junction between the soma and the axon
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10
Q

What’s an axon collateral?

A
  • A branch of an axon
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11
Q

What’s another name for the terminal branches of an axon?

A
  • Telodendria
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12
Q

What’s another name for the endfoot of an axon?

A
  • A terminal button
  • The knob at the tip of an axon that convey info to other neurons
  • A presynaptic structure
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13
Q

What’s the purpose of the axon initial segment (AIS)? Where is it located?

A
  • Acts as a signal integration centre for signals coming in from multiple dendrites before initiating an action potential
  • Unmyelinated
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14
Q

T/F: Interneurons are only found within the CNS

A
  • TRUE
  • Also constitutes most of the neurons in mammals
  • Found between sensory and motor neurons
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15
Q

T/F: Rods and cones in the retina are considered to be sensory nerves

A
  • FALSE
  • Rods and cones are only considered to be sensory receptors
  • They are then linked to sensory receptors, but these themselves are not responsible for detecting light
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16
Q

What are ependymall cells?

A
  • A type of glial cell
  • Production and secretes cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)
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17
Q

What are astrocytes?

A
  • Contributes to neuronal nutrition, support and repair, helps form blood-brain barrier, and to healing and scarring after injury
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18
Q

what are microglial cells?

A
  • Derived from blood; defensive function to remove dead tissue
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19
Q

What are oligodendroglial cells?

A
  • Forms myelin around CNS axons
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20
Q

What are Schwann cells?

A
  • Wraps around PNS nerves (acts as myelin)
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21
Q

Which glial cells are produced in the brain and which are produced elsewhere?

A
  • Microglial cells are the only glial cells that are produced in the blood, while all other glial cells are produced in the brain
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22
Q

How do astrocytes interact with the blood-brain barrier?

A
  • The astrocytes attach to neurons and blood vessels
  • They then form a scaffold holding neurons in place
  • Helps contribute to the formation of tight junctions, which prevent unwanted substances such as toxins from entering the brain via the bloodstream
23
Q

How do astrocytes facilitate and regulate synaptic transmission?

A
  • They form what’s called a tripartite synapse
  • Astrocytes and neurons are capable of bidirectional communication
  • Also help regulate plasticity
  • A tripartite = 2 neurons + an astrocyte
24
Q

What are the Nodes of Ranvier?

A
  • An unmyelinated region on an axon that helps regenerate nerve signal transmission
25
Q

T/F: Myelin helps reduce resistance to electrical flow

A
  • FALSE
  • Myelin helps INCREASE resistance to electrical flow
  • Signal must jump from node to node
  • Makes neural signalling much more efficient since the neuron is now insulated
26
Q

What do organic compounds contain?

A
  • Carbon
27
Q

What determines an elements atomic mass?

A
  • The sum of the protons and neutrons
28
Q

T/F: Ions are critical to neuronal communication

A
  • TRUE
29
Q

What are hydrogen bonds and why are they important?

A
  • They’re weak, intermolecular bonds that form between a partially positive hydrogen atom ion in one molecule and the partially negatively charged region of another
30
Q

T/F: CSF is essentially saltwater

A
  • TRUE
  • Contains compounds such as NaCl, KCl, CaCl2
31
Q

What are the 4 main classes of the molecules of life?

A
  • Carbohydrates - cellular fuel
  • Proteins - cell structure and functions
  • Nucleic acids - transmission and expression of hereditary info
  • Lipids - membrane function
32
Q

What’s the difference between monomers and polymers?

A
  • Monomers are considered the building blocks of polymers
  • Polymers are considered macromolecules
33
Q

T/F: A protein is a polymer of amino acids

A
  • TRUE
34
Q

What are the different components of an amino acid?

A
  • R-group (side chain) - provides amino acid with identity and specific properties
  • Carboxyl group
  • Amino group
35
Q

What are polypeptides?

A
  • Chains of amino acids (100-1000+)
  • When folded, it forms a protein
36
Q

What are the different levels of protein folding?

A
  • Primary structure (1) - amino acid chains
  • Secondary structure (2) - Local folds lead to sheets or helices due to h-bonds
  • Tertiary structure (3) - sheets and helices form to form proteins
  • Quarternary structure (4) - Polypeptide subunits combine to form complex proteins (not all proteins are required to reach this level)
37
Q

What’s the difference between DNA and RNA?

A
  • DNA is “missing” an oxygen while RNA is not
38
Q

Which nucleotides go with which nucleotides?

A
  • Adenine - thymine/uracil (RNA)
  • Guanine - cytosine
    *Adenine, guanine = purines
    *Thymine, cytosine = pyrimidines
39
Q

What are the components of a nucleotide?

A
  • Phosphate group
  • Pentose molecule
  • nitrogenous base (forms nucleotide identity)
    *The phosphate group and pentose sugar form the sugar-phosphate backbone of DNA helices
40
Q

WHat’s the central dogma of biology?

A

1) Transcription of DNA into mRNA
2) Translation of mRNA into a protein

41
Q

What’s the difference between the template strand and the coding strand?

A
  • The template strand is used to copy the mRNA code, while the coding strand contains the same code as the mRNA except for the presence of uracil instead o thymine
42
Q

What are some of the different types of lipids?

A
  • Fats, phospholipids, steroids
  • A diverse group of hydrophobic compounds
43
Q

What are the different components of a phospholipid?

A
  • The hydrophilic heads (these are polar, bind to water)
  • The hydrophobic tails (these are non-polar, repel water)
44
Q

What’s the function of the endoplasmic reticulum and rough ER?

A
  • Folded layers of membrane where proteins are assembled
  • Rough ER - ribosomes synthesize polypeptide chains
45
Q

What’s the difference between cytosol and cytoplasm?

A
  • Cytosol - just fluid portion of cell
  • Cytoplasm - includes the organelles and cytosol
46
Q

What is the function of the microtubules?

A
  • Tiny tubes that transport molecules and provides cell shape
47
Q

What is the function of microfilaments?

A
  • Threadlike fibres making up much of cell’s ‘skeleton’
48
Q

What’s the function of lysosomes?

A
  • They’re sacs containing enzymes that break down wastes
49
Q

What’s the purpose of the golgi body?

A
  • Golgi body - packages proteins for transport
50
Q

What’s the endomembrane system composed of?

A

1) Endoplasmic reticulum - assembly
2) Golgi apparatus - shipping and receiving
3) Vesicles - transport
4) Lysosomes - the recycling centre
- Regulates protein assembly and traffic
- Some membranes physically connected, others remotely connected via vesicles

51
Q

What are the two types of passive transport?

A
  • Diffusion
  • Facilitated transport (works better for polar molecules follwing their concentration gradient)
52
Q

What’s the purpose of active transport?

A
  • Requires ATP when wanting to move a substance against its concentration gradient
  • Used when wanting to generate a concentration gradient across a membrane
53
Q

What are the three types of transmembrane proteins?

A

1) Channels - openings that allow the passage of ions through, always open
2) Gated channel - Allow substances to pass through on some occasions (ex. voltage-gated, ligand-gated)
3) Pump - Actively transports a substance across the membrane, often specific to one particular substance

Psychology 375 (11 decks)

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