Chapter 9- Control: The Nervous And Endocrine Systems Flashcards
Neuron
Nerve cells, highly specialized cells that carry impulses
It is composed of dendrites, a cell body with a nucleus and an axon.
Impulses
What a neuron carries; electrical signals between body parts.
Cell body
Also called a soma
Process of a neuron (piece of neuron)
Anything that “sticks out” of the original cell body of the neuron; these are dendrites and the axon.
What does a neuron do?
It receives impulses at its dendrites, and then transmits the impulse through the cell body and down the axon. (This direction through which the impulse travels down is constant and the same for all neurons)
What is a neuron called when it is at “rest”?
When a neuron is at “rest”, it is called polarized.
What charge does the inside of a neuron have compared to the outside?
It is negatively charged inside, while it is positively charged outside…
What do all cells maintain and establish when the inside of the cell is more negative than the outside?
They are at a resting membrane potential (RMP)
The RMP of most cells is ~70 mV in the inside more negative than the outside of the membrane.
What are the two membrane proteins that help setup and maintain RMP?
Na+/K+ ATPase and the K+ leak channel
How does the inside of the neuron get more negative than the the outside?
Through protein channels and ATP pumps in active transport that move substances across the membrane against their concentration gradient, creating the difference in charges.
What are the two particular membrane proteins important to this chapter?
The sodium-potassium pump (Na+/K+ ATPase)
Potassium channels ("leak channels")Nervous system
Helps control body functions and is extremely fast; fires action potentials that last only about two or three milliseconds…
It is made up of the brain and the spinal cord, where nerves transmit impulses to and from the brain and spinal cord.
It is composed of the somatic nervous system and the autonomic nervous system.
The brain and the spinal cord are made entirely of neurons, and are referred to as the central nervous system; any other organ is referred to as peripheral nervous system.
