CNS and Cell Types Flashcards

1
Q

Where do action potentials originate?

A

The axon hillock

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2
Q

Where do inputs to cells come from?

A

Dendrites

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3
Q

Where do outputs from cells go?

A

Through axons

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4
Q

What are the 2 types of synapses?

A

Electrical
Chemical (majority)

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5
Q

Where are excitatory synapses concentrated?

A

On dendritic spines

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6
Q

What neurons are lost in Motor Neuron Disease?

A

Motor neurons

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7
Q

What neurons are lost in Huntington’s Disease ?

A

Medium spiny GABA neurons

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8
Q

What is an upper motor neuron?

A

first-order neurons which are responsible for carrying the electrical impulses that initiate and modulate movement.

They are large, excitatory neurons which are glutaminergic and have long projection pyramidal cells

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9
Q

What are striatal interneurons?

A

Small, inhibitory GABAergic neurons

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10
Q

What are oligodendrocytes?

A

Myelinating cells of the CNS (the PNS has schwann cells which are myelinating)
They insulate axon segments are allow rapid nerve conduction
Provide metabolic support for axons
Myelin sheath segments are interrupted by nodes of ranvier- part of neurotransmission where the impulse travels along the axon
A single oligodendrocyte can myelinate multiple axons

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11
Q

What is the myelin sheath?

A

Formed by wrapping of axons by oligodendocyte processes
They are highly compacted
Myelin specific proteins cna be used as ‘markers’

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12
Q

What are microglia?

A

Resident immune cells of the CNS
Proliferate at sites of injury
Upon acitvatio, retract processes and become “amoeboid” and motile

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13
Q

What are the functions of microglia?

A

Immune surveillance
Phagocytosis- debris/microbes
Synaptic plasticity- pruning
Good (M2) glia and bad (M1) glia

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14
Q

What are astrocyes?

A

Star like cells
Most numerous glial cells in the NCS
Part of the BBB

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15
Q

What is the function of astrocytes?

A

Envelop synapses & blood vessles
Metabolic support
NVC
Proliferate (increase) in disease
Development
Regulate ion/metabolites

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16
Q

What are radial glia (specialised astrocytes) important for?

A

Important for brain development

17
Q

What are Bergmann glia (specialised astrocytes) imporant for?

A

Cerebellum

Specialized, unipolar glial cells featuring cell bodies situated in the Purkinje cell layer and radial fibers passing through the molecular layer

18
Q

What are Muller cells important for?

A

Retina

The principal glial cell of the retina. They form architectural support structures stretching radially across the thickness of the retina and are the limits of the retina at the outer and inner limiting membrane respectively.

19
Q

MND symptoms are due to a loss of ?

A

Motor neurons

(astrocytes and microglia are invovled in MND but there is no loss of them, they proliferate in the diseases)

20
Q

MND spinal cord shows pathological changes in what?

A

Motor neurons (loss), microglia (increase), and astrocytes (increase)

21
Q

Pathological CNS lesions in MS involved what?

A

Neurons, Oligodendrocytes, and T lymphocytes

22
Q

Acute symptoms in MS reflect dysfunction of what?

A

Neurons

23
Q

Abundance of neural cell bodies is called what?

A

Nuclei

24
Q

Axons are gathered together in what?

A

Tracts

25
Q

Tracts that cross the midline are called what?

A

Commissures

26
Q

What is abundant in neural cell bodies and processes in the CNS?

A

Grey matter

27
Q

What is abundant in myelinated tracts & commissures in the CNS?

A

White matter

28
Q

Where are cell bodies and supporting cells located in the PNS?

A

Ganglia e.g. dorsal roota gnalgia

29
Q

What is the BBB composed of?

A

Endothelial cells, astrocytes and pericytes

30
Q

What are the features of the BBB?

A

Endothelial tight junctions
Astrocyte endfeet
Pericytes
Continuous basement membrane that lacks fenestrations
Specific transporters for glucose water and essential ions

31
Q

What are ependymal cells?

A

Epithelial-like cells which line ventricles and the central canal of the spinal cord
The facilitate CSF production, flow and absorption

32
Q

What is choroid plexus?

A

A network of blood vessels and cells in the ventricles (fluid-filled spaces) of the brain. The blood vessels are covered by a thin layer of cells that make cerebrospinal fluid.