Lecture 2: The Neuron, Synaptic Transmission and Neurotransmission Flashcards
What functions do the brain stem regulate?
What are the different components of the brain stem?
Lower level functioning: Respiration, blood pressure, heart rate, GI functioning, states of sleep/wakefulness, behavioral alerting, attention, arousal
Cerebellum, pons, medulla oblongata
What are the different lobes in the brain/where roughly are they located?
Frontal - front
Parietal - the difference
Occipital - back
Temporal - side
Name 2 areas of the brain that are of special interest? what are their functions?
Area of Wernicke - sensory/speech
Area of Broca - motor/speech
How are humans distinguished from other animals in terms of brain development?
The brain expands as the skull recedes - to compensate for lack of space, the brain develops convolutions
Convolutions - fissures/folds that increase amount of space for brain to grow
What part of the brain runs along the center and creates (not joins) hemispheres?
Longitudinal fissure
What/where are the 3 gyrus components?
What is located in the central sulcus?
Precentral gyrus - front
Postcentral gyrus - back
Central sulcus - splits gyruses
1. Somatosensory cortex - responsible for encoding our rep of parts of ourselves and sensations
What are the functions/location of the frontal lobe? What are the hemispheric differences?
Front of central sulcus Motor functions, memory, language, emotion Hemispheric diff 1. left - language and related movement 2. right - non-verbal movement Prone to injury
What are the functions/location of the parietal lobe?
Behind central sulcus
Body information, touch, muscle-stretch
Somatosensory representation: homunculus - body function, body information, rep of ourselves and how we engage with the environment externally
What are the functions/location of the occipital lobe?
Located in the posterior of the cortex
Visual area
What is significant about phineas gage?
underwent severe waking trauma to frontal lobe - resulted in massive personality shift: mood swings, movement issues, incapable of expressing emotions
How many neurons in the brain? What do neurons do/maintain/what is this called?
At least 100 billion neurons
Cells specialized dor signal transmission - exchanging info
Neurons maintain electric charge - signals pass down the length of a neuron = saltatory conduction
What are the structures in a neuron? what are their functions?
Axon terminals - transmitters, send to others Shwan's cells - makes myelin Axon - conducting fiber Node ranvier - spaces Myelin sheath - insulating fatty layer than speeds transmission by skipping node 2 node Dendrites - receivers, take from others Cell body Nucleus
Describe a neuronal membrane
What is an electrical gradient?
What is a chemical gradient?
Selective permeability
Ions - sodium (Na outside cell, forces in) + potassium (K - inside cell, forces out)
More of one ion on one side than the other - both have positive charge (inside less so tho)
E - more posi outside than in negi
C - more Na than K ouside
What is saltatory conduction?
Process of signal jumping from Rnode to Rnode - happens at p.1 and the wave is carry through
High concentration of Na outside causes the ions to go inside
K then travels from inside to outside
Repolarization occurs afterwards
What is a synapses? synaptic cleft?
What is a simple neural network? a complex?
Neurons don’t touch
- Junction between two or more neurons - includes pre-synaptic and post-synaptic sides
- Space between the neurons
- 3 neurons communicating
- many neurons binding to a cell (ex: retinal ganglion cell)
Innervation = number of connections
