Neuroanatomy And Neurocytology Flashcards
What are Neurons?
Anatomical and functional units for signal transmission
What are Glia?
(Non-neuronal cells)
- supportive structural matrix, maintains homeostasis, nourishment, regulation of neuronal functions
What are the anatomical components of a neuron?
Dendrites, Soma (cell body), Axon, Presynaptic axon terminal
Bipolar Neuron
1 dendrite root and 1 axon
Pseudounipolar neuron
Subclass of bipolar
Multipolar neuron
Multiple dendrites and 1 axon
(Most common)
3 functional classifications of neurons?
Motor neurons, sensory neurons, interneurons (between sensory and motor neurons)
Types of macroglia and their functions
Astrocytes (CNS): star shaped cells that include neuronal signaling (liaison, communications, pathways for neuronal migration), housekeeping, nutritive functions for neurons
Oligodendrocytes ( Schwann cells
What are Microglia?
- Work as immune system of CNS
- function as phagocytes
- activate during nervous system development
- activate after injury or infection
Which cells contribute to myelination of neurons in CNS and PNS?
Oligodendrocytes and schwann cells
What is Myelin?
An effective insulator, shielding neurons from extracellular environment (think of the rubber around an electrical wire)
Which cells are the only supporting cells of the PNS?
Schwann cells
Sequence of events for neural transmission?
Receptor is stimulated -> Local potential -> Action potential -> Synapses
What is a local potential?
Small graded potential in amplitude and duration
- receptor or synaptic potential
- spreads passively and confined to small area of neuron membrane
What is an Action Potential?
- Large “all or none”, depolarizing signal
- Actively propagates along neuron axon, traveling 1-way to presynaptic terminal
What happens at the Synapses?
Transports signal to other neurons by release of neurotransmitters
What kind of membranes do neurons have?
Selectively permeable
What is the membrane potential and what ions are associated?
- Separation of different charges across the membrane creating electrical potential of -70mV
- Caused by uneven distribution of Na+, K+, and Anions
- Cell membrane is more permeable to K+ than to Na+
What happens when the protein ion channels are open at the membrane?
Influx of Na+ into the cell since Na+ is normally in a higher concentration out of the cell
When at resting membrane potential, which side is more + and which side is more -?
Extracellular fluid is more positively charged than (+) and intracellular fluid is more negatively (-) charged at resting membrane potential
What is a Leak channel?
(Non-gated): small amount of ions that diffuse through the membrane at a slow continuous rate
What is a Modality-gated channel?
(Sensory neurons only) and they open in reaction to mechanical stimulation, temperature, or chemicals
What is a Ligand-gated channel?
Opens when neurotransmitter binds to post-synaptic receptors, generating local potentials
What is a Voltage-gated channel?
opens in reaction to change in electrical potential, generating action potentials