Neuron Communication Flashcards
Describe the 4 different types of glial cells and their roles
astrocytes
oligodendrocytes
Schwann cells
microglia
Understand generally the importance of astrocytes to the blood-brain barrier
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Describe which glial cells produce myelin and where and discuss the importance of
myelin in the brain
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Describe what constitutes white matter and gray matter in the brain
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Draw a neuron and label the following parts: dendrites, soma (cell body), nucleus, axon hillock, axon, axon terminals. Also, have an understanding for the direction information travels in a neuron.
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Be able to describe the big picture of how a neuron fires an action potential
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Define what a potential is
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Name the key cations and anions that are involved in maintaining resting potential, firing action potentials and facilitating neuron communication
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Describe the difference between ion channels and active transporters
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Describe the relative concentrations of the key ions inside and outside of the cell and the membrane potential of the inside of the cell at rest
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Describe the two forces acting on ions
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Describe what is happening in a neuron at rest: what channels are open, which ions are
moving, what their relative concentrations are, etc.
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Describe the four factors resting potential relies on
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Describe the two kinds of input a neuron can receive
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Define what an excitatory post-synaptic potential (EPSP) and an inhibitory post-synaptic
potential (IPSP) are
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Describe what a depolarization is and the factors that may lead to a depolarization
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Describe what a hyperpolarization is and the factors that may lead to a hyperpolarization
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Describe what is meant by the idea that the soma summarizes the signal and give some examples of how signals might be summarized
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Explain what we mean when we say an action potential is “all-or-none”
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Draw an action potential and explain what is happening at each stage – stimulus causes membrane potential to cross a threshold, depolarization, repolarization, hyperpolarization or refractory period, resting potential – i.e., what channels are open, which ions are moving in which direction, what is the membrane potential, etc.
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Describe what is happening during a refractory period and why it’s important
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Describe how an axon potential is propagated down an unmyelinated axon and down a myelinated axon and the difference between the two situations
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Define saltatory conduction and describe the importance of nodes of Ranvier
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Explain what is meant by rate coding
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Describe the differences between an electrical and chemical synapse
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Describe the neuron doctrine and how it differed from other ideas about what the brain was actually composed of
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Define what a neurotransmitter is and name some key neurotransmitters we’ll talk about in this class and the categories they fall under
serotonin, dopamine, epinephrine,
norepinephrine, acetylcholine, GABA, glutamate
serotonin
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dopamine
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epinephrine
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norepinephrine
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acetylcholine
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GABA
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glutamine
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Explain what a synapse is
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Draw a synapse and label: presynaptic neuron, postsynaptic neuron, vesicles, neurotransmitters, calcium channels, transporters, postsynaptic receptors, axon terminal, dendrite
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Describe the big picture of neuron communication, e.g., where the action potential is coming from, what happens when the axon terminal is depolarized, what calcium does, how vesicles move, what happens once neurotransmitter is released into the synapse,
etc.
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Describe the two types of receptors and how they differ
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Describe how neuron communication stops
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Describe the different ways that leftover neurotransmitter is cleared from the synapse
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Define an agonist and antagonist
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Describe the four types of channels we’ve discussed
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Describe how optogenetics works
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Given a situation like the cone snail toxin or the poison dart frog or a novel toxin, be able to apply your understanding of how membrane potentials are created, how an action potential fires, and how neurons communicate to reason through how these toxins might work
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Use your knowledge of diffusion forces and electrostatic forces to predict where ions
would “want” to go in a given situation
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Explain how action potentials, which are all-or-none signals, can code for the intensity of a stimulus
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Explain why we might best think of neurons as coincidence detectors
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Explain the debate between the “soups” and the “sparks” and how Otto Loewi’s experiment (be able to describe the methods and results) provided some important evidence in favor of the “soups.”
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Describe what happens in multiple sclerosis (MS)
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Apply what you know about neuron communication to explain how psychoactive drugs like SSRIs, MAOIs, amphetamines, cocaine, curare, etc. work
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If given a novel drug and a basic sketch of what it does, be able to apply your understanding of how neurons communicate to reason through how this drug exerts its
effects
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Explain why optogenetics is such an interesting and potentially very useful method
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