Neurons

Question 1

What is an afferent neuron?

Answer 1

Moving away from a central organ or point

-messages from receptors to brain

Question 2

What is a sensory neuron?

Answer 2

• messages from receptors to brain or spinal cord

- afferent, unipolar or bipolar

Question 3

What is an efferent neuron?

Answer 3

• moving towards a central point

- messages from brain to organs

Question 4

What is a motor neuron?

Answer 4

-messages from brain or spinal cord to organs

Question 5

What is an interneuron?

Answer 5

• relays message from sensory neuron to motor neuron in the spinal cord
• make up the brain and spinal cord

Question 6

What is a dendrite?

Answer 6

-point of bringing in information from other neurons

Question 7

Ribosome

Answer 7

Connects proteins in neurons

Question 8

Endoplasmic reticulum

Answer 8

Generates proteins

Question 9

Mitochondria

Answer 9

Powerhouse of the cell

Question 10

Golgi

Answer 10

Package proteins like a postal service

Question 11

Synaptic vesicles

Answer 11

Balls in axon that contain neurotransmitters

Question 12

Microtubules

Answer 12

Transport packaged neurotransmitters down axon

Question 13

Myelin

Answer 13

Protects axon and promotes transmission down the axon

Question 14

Terminal buttons

Answer 14

Collect neurotransmitters in vesicles while they await release. Bus stop of neurotransmitters.

Question 15

What disease is associated with neuronal death?

Answer 15

Alzheimers

Question 16

What are the characteristics of Alzheimer’s?

Answer 16

• Cerebral atrophy
• external surface: widened sulci and narrowed gyri, mostly over frontal and parietal regions
• poor new learning, changed personality, language deficits

Question 17

What neuronal damage causes dementia?

Answer 17

• neurofibrillary tangles

- amyloid plaques

Question 18

What is an amyloid plaque? What does it cause?

Answer 18

• What is it? cellular trash found in areas with many synapses
• contains amino acid peptide protein code beta-amyloid
• What does it cause? affected synapses degenerate

Question 19

Where are amyloid plaques found

Answer 19

-in places with many synapses in hippocampus, frontal and temporal regions

Question 20

Neurofibrillary tangles

Answer 20

• twisted ropes in swollen cell body

- tau proteins that accumulate, creating tangles throughout brain including layers iii and iv of cortex

Question 21

Neuropathology also changes associated with dementia

Answer 21

• formation of lewy bodies
• Lewy body dementia
• core of granular material with main body composed of ring like filaments and degenerating organelles
• nonspecific indicator of cell pathology

Question 22

Resting membrane potential

Answer 22

-70mV POLARISED

Question 23

What disease is associated with neuronal death? Describe how it presents in the brain

Answer 23

Alzheimer’s. Widened sulci, narrowed gyri, shrunken like an old sponge, diagnosis associated with poor learning, changed personality, language deficits

Question 24

What substances/proteins are associated with Alzheimer’s?

Answer 24

Neurofibrillary tangles, amyloid plaques & lewy bodies

Question 25

What are lewy bodies?

Answer 25

Granular material/various proteins, inside neuron cell bodies, associated with Dementia and Parkinsons

Question 26

What is saltatory conduction?

Answer 26

Passive conduction (instant and decremental) along each myelin segment to next Node of Ranvier, new action potential generated at each node, conduction like this is better than conduction in unmyelinated axons

Question 27

What are the 2 main classifications of neurotransmitters?

Answer 27

Small and Large

Question 28

What are the main types of small neurotransmitters?

Answer 28

Amino Acids Monoamines Acetylcholine Soluble Gases & endocannabinoids

Question 29

What are some examples of amino acid neurotransmitters?

Answer 29

Glutamate, Gaba Aspartate & Glycine

Question 30

What is the function of glutamate?

Answer 30

Most prevalent excitatory NT in the CNS

Question 31

What is the function of GABA and how is it made?

Answer 31

Synthesized from glutamate | Most common inhibitory NT in CNS

Question 32

What are the two types of monoamine NTs?

Answer 32

Catecholamines and indolamines

Question 33

What are the types of catecholamines?

Answer 33

Dopamine, Norepinephrine, Epinephrine

Question 34

What are the types of indolamines?

Answer 34

Seratonin, Melatonin

Question 35

How do you turn dopamine into epinephrine?

Answer 35

Tyrosine>L-DOPA>Dopamine>Noradrenaline>Epinephrine

Question 36

How do you create serotonin?

Answer 36

Tryptophan>Serotonin

Question 37

How do you create acetylcholine? What is its role?

Answer 37

Acetate+Choline=acetylcholine Activating parasympathetic nervous system at neuromuscular junction

Question 38

What are two ways that drugs alter neurotransmitter activity?

Answer 38

While still in the neuron or at the synapse junction

Question 39

Define agonists and antagonists

Answer 39

Agonists facilitate NT activity, antagonists decrease NT activity

Question 40

What are three examples of agonists?

Answer 40

Cocaine, benzos, physostigmine,

Question 41

What are two examples of antagonists?

Answer 41

Atropine and Curare

Question 42

What is a disorder of the acetylcholine receptors?

Answer 42

Myasthenia Gravis - autoimmune disorder that destroys ACh receptors, treated with drug that decreases the amount of ACh antagonist

Question 43

What is a unipolar neuron?

Answer 43

Neuron with 1 pole: 1 route of AP, sensory neuron that transfers information from receptors to higher order neurons e.g. Retinal Ganglion Cell

Question 44

What is a bipolar neuron?

Answer 44

Neuron with 2 poles: 2 routes of AP, connects adjacent cells, usually in sensory system

Question 45

What is a multipolar neuron?

Answer 45

Neuron with multiple poles: multiple routes of AP, transfers info between cells in a single structure; can collect info from many cells e.g. Interneuron