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Scientific Foundations > Neurophysiology > Flashcards

Neurophysiology Flashcards

1
Q

What was Luigi Galvani know for?

A

First appreciating that electricity is the primary force of our behaviour, explaining our fast reaction, as shown with his experiments on frogs

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2
Q

What did Giovanni Aldini show?

A

That the whole nervous system communicates with electricity. He showed this by stimulating all muscles with cut nerve.

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3
Q

Where is information integrated?

A

The dendrites

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4
Q

Which type of potential is maintained at the same magnitude along the axon?

A

Action potential

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5
Q

What happens to synaptic potential as it goes along?

A

It diminishes

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6
Q

Where does signal summation occur?

A

At the cell body

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7
Q

When will a neuron pass on the action potential?

A

If it reaches the threshold potential (-50mv)

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8
Q

What is the threshold potential?

A

The minimum depolarisation required to initiate a nerve impulse, passing on the action potential (-50mv)

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9
Q

What are gap junctions?

A

purely electrical synapses that allow electrical charge to cross directly between specialised channels (~10% of synapses)

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10
Q

Where is an action potential generated?

A

At the axon initial segment/axon hillock

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11
Q

Which type of neurite has the biophysical mechanisms to generate action potential?

A

Axons

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12
Q

What type of mechanism is used to generate an action potential?

A

Voltage-dependent

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13
Q

What does an intracellular recording measure?

A

The difference in current flow inside the neuron compared to a reference electrode outside, away from the neuron (differential recording)

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14
Q

What does an oscilloscope do?

A

Tracks changes in potential difference over time

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15
Q

What is resting membrane potential?

A

Approximately -65mv (more negative inside the neuron than outside)

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16
Q

What is depolarisation?

A

The rapid rise in membrane potential initiated by an action potential, which, at its peak, become greater than outside of the membrane (around 30mv)

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17
Q

What does an intracellular recording measure during depolarisation?

A

The flow of positively charged ions into the neuron, toward the electrode

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18
Q

What is an extracellular recording?

A

A method of recording electrical activity whereby the recording electrode is placed outside of but very close to the neuron to measure an extracellular spike, with a reference electrode placed far away.

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19
Q

What does an extracellular recording measure?

A

The flow of positively charged ions away from the electrode, into the membrane

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20
Q

What is the purpose of the reference electrode in am extracellular recording?

A

To remove background electrical noise/events in the recording area

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21
Q

What is the role of the phospholipid bilayer?

A

A barrier maintaining the compartment of the cell, helping to keep things from going in and out

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22
Q

Why is water good at breaking down compounds/salts such as NaCl?

A

Because it is polar molecule

23
Q

What are membrane channels made of?

A

Multiple trans-membrane proteins forming a pore

24
Q

What are the three main types of membrane channels?

A
  1. Simple leak channels
  2. Ligand gated channels
  3. Voltage gated channels
25
Q

What are leak channels?

A

A channel which is constantly open

26
Q

What is a ligand gated channel?

A

A channel which is opened when a substance binds to it (receptors that form the basis of neurotransmission)

27
Q

What is voltage gated channel?

A

A channel which opens when the voltage changes across the membrane, changing the structure of the proteins

28
Q

Which type of channel is important for the generation of an action potential?

A

Voltage gated channels

29
Q

Which type of channel is important for neurotransmission?

A

Ligand gated channel

30
Q

What is the most common (and important) ion pump?

A

The sodium-potassium ATPase pump

31
Q

What does the sodium potassium pump do?

A

It transports 3 Na+ ions out of the cell and brings in 2 K+ ions

32
Q

Why is the sodium potassium pump important?

A

To reestablish the resting membrane potential and ion gradients/balance needed to generate another action potential

33
Q

At rest, which ions are more concentrated in the extracellular space than inside the neuron?

A

Sodium (Na+), Chloride (Cl-), and Calcium (Ca2+)

34
Q

At rest, which ions are more concentrated inside the neuron than outside?

A

Potassium (K+) and organic anions (A-)

35
Q

What is the main ion involved in maintaining the negative membrane potential inside of a neuron?

A

Organic anions that are too big to cross the membrane

36
Q

What are the two forced involved in the movement of ions across the membrane?

A

Diffusion and electrostatic force

37
Q

Why is the net diffusion on K+ more limited than Na+?

A

Because the direction of the two forces oppose each other (it wants to diffuse out of the cell where there is less K+ but it’s positive nature is electrostatically attracted to the intracellular space where it is relatively more negatively charged)

38
Q

Why do Na+ ions flood into the cell when given the opportunity?

A

Because they are under the dual aligned pressure of electrostatic force and diffusion.

39
Q

What is an intracellular sharps recording?

A

An incredibly fine glass pipette is filled with a solution of charged particles and pierces the phosholipid membrane to record electrical events

40
Q

What did John Eccles find?

A

That, using the sharps method, you can record the excitatory post-synaptic potential (a relatively slow electrical event) by stimulating presynaptic axons

41
Q

What is an EPSP?

A

An Excitatory Post-Synaptic Potential, the result of the opening on sodium channels and the influx of Na+ ions

42
Q

What type of receptor do nicotine, muscarine, and belladonna all act on?

A

Cholinergic receptors

43
Q

What are the two types of receptor involved in cholinergic transmission and where does this typically occur?

A

The nicotinic receptors and the muscarinic receptors at the neuromuscular junction.

44
Q

What type of channel is the nicotinic receptor?

A

Ligand gated ion channel - allows Na+ ions in when acetylcholine binds

45
Q

Which type of receptor mediates fast cholinergic transmission?

A

The nicotinic receptor (an ionotrophic receptor)

46
Q

What type of receptor is the muscarinic receptor?

A

A metabotropic/G-protein-coupled receptor

47
Q

Which type of receptor mediates slower cholinergic transmission?

A

Muscarinic receptors

48
Q

What does nicotine do to cholinergic transmission?

A

It binds directly to the nicotinic receptor, acting as an agonist

49
Q

How do muscarinic/G-protein receptors work?

A

They are attached to several proteins inside of the membrane which are released when the receptor changes shape due to acetylcholine binding, causing a cascade of the processes such as the opening of channels

50
Q

What are the three main receptors involved in glutamate transmission?

A
  1. AMPA receptor
  2. NMDA receptor
  3. Kainate receptor
51
Q

Which receptor carries the majority of the synaptic current for fast excitatory (glutamate) transmission?

A

The AMPA receptor

52
Q

What is the NMDA receptor?

A

A voltage-dependent ionotrophic receptor involved in glutamate transmission, neuroplasticity, and learning.

53
Q

What is required for the activation of the NMDA receptor?

A

The presence of glutamate AND the depolarisation of the cell

54
Q

What is the major excitatory neurotransmitter in the brain?

A

Glutamate

Scientific Foundations (27 decks)

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