PSYC*2410 Chpater 9: Development of the Nervous System Flashcards
What are the three things that cells of the developing nervous system must do?
- Differentiate
- Travel and align themselves to form structures
- Establish appropriate functional relations with other cells
What are the five stages of early neural development?
- Induction of the neural plate
- Neural proliferation
- Migration and aggregation
- Axon growth and synapse formation
- Neuron death and synapse rearrangement
What are totipotent cells?
Cells that can develop into any type of body cell
T or F: A fertilized egg is pluripotent.
False. It’s totipotent.
What are pluripotent cells?
Cells that can develop into many, but not all, classes of body cells
When do cells become pluripotent?
After the totipotent cells have divided
What are multipotent cells?
Cells that can can only develop into different cells of one type
What are unipotent cells?
Cells that can develop into only one type of cell
Which type of cell has an almost unlimited capacity for self renewal and the ability to develop into many types of cells?
Stem cells
Which three types of cells created during early development are considered embryonic stem cells?
- Totipotent
- Pluripotemt
- Multipotent
What two properties of stem cells play a critical role in nervous system development?
- They have an almost unlimited capacity for self-renewal if maintained in an appropriate cell culture
- They have the ability to develop into many different kinds of cells
What is the mechanism by which stem cells divide?
Asymmetric cell division
What is asymmetric cell division?
Cell division that produces two daughter cells with different characteristics
What are the two products of stem cell division?
- One daughter cell that remains a stem cell
- One daughter cell that develops into a more specific cell type
When does the neural plate become recognizable?
Three weeks after conception
What is the first major stage of neurodevelopment in all vertebrates?
The development of the neural plate
What is the neural plate, and where is it located?
A small patch of ectodermal tissue on the dorsal surface of the vertebrate embryo
What are the three layers of embryonic cells?
- The ectoderm
- The mesoderm
- The endoderm
Which layer of embryonic cells releases the chemicals that induce the development of the neural plate?
The mesoderm layer
What would happen if tissue was taken from the dorsal mesoderm of one embryo and implanted beneath the ventral ectoderm of another embryo?
It would induce the development of an extra neural plate on the ventral surface of the host
What is the tube formed in vertebrate embryos that eventually develops into the central nervous system?
The neural tube
What occurs to the neural plate before fusing to form the neural tube?
It folds to form the neural groove
During which week of embryological development does the neural tube form?
The third or fourth week
What does the inside of the neural tube eventually become?
The cerebral ventricles and spinal canal
About 40 days after conception, what is visible at the anterior end of the neural tube?
Three swellings
What is neural proliferation?
The rapid increase in the number of neurons following the formation of the neural tube
T or F: Proliferation occurs simultaneously and equally in all parts of the neural tube.
False
Where does most cell division in the neural tube occur?
The ventricular zone and subventricular zone
In terms of early neural development, what is the ventricle?
The fluid-filled centre of the neural tube
What is the ventricular zone?
The region adjacent to the ventricle in the developing neural tube
What is the subventricular zone?
The region adjacent to the ventricular zone
The pattern of proliferation is controlled in part by chemical signals from which two organizer areas in the neural tube?
- The floor plate
- The roof plate
Which organizer area in the neural tube runs along the midline of the ventral surface of the tube?
The floor plate
Which organizer area in the neural tube runs along the midline of the dorsal surface of the tube?
The roof plate
What are radial glial cells?
Cells that exist in the neural tube during the period of neural migration
The stem cells created in the developing neural tube are virtually always what type of cell?
Radial glial cells
Where do the cell bodies of radial glial cells lie?
In the ventricular or subventricular zones
Which type of cell migration occurs along radial glial cells?
Radial migration
What type of cell division do radial glial cells undergo?
Asymmetric cell division
T or F: During early neural development, cells only begin to migrate once they are fully mature.
False. During migration, cells are still immature and lack the processes of mature neurons
What are the two major factors that govern migration in the developing neural tube?
- Time
- Location
What are the two types of cell migration in the developing neural tube?
- Radial
- Tangential
In which type of migration do cells in the developing neural tube move from the ventricular zone in a straight line outward toward the outer wall of the tube?
Radial migration
In which type of migration do cells in the developing neural tube move in a direction parallel to the tube’s walls?
Tangential migration
What are the two mechanisms for neural migration?
- Somal translocation
- Radial-glia-mediated migration
How do neural cells migrate via somal translocation?
An extension/process extends from the body of the undeveloped neuron and is guided by chemical signals and once a suitable environment is found, the cell body moves along the process
Which type of neural migration allows cells to migrate either radially or tangentially?
Somal translocation
How doe neural cells travel via radial-glia-mediated migration?
The undeveloped neurons use the processes extending from each radial-glia cell as a rope to pull themselves along
Which type of neural migration allows cells to only migrate radially?
Radial-glia-mediated migration
T or F: The patterns of proliferation and migration are different depending on the area of the developing cortex.
True
Which structure is situated just dorsal to the neural tube?
The neural crest
Where do the cells that form the neural crest come from?
They break off the neural tube as it’s being formed
What do neural crest cells develop into?
The neurons and glial cells of the peripheral nervous system and other cell types in the body
What is aggregation?
The process in which neurons align during the development of the nervous system to form its structures
Aggregation is thought to be mediated by what three non-exclusive mechanisms?
- Cell-adhesion molecules
- Gap junctions
- Interactions between glial cells and neurons
What are cell-adhesion molecules?
Molecules on the surface of cells that are able to recognize and adhere to molecules on other cells
What are gap junctions?
Points of communication between adjacent cells
What are the narrow tubes that bridge gap junctions?
Connexions
What occurs after neurons have migrated to their appropriate positions and aggregated into neural structures?
Axons and dendrites begin to grow from them
What are the amoeba-like structures at the tip of each growing axon and dendrite that guide growth to the appropriate target?
Growth cones
T or F: Most growth cones reach their correct target.
True
What are the fingerlike cytoplasmic extensions that extend and retract from growth cones?
Filopodia
What are retinal ganglion cells?
Retinal neurons whose axons leave the eyeball and form the optic nerve
What is the main destination of retinal ganglion cells in non-mammalian vertebrates?
The optic tectum
What is the mammalian equivalent of the optic tectum?
The superior colliculus
In Roger Sperry’s study, what evidence supported the conclusion that, after the optic nerves were cut and the eyeballs rotated, each retinal ganglion cell grew back to the same point of the optic tectum where it was originally connected ?
Frogs whose eyes had been rotated, but whose optic nerves had not been cut, responded the same as the frogs whose eyes were rotated after their optic nerves were cut
What is the chemoaffintiy hypothesis of axonal development?
The hypothesis that each postsynaptic surface in the nervous system releases a specific chemical label that attracts the growing axons to their correct targets
What does the chemoaffinity hypothesis fail to account for?
The discovery that some growing axons follow the same circuitous route to reach their target rather than growing directly to it
What is different about the revised version of the chemoaffinity hypothesis?
Growth cones are influenced by a series of chemical and physical signals along the route, rather than just being drawn in by a single attractant