The mammalian nervous system Flashcards
What is the nervous system made up of
Interconnected neurons specialized for the rapid transmissions of impulses throughout the body
What do neurons carry
Impulses from special receptor cells and specialized effector cells
Where are sense organs
Eyes, ear
What are sensory neurons
Neurons that only carry information from the internal or external environment into the central processing areas of the nervous system
What happens as animals increase in size and complexity
They develop more specialized concentrations of nerve cells, which form the central nervous system
What is the central nervous system (CNS)
Incoming information from sensory neurons is processed, and from where impulses are sent out through motor neurons
Where is the CNS in vertebrates
Brain and spinal cord
What are neurons made up of
Individual cells and each one has a long nerve fibre that carries the nerve impulse
What are nerves
Bundles of nerve fibres called axons and dendrons
What are:
motor nerves
sensory nerves
Nerves that only carry motor fibres
Nerves that only carry sensory fibres
What is the peripheral nervous system (PNS)
The parts of the nervous system that are not within the central nervous system
What are neurons
The basic unit of a nervous system
What are nerve impulses
Neuron cells specialized in the transmission of electrical signals
What is the structure of a neuron
Why does it contain these components
The cell body contains: cell nucleus mitochondria RER Needed for the synthesis of the neurotransmitter molecules
What are dendrites
What does it do
The cell body of the neurons have slender finger-like processes
connects to the neighboring nerve cells
What is the most distinctive feature on a nerve cell
How does it look
Nerve fibre
extremely long and thin and carries the nerve impulse
What are axons
Fibres that carry impulses away from the nerve cell body
What are dendrons
Fibres that transmit impulses towards the cell body
What connects the motor and sensory neurons
Short relay neurons that are found in the CNS
What does a Schwann cell do
What is a myelin sheath
The membrane wraps itself repeatedly around the nerve fibre, forming a fatty layer known as a myelin sheath
What are the nodes of Ranvier
Gaps between the Schwann cell
Give two reasons why the myelin sheath is important
1) It protects the nerves from damage
2) Speeds up the transmission of nerve impulse
What is the role of the nervous system
To quickly carry electrical impulses from one area of the body to another
What two factors do the speed at which impulses can be carried in the nervous system depend on
1) Diameter of the nerve fibre (The thicker the fibre, The more rapidly impulses travel)
2) Presence or absence of the myelin sheath (myelinated nerve fibes carry impulses faster)
Which of the two don’t have myelin sheath on the nerves:
Invertebrates
Vertebrates
Invertebrates hence the reason they travel so slow
In Vertebrate animals which neurons are myelinated
and which are unmyelinated
Voluntary motor neurons
Autonomic neurons
What is one of the most effective ways you can investigate nerve impulses
Nerve impulses are electrical so to record and measure the tiny electrical changes
What is the basis of nerve impulse
The fact that the concentration of sodium ions, potassium ions, and other charged particles outside the axon is different from the inside
Is the membrane of the axon permeable
YES
What gives the axon its special conducting properties
The difference in permeability of this membrane to positively charged sodium and potassium ions
Explain the partial permeability of the axon membrane
It’s impermeable to the sodium ions but quite freely permeable to potassium ions
When is the axon ‘at rest’
When it is not conducting a nerve impulse
What’s greater than the concentration in the cytoplasm of the axon
The extracellular concentration of ions
How is the gradient in the axon created
By a very active sodium/potassium ion pump
What enzyme does the sodium/potassium pump have and how does this help
Na+/K+ ATPase that uses ATP to move sodium ions out of the axon and potassium ions in
What is a resting potential
The potential difference across the membrane of around -70mV
What is the key event when an impulse travels along an axon
A change in the permeability of the cell membrane to sodium ions
What causes a change in the permeability of the cell membrane to sodium ions
Either response to a stimulus or the arrival of a neurotransmitter in a motor neuron
What happens when a neuron is stimulated
The axon membrane shows a sudden or dramatic increase in its permeability to sodium ions
When sodium gates open what does it allow to happen
Allows sodium ions to diffuse rapidly down their concentration and electrochemical gradient
How long does the depolarisation last
A millie second
What is the action potential
The potential difference across the membrane at this point
What happens at the end of the depolarization
Sodium ion channels close again and excess sodium ions are rapidly pumped out by the active sodium pump
Why do potassium ion channels open
As a result of repolarisation
What happens as a result of repolarisation
What happens to the axon after this
Potassium ions diffuse out of the axon down the concentration gradient and an electrochemical gradient attracted by the negative charge on the outside of the membrane
The axon becomes negatively charged relative to the outside
How can the event of the action potential be recorded
It can be recorded clearly using the internal/external electrode combinations you already have
What is the threshold for any nerve fibre
The point when sufficient sodium ion channels open for the rush of the sodium ions into the axon to be greater than the outflow of potassium ions
What happens once the threshold is reached
The action potential occurs
What is the refractory period
The time it takes for an area of the axon membrane to recover after an action potential, that is the time it takes for ionic movements to repolarise the membrane and restore the resting potential
What does the refractory period depend on
Both on the sodium/potassium pump and the membrane permeability to potassium ions.
What happens after the first millisecond or so after the action potential
What is this known as
it is impossible to restimulate the fibres
the sodium channels are completely blocked and the resting potential has not been restored
This is known as the absolute refractory period
What is the relative refractory period
After the absolute refractory period, there is a period where the action potential is restored for a millisecond and the threshold has been effectively raised
Why is the refractory period important in the functioning of the nervous system
It limits the rate at which impulses may travel to 500-1000 per second
ensures impulses flow in one direction along nerves
What cannot take place until the resting potential is restored?
The part of the nerve fibre that impulse has just left cannot conduct another impulse
What happens once the action potential is set up in response to the stimulus
It will travel the entire length of the nerve fibre
What is the movement of the nerve impulse along the fibre a result of
Local currents set up by the ion movements at the action potential itself
Why can’t the sodium ion channels behind the action potential open
Due to the refractory period of the membrane behind the spike
Where can ions pass through in the myelinated neurons
What does this mean
The node of Ranvier
This means that action potential can only occur at the nodes
What is the Saltatory conduction
Speed up the transmission as the ionic movements associated with the action potential occurs much less frequently, taking less time
Where must receptors pass their information
The sensory nerves, which in turn must pass the information to the CNS
What happens wherever two neurons meet
They are linked by a synapse
What is every cell in CNS covered with
Synaptic knobs from other cells
What increases the permeability of the presynaptic membrane to calcium ions as calcium ion channels open up
The arrival of an impulse at the synaptic knob
What is the effect of the influx of calcium ions
to cause the synaptic vesicles to move to the presynaptic membrane
What do some of the vesicles fuse with
The presynaptic membrane and release the transmitter substance into the synaptic cleft.
What opens the sodium channels
Molecules diffuse across the gap and become attached to specific protein receptor sites on the sodium channels of the post-synaptic membrane