Topic 1 - Intro and cells of the nervous system

Question 1

What does the peripheral nervous sytem split into?

Answer 1

the somatic and autonomic nervous system

Question 2

What are the key areas of the brain?

Answer 2

• Forebrain (CTH - cerebral hemispere, thalamus and hypothalamus)
• Midbrain
• Hindbrain (pons, cerebellum and medulla)

Question 3

What is in the ventricular system?

Answer 3

• cavity and cerebrospinal fluid –> provides protection, maintaines ion levels and removes waste

Question 4

In nervous system tissue, what is the difference between white and grey matter?

Answer 4

white matter = neuronal axons wrapped in myelin

grey matter = neuronal cell bodies and unmyelinated neurons and glia.

Question 5

What are the divisons of the spinal cord?

Answer 5

DAVE

Doral, afferent, ventral, efferent

Question 6

What is a ganglion?

Answer 6

A cluster of cell bodies

Question 7

What are neurons?

Answer 7

Excitable cells that conduct impulses – enable messages to be sent.

Question 8

What stain can be used to distinguish between neurons and glia?

Answer 8

Nissl stain differs between neurons and glia (cresyl violet, cytoarchitecture)

• stains nucleolus of all cells
• neurons have nissl bodies
• glia = stain as dot
• neuron = nissl body is stained around nuclei

Question 9

What stain uses silver chromate?

Answer 9

Golgi (camillo) stain

• silver chromate, highlights some neurons, neuron doctrine

Question 10

What is the soma?

Answer 10

• Nucleus
• organelles for protein synthesis
• mitochondria

Question 11

What are the features of axons?

Answer 11

○ No rough ER or free ribosomes (?)
○ Membrane composition different
○ <1 mm to >1 m in length
○ 1 µm - 25 µm diameter

Question 12

What is Immunochemistry?

Answer 12

uses specific primary antibodies made to bind to protein of interest, fluorescent secondary antibodies to then localise protein.

• fixed tissue, antibodies, fluorescent microscope.

Question 13

What is anterograde or retrograde labelling?

Answer 13

Retrograde tracers - Inject HRP, 2 days later after retrograde transport shows HRP labelled neurons.

HRP - find cell body location

Question 14

What are dendrites?

and what are the 2 types of dendritic geometry?

Answer 14

convergence - increasing the strength of connectivity and activity in neuronal networks.

pyrimidal and stellate shaped.

Question 15

To visualise neurons how is live imaging of flurorescent dye and electron microscope used?

Answer 15

fluorescent dye can be genetic or injected.

Electron microscope can show synpases and organelles.

Question 16

What are the 3 types of neurons/

Answer 16

• unipolar e.g dorsal root ganglion
• biploar e.g retinal bipolar cells
• multipolar

Question 17

What are glia?

Answer 17

the ‘glue’ - supporting cells to maintain homeostasis

Question 18

What are astrocytes?

Answer 18

• have a unique marker - GFAP
• They control the environment of surrounding neurons.
• glycogen stores of the brain.

Question 19

What is the tripartite synapse?

Answer 19

• Terminates neurotransmitter activity

- Recycles neurotransmitteras to presynaptic terminals.

Question 20

What is myelination?

What forms myelin of CNS axons and which forms PNS myelin?

Answer 20

Myelination is insulating and creates nodes of ranvier enabling saltatory conduction.

Oligodendrocytes form myelin sheaths of CNS axons:
- Can provide multiple myelinated sheaths

Schwann cells:
- form myelin sheaths of the PNS (peripheral)