Section One: Neurons and nerve Impulses

1. Neurons Transmit Electrical Signals

a. Neuron
i. a cell specialized for transmitting nerve impulses (electrical signals)
ii. has an electrical charge
1. b/c sodium-potassium pumps ions across plasma membrane
2. and create electrical charge difference in the membrane
3. Depolarization = loss of this charge difference
iii. transmits nerve impulse as a wave of depolarization
b. Neuron’s functional architecture
i. Dendrites
1. extend from the body of the neuron
2. the antennae of the neuron
3. enable neuron to receive information simultaneously
ii. Cell body
1. its surface collects the info arriving from dendrites
iii. the info then travels as a nerve impulse from Cell body to Axon
1. most neurons have only a single axon
iv. Nerves
1. bundles of neurons
2. contain lots of communications channels
3. composed of many supporting cells that
a. form the nervous tissue and
b. assist neurons
v. Schwann cell wraps around the axon and from a Myelin Sheath
1. a fatty, insulating covering
2. interrupted at intervals, by Nodes
3. A nerve impulse jumps from node to node
a. much faster than traveling along the full length of axon
4. Multiple sclerosis
a. caused by destruction of myelin
b. symptom: double vision, muscular weakness, paralysis
c. A Reversal in Voltage Triggers an Impulse
i. When a neuron is not transmitting an impulse
1. sodium-potassium pumps transport
a. sodium ions out of the cell
b. and potassium ions into it
2. sodium ions once pumped out, cannot move back into the cell
but potassium ions can diffuse out of the cell
a.  the outside of the neuron has higher positive charge
ii. Resting Potential: the difference in voltage in a neuron’s membrane
1. the starting point for the transmission of a nerve impulse
iii. A nerve impulse starts when
1. pressure of other stimuli disturbs a neuron
2. opening sodium channels in membrane
3. sodium ions outside the cell flood INTO the neuron
4. depolarizing the membrane  momentarily, the inside of
membrane is more positively charged
iv. Action Potential: the sudden reversal of voltage across the neuron
membrane
1. causes more channels to open
 2. moves down the neuron like a chain of dominoes
3. when the action potential has passed
a. the sodium channels snap shut  resting potential again
b.  Repolarization: restoration of the resting potential
c. Neuron cannot transmit another signal for a short period of
time until this recovery is complete.
2. Neurons Are Separated by Synapses
a. no two neurons ever touch
b. Synapse
i. a tiny gap b/t every axon and its neighboring cell
ii. When a nerve impulse arrives at the end of an axon
1. the action potential must cross the synapse
2. for the message to continue
iii. But electrical impulses cannot jump, they must be carried
c. The end of axon contains and releases tiny sacs filled w/ Neurotransmitters
into the synapse.
i. neurotransmitter molecules diffuse across the synapse
ii. and bind to receptor proteins in the cell membrane on the other side of
the synapse
1. causing ion channels to open so that nerve impulse continues in
the adjacent neuron.
d. Why are Synapses Advantageous?
i. the nature of the chemical signal can be different in different junctions
1. permitting different kinds of response
3. Neurons form an Integrated Circuit
a. Excitatory synapse
i. the receptor is a gated sodium channel
1. which is closed while at rest
2. opens when a neurotransmitter binds to it and allows sodium
ions to flood inward and depolarize
b. Inhibitory synapse
i. the receptor is a gated potassium channel
1. opens when a neurotransmitter binds to it and allows positively
charged potassium ions to leave the cell
2. and give a more negatively charged interior
3. thus inhibits nerve impulses b/c even more sodium channels
must be opened to initiate an action potential
c. Integration
i. a process in which the various excitatory and inhibitory electrical
effects tend to cancel or reinforce one another.