Neuronal communication

Lesson 1:
Mammalian coordination
The endocrine system - releases hormones in the blood, carries them through the body to
target organs or glands where they have their effect, generally slow and long-lasting
The nervous system - transmission of electrical impulses along specialised nerve cells or
neurons, faster and more precise than the endocrine system
Sensory receptors:
Specialised cells that can detect changes (stimuli) in our surroundings, receptors respond to
stimuli and start an action potential. They convert one form of energy into the electrical
energy that is a nerve impulse. They are known as transducers. Often found in sense
organs. Action potential generated - nerve impulse is sent to sensory neuron
E.g. light receptors are found in the eye
Pressure receptors or Pacinian corpuscles in skin, the receptor is the end of a sensory
neuron. Changes in pressure deform the connective tissue surrounding the neuron
Transducers:
Receptors are really transducers, which convert one form of energy into another. Energy
may be received as light, movement, chemical or heat/kinetic energy. The second form of
energy is always electrical energy of the action potential/nerve impulse
How a nerve impulse/action potential is created in a
receptor:
1. No stimuli, Na+ gated protein channels are closed.
And Na+ cannot pass through phospholipid bilayer
by simple diffusion due to charge
2. Transport proteins move Na+ ions against
concentration gradients using ATP. 3Na+ move out -
2K+ move in
3. This creates a concentration gradient and a potential
gradient across the cell membrane - more negative
inside and positive outside.
4. Stimulus / change in energy in the environment or
chemical - opens gated sodium channels. Na+
diffuses through facilitated diffusion (needs protein
channel)
5. This creates a change in the potential difference
(charge) across the membrane. The inside of the cell
becomes less negative (than usual, compared to the
outside) generator potential/receptor potential
6. If a small stimulus detected - only a few sodium
channels open
7. Large stimulus/change in energy levels in the
environment - more gated channels open
If enough opened the change in potential difference
across the cell membrane will initiate an impulse/action
potential
Lesson 2:
Structure and function of neurons
Motor neuron definitions:
Nucleus - controls activity of the cell
Dendron with dendrites - take impulses towards the cell body
Cytoplasm - contains numerous mitochondria and RER
Schwann cell - wraps around the axon and insulates it forming a myelin sheath
Synaptic knob - motor nerve ending
Cell body of neuron - situated in the CNS
Node of ranvier - gap between adjacent schwann cells
Axon - tales impulses away from the cell body to a muscle or gland
Sensory neuron - transmit impulses to the central nervous system from sense organs or
receptors

Function - carries action potential/impulses from a sense organs or receptor to the brain or
spinal cord
Structure - long dendron takes impulses towards the cell body. Relatively short axon takes
impulses away from the cell body.
Intermediate/connector/relay neurons - found in the central nervous system relaying
impulses between neurons
Function - carries action potential between
neurons within the CNS involved in reflexes
Unipolar neurons - have a single prominent
process from the cell body
Bipolar neurons - have two prominent
processes from the cell body
Multipolar neurons - have many processes
from the cell body
Motor neurons - carry impulses from the CNS to muscles or glands
Function - carries action potential from the CNS to an effector
Structure - cell body is large, long axon takes impulses away from the cell body, axon may
be myelinated. Terminal buttons contain many vesicles with transmitter substance
Myelination:
Having a myelin sheath
surrounding the axon and/or
dendrons
In the PNS, the myelin sheath is
made of cells called schwann
cells.
In the CNS, myelin is formed from
cells called oligodendrocytes
The cells wrap an elongation of
their plasma membrane several
times around the axon or dendron
Between the cells are tiny patches
of bare membrane (gaps) known
as Nodes of Ranvier
Saltatory conduction:
Schwann cells are rich in lipids and act as an electrical insulator. The myelin sheath wrapped
around the neuron prevents movement of ions
Local circuits can only flow between adjacent node of Ranvier
Depolarisation and the action potential/impulse effectively jumps from node to nods
Myelinated nerves conduct impulses much quicker than non-myelinated nerves by a process
known as Saltatory conduction
Myelinated nerves carry information over long distances, and so speed of transmission is
important
Non-myelinated neurons:
The impulse travels as a wave along the whole length of the axon membrane. Slower than
saltatory conduction
Axon diameter - conducted quicker along axons with bigger diameters because there's less
resistance to flow of ions than in the cytoplasm of smaller axons.
Temperature - speed of conduction increases as the temperature increases because ions
diffuse faster.

Lesson 3:
Neurotransmission:
Resting potential - receptor/neuron is in rating state (not being stimulated) difference in
charge between the inside and outside the neuron - the membrane is polarised. There is a
voltage across the membrane - it is around 60 millivolts inside compared to outside
Action potential:
Stimulus excites cell membrane which becomes more permeable to Na+ ions altering the
potential difference - generator potential
The bigger the stimulus the more ion channels open and the more Na+ ion movement - the
larger the generator potential.
1. Stimulus
 - Excites neurons cell membrane. First few voltage-gated Na+ channels open.
Na+ ions diffuse into the neuron down the sodium electrochemical gradient.
This makes the inside of the neuron less negative. If the signals is strong
enough for enough voltage gated channels to open inside of the cell reaches -
threshold around -50mV
2. Depolarisation
- If the threshold of -50mV reaches this stimulates more Na+ channels to open,
this is an example of positive feedback. Now a massive influx of Na+ ions
- This leads to a positive change inside the cell compared to outside
3. Repolarisation
- At around 40mV: voltage-gated sodium channels close, voltage-gated
potassium channels open
- Potassium ions diffuse out of the neuron down the concentration gradient
- This brings the potential difference of the cell back to being negative inside
relative to outside and starts getting the membrane back to resting potential
4. Hyper polarisation
- K+ channels are slow to close so too many K+ diffuse out
- Potential difference becomes more negative than resting potential -
overshoots
5. Resting potential
- Re-established by sodium potassium pump until another stimulus is received
Refractory period - after an action potential Na+ and K+ ions are in the wrong places.
Concentrations inside and outside of the membrane must be re-established before another
action potential can be stimulated. This ensures impulses don't overlap and are
unidirectional

Lesson 4:
Nerve impulse transmission:
Local currents - propagation of nerve impulses is the result if local currents that cause each
successive part of the axon to reach the threshold potential
Direction of transmission:
Action potential only travel along the neuron in one direction
The area of neuron that the action potential has just come from is unable to generate
another for a short period of time (the refractory period)
Consequently, action potentials can only move forward (away from the source of the original
action potential)
Absolute refractory period - during which another stimulus given to the neuron (no matter
how strong) will not lead to a second action potential - Na+ channels are inactivated
Relative refractory period - Na+ channels have come out of inactivation but hyperpolarization
so a stronger than normal stimulus is needed in order to elicit an action potential
The myelination of nerve fibres allows for saltatory conduction:
Myelin is a mixture of protein and phospholipids that is produced by glial cells (Schwann
cells in PNS, oligodendrocytes in CNS) the greater the diameter of the axon, the greater the
speed of the nerve impulse.
Myelin acts as an insulator. Myelinated axons only allow action potentials/depolarization to
occur at the unmyelinated nodes of ranvier
This forces the action potential to jump from node to node (saltatory conduction)
Advantages:
 - The result of this is that the impulse travels much more quickly along myelinated
axons compared to unmyelinated axons
- Saltatory conduction from node to node also reduced degradation of the impulse and
hence allows the impulse to travel longer distances than impulses in unmyelinated
axons
- The myelin sheath also reduces energy expenditure over the axon as the quantity of
sodium and potassium ions that need to be pumped to restore resting potential is
less than that of an unmyelinated axon
How does conduction along a myelinated neuron differ compared to conduction along a non-
myelinated neuron?
- In myelinated neuron repolarization/action potentials only happen at the nodes of
ranvier
- Concussion along a myelinated neuron is faster than along a non-myelinated neuron
- Requires less energy - less membrane depolarisation and therefore less energy for
sodium potassium pump
- In non-myelinated neurons repolarization occurs as a wave along the whole length of
the axon membrane
- Slower
- Requires more energy - more sodium potassium pumps
All-or-nothing response - reach the threshold and you get a response which is the same size
no matter the size of the stimulus
Weak stimuli - all cause a slight depolarisation but it remains below the threshold level
Strong stimuli - all result in depolarisation that is greater than the threshold
Significance of frequency of impulse:
- Action potential are the same size irrespective of the size of stimuli, if the threshold is
exceeded an impulse is generated
- A larger/stronger stimulus results in a greater frequency of impulses arriving along a
particular neuron
- In addition, a stronger stimulus is more likely to stimulate more neurons - there might
be an additive effect
Interpretation of impulses:
Interpretation is dependant on where the impulse is coming from:
- Impulses arriving in quick succession from receptors in the skin might be interpreted
as pain
- A similar array of impulses from the retina of the eye would be interpreted as bright
light

Lesson 5:
Synapses
Junctions between neurons, and between neurons
and receptors or effector cells
- Nerve junctions where nerves meet but do not
actually touch
- A short gap of about 20 nm
- Impulses cannot simply jump the gap (as in a
spark plug)
 - Transmitter substances are released by the presynaptic nerve, the neurotransmitters
diffuse across the gao to set up an action potential in the postsynaptic nerve

Neurotransmitters:
- Noradrenaline
- Acetylcholine (ACh)
- Dopamine
- Glutamate or glutamic acid
We will concentrate on cholinergic synapses, where the neurotransmitter is acetylcholine.
Similar events occur at adrenergic synapses (using noradrenaline) and nerve muscle or
neuromuscular junctions
Recycling acetylcholine:
Cholinesterase enzyme is present and breaks down the ACh
This prevents ACh from being permanently bound to and causing prolonged depolarisation
in the postsynaptic membrane - some nerve poisons inhibit cholinesterase

Transmission at a synapse:
An electrical impulse arrives at the end of
the axon on the presynaptic neuron
(synaptic knob) chemical messengers
called neurotransmitters are released
from vesicles at the presynaptic
membrane
The neurotransmitters diffuse across the
synaptic cleft and temporarily bind with
receptor molecules on the postsynaptic
membrane
This stimulates the postsynaptic neuron to
generate an electrical impulse that then
travels down the axon of the postsynaptic
neuron
The neurotransmitters are then destroyed
or recycled to prevent continuous
stimulation of the second neuron, which
could cause repeated impulses to be sent

Transmission across a cholinergic

synapse:
1. The arrival of an action potential at
the presynaptic membrane causes
depolarization of the membrane
2. This stimulates voltage-gated calcium ion channel proteins to open
3. Calcium ions diffuse down an electrochemical gradient from the tissue fluid
surrounding the synapse (high conc of calcium ions) into the synaptic knob (low conc
of calcium ions)
4. This stimulates ACh-containing vesicles to fuse with the presynaptic membrane,
releasing ACh molecules into the synaptic cleft by exocytosis
 5. The ACh molecules diffuse across the synaptic cleft and temporarily bind to
cholinergic receptors in the postsynaptic
membrane
6. This causes sodium ion channels to open
7. Sodium ions diffuse down an electrochemical
gradient into the cytoplasm of the postsynaptic
neuron
8. The sodium ions cause depolarisation of the
postsynaptic membrane, re-starting the
electrical impulse once the threshold is
reaches
9. The ACh molecules are broken down and
recycled
- This prevents the sodium ion channels
staying permanently open and stops
permanent depolarisation of the
postsynaptic membrane
- The enzyme acetylcholinesterase catalyses the hydrolysis of the ACh
molecules into acetate and choline
10. The choline is absorbed back into the presynaptic membrane and reacts with acetyl
coenzyme A to form ACh which is then packaged into presynaptic vesicles ready to
be used when another action potential arrives

Adaptations - Ser and packaging neurotransmissions

Lesson 5:
Synapses 2
Role of synapses:
1. Enable electrical imposes/action potentials to pass from one neuron to another
2. Ensure one-way transmission of impulses - impulses can only go from presynaptic
neuron
3. Filter out low-level stimulation - only a small excitatory postsynaptic potential is
produced. Threshold is not reached and an action potential is not generatred
4. Excitatory or inhibitory synapses:
Excitatory synapses - release excitatory neurotransmitters from the presynaptic membrane
following an action potential. Depolarise the post synaptic membrane, making it fire an action
potential if the threshold is reached
Inhibitory synapse - where inhibitory neurotransmitters are released. Inhibitory
neurotransmitters hyperpolarize the postsynaptic membrane (make the potential difference
more negative) preventing it from firing an action potential
Acetylcholine:
Is an excitatory neurotransmitter at cholinergic synapses in the CNS and at neuromuscular
junctions
Is an inhibitory neurotransmitter at cholinergic synapses in the heart - it causes the
potassium ion channels to open on the postsynaptic membrane hyperpolarising it
 5. Synaptic divergence
When one neurone connects to many neurones so information can be
dispersed to different parts of the body
Increase the range of actions possible, by allowing collections to many
nerve pathways
E.g. in a reflex arc, the relay neuron might connect to an ascending
pathway, allowing the brain to be informed of the stimulus as well as the
motor neuron to bring about the response

6. Synaptic convergence
When many neurons connect to one neurone information can be
amplified (made stronger)
Allows for coordinated response:
E.g. presynaptic neurons from different parts of the nervous
system converging on a single postsynaptic neuron e.g. as a
response to danger

7. Summation
If the stimulus is weak the amount of neurotransmitter released
from one neurone into the synaptic cleft may not be enough to
excite the postsynaptic membrane to reach threshold level and
stimulate an action potential
Summation is where the effect of neurotransmitters released from many neurons are added
together so that the stimulus is large enough to elicit a response
Either by - temporalsummation or spatial summation.
Temporal summation - impulses arrive in the presynaptic neuron in quick succession. Each
not capable by itself of producing sn rxcitatory post synaptic potential great enough to reach
threshold, but they arrive closely together so that they build upon the previous epsp