Module 1.2 Module 1.
1 The Cells of the THE STRUCTURE OF ANIMAL CELL
Nervous System
● The nervous system consists of two
kinds of cells, neurons and glia.
● Neurons receive information and
transmit it to other cells.
● Glia or Glial Cells are a type of cell
that provides physical and chemical
support to neurons and maintain
their environmentGlia or Glial Cells
are a type of cell that provides
physical and chemical support to
neurons and maintain their
environment.
Approx. 86 billion neurons on human brain
(varies from person to person)
- Santiago Ramón y Cajal, a Pioneer of
Neuroscience
● Two scientists of the late 1800s and
early 1900s are widely recognized
as the main founders of
neuroscience—Charles Sherrington,
and Cajal.
● He is an anatomical illustrator and a
researcher.
Then the Italian investigator Camillo Golgi
found a way to stain nerve cells with silver
salts. This method, which completely stains
some cells without affecting others at all,
enabled researchers to examine the
structure of a single cell. Cajal used Golgi’s
methods but applied them to infant brains,
in which the cells are smaller and therefore
easier to examine on a single slide.
● Membrane or plasma membrane -
a structure that separates the inside
of the cell from the outside
environment.
● Except for mammalian red blood
cells, all animal cells have a
nucleus, the structure that contains
the chromosomes.
● mitochondrion (plural:
mitochondria) is the structure that
performs metabolic activities,
providing the energy that the cell
uses for all activities. has its own
genes, separate from those of the
nucleus.
● Ribosomes - are the sites within a
cell that synthesize new protein
molecules. Proteins provide building
materials for the cell and facilitate
chemical reactions.
● Endoplasmic Reticulum - Some
ribosomes float freely within the cell,
but others are attached to the
endoplasmic reticulum, a network of
thin tubes that transport newly
synthesized proteins to other
locations.
THE STRUCTURE OF NEURON
● All neurons include a soma (cell
body), and most also have
dendrites, an axon, and presynaptic
terminals.
● A motor neuron, with its soma in
the spinal cord, receives excitation
through its dendrites and conducts
impulses along its axon to a muscle.
● A sensory neuron is specialized at
one end to be highly sensitive to a
particular type of stimulation, such
as light, sound, or touch.
● Dendrites - are branching fibers that
get narrower near their ends. The
dendrite’s surface is lined with
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 specialized synaptic receptors, at
which the dendrite receives
information from other neurons.
● The greater the surface area of a
dendrite, the more information it can
receive.
● dendritic spines-short outgrowths
that increase the surface area
available for synapses.
● The cell body, or soma, contains
the nucleus, ribosomes, and
mitochondria. Most of a neuron’s
metabolic work occurs here.
● axon- is a thin fiber of constant
diameter. Conveys an impulse
toward other neurons, an organ, or a
muscle.
Myelin Sheath - Myelin is an insulating
layer, or sheath that forms around nerves,
including those in the brain and spinal cord.
It is made up of protein and fatty
substances. It allows electrical impulses to
transmit quickly and efficiently along the
nerve cells.
Although a neuron can have many
dendrites, it can have only one axon, but the
axon may have branches. The end of each
branch has a swelling, called a presynaptic
terminal, also known as an end bulb or
bouton— the axon releases chemicals that
cross through the junction between that
neuron and another cell.
● Afferent axon- brings information
into a structure.
● Efferent axon - carries information
away from a structure.
● You can remember that efferent
starts with e as in exit; afferent starts
with a as in admit.
● Interneuron or intrinsic neuron- If
a cell’s dendrites and axon are
entirely contained within a single
structure, the cell is an interneuron
of that structure.
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GLIA (the other component of nervous
system)
Types of Glia
● Astrocytes- star-shaped, By
surrounding a connection between
neurons, an astrocyte shields it from
chemicals circulating in the
surrounding. Astrocytes are
important for generating rhythms,
such as your rhythm of breathing.
● Microglia- act as part of the
immune system, removing viruses
and fungi from the brain. They
proliferate after brain damage,
removing dead or damaged
neurons. Also contributes to learning
by removing the weakest synapses.
● Oligodendrocytes- . They supply
an axon with nutrients necessary for
proper functioning— in the brain and
spinal cord and Schwann cells in the
periphery of the body build the
myelin sheaths that surround and
insulate certain vertebrate axons.
● Radial glia- guide the migration of
neurons and their axons and
dendrites during embryonic
development.
● schwann cells- A type of glial cell
of the peripheral nervous system
that helps separate and insulate
nerve cells.
-The mechanism that excludes most
chemicals from the vertebrate brain is
known as the blood–brain barrier.
Advantage and Dis-Advantage
Blood–Brain Barrier
-Adv - keeps out the viruses
-DisAdv- It makes it hard for some
medicines and immune cells to reach the
brain, which can make treating certain brain
conditions difficult.
-Neurons have these major parts: a cell
body (or soma), dendrites, an axon with
branches, and presynaptic Terminals.
-Active transport proteins pump glucose,
amino acids, and a few other chemicals into
the brain and spinal cord.
-Neurons rely heavily on glucose, the only
nutrient that crosses the blood–brain barrier
in large quantities. They need thiamine
(vitamin B1 ) to use glucose.
Module 1.2 The Nerve Impulse
The resting potential is the stable electrical
charge across a neuron's membrane when
it's not active, with a negative interior
compared to the exterior.
-When at rest, the membrane maintains an
electrical gradient, also known as
polarization—a difference in electrical
charge between the inside and outside of
the cell.
-The electrical potential inside the
membrane is slightly negative with respect
to the outside, mainly because of negatively
charged proteins inside the cell. This
difference in voltage is called the resting
potential.
-Selective permeability- That is, some
chemicals pass through it more freely than
others do.
-sodium–potassium pump, a protein
complex, repeatedly transports three
sodium ions out of the cell while drawing
two potassium ions into it. The
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sodium–potassium pump is an active
transport that requires energy.
-The body invests much energy to operate
the sodium–potassium pump, which
maintains the resting potential. Why is it
worth so much energy? The resting
potential prepares the neuron to respond
rapidly.
- Action potentials- Messages sent by
axons.
- Microelectrode- used to measure a
neuron's potential.
-Depolarization = the membrane becoming
more positive on the inside.
-Hyperpolarization = the membrane
becoming more negative on the inside.
A hyperpolarization is an exaggeration of
the usual
12. If the depolarization reaches or passes
the threshold, the cell produces an action
potential, If it is less than threshold, no
action potential arises.
-all-or-none law is that the amplitude and
velocity of an action potential are
independent of the intensity of the stimulus
that initiated it, provided that the stimulus
reaches the threshold.
-The chemical events behind the action
potential, remember these three principles:
1. At the start, sodium ions are mostly
outside the neuron, and potassium ions are
mostly inside. 2. When the membrane is
depolarized, sodium and potassium
channels in the membrane open. 3. At the
peak of the action potential, the sodium
channels close.
- The all-or-none law does not apply to
dendrites, because they do not have action
potentials.
- A protein that allows sodium to cross is
called a sodium channel (or gate). One
that allows potassium to cross is a
potassium channel. The axon channels
regulating sodium and potassium are
voltage-gated channels.
-Action potentials require the flow of
sodium and potassium. Local anesthetic
drugs such as Novocain and Xylocaine,
attach to the sodium channels of the
membrane, preventing sodium ions from
entering.
-Propagation of the action potential-
describes the transmission of an action
potential down an axon.
The Myelin Sheath and Saltatory
Conduction
- Myelinated axons, found only in
vertebrates, are covered with layers of fats
and proteins. The myelin sheath is
interrupted periodically by short sections of
axon called nodes of Ranvier, each one
about 1 micrometer wide. In myelinated
axons, the action potential starts at the first
node of Ranvier.
-Saltatory conduction- The jumping of
action potentials from node to node.
-If the nodes were closer, the action
potential would travel more slowly. If they
were much farther apart, action potential
would travel faster. if it could successfully
jump from one node to the next. When the
distance becomes too great, the current
cannot diffuse from one node to the next
and still remain above threshold, so the
action potentials would stop.
The Refractory Period
-when a cell is in a refractory period it
resists the production of further action
potentials.
-Absolute refractory period- the
membrane cannot produce another action
potential, regardless of the stimulation.
-Relative refractory period- a stronger
than-usual stimulus is necessary to initiate
an action potential. The refractory period
depends on two facts: The sodium channels
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are closed, and potassium is flowing out of
the cell at a faster-than-usual rate.
Local Neurons
-Axons produce action potentials. However,
many small neurons have no axon. Neurons
without an axon exchange information with
only their closest neighbors. We therefore
call them local neurons.
-Graded potential-When a local neuron
receives information from other neurons. A
membrane potential that varies in
magnitude in proportion to the intensity of
the stimulus.