https://open.lib.umn.

edu/intropsyc/chapter/3-4-putting-it-all-together-the-nervous-system-and-
the-endocrine-system/
Neurons
- Neurons = Nerve cells that transfer information within the body
- Neurons use two types of signals to communicate:
- Electrical signals (long-distances)
- Chemical signals (short-distances)
- Cell signaling with synapses
- Neuron Structure
- The neuron is a cell that exemplifies the close fit between form & function
- Most of a neuron’s organelles: in cell body
- Looks like an animal cell
- Most neurons have dendrites
- Highly branched extensions that receive signals from other neurons (cells)
- Axon
- Typically a much longer extension that transmits signals to other cells at
synapses
- Pass neurotransmitters between synapses
- Axon hillock
- Cone-shaped base of an axon
- Initiation of nerve impulses
- Synapse
- Junction between axon & another cell
- Synaptic terminal
- Passes information across the synapse in form of chemical messengers
called neurotransmitters
- Information is transmitted from a presynaptic cell (a neuron) to a postsynaptic cell
(a neuron, muscle, or gland cell)
- Most neurons are nourished or insulated by cells called glia or glial cells
- Nourish or insulate the cells to help speed up transmission of neural
impulses
- Intro to Information Processing
- Nervous system processes information in three stages
- Sensory input
- Sense something from environment
- Integration
- Sent to control system where the input is integrated
- Brain, nerve systems
- Motor output
- Control system gives out a response
 - Interpreting signals in nervous system involves sorting complex set of paths &
connections
- Processing of information takes place in:
- Ganglia = simple clusters of neurons (in simpler animals)
- Information center of integration
- Found in more simple organisms
- Brain = complex organization of neurons
- Found in more complex organisms
- Evolution of Information Processing
- Cambrian explosion: > 500 million years ago
- Specialized systems of neurons appeared
- Enable animals to sense their environments & respond rapidly
- Increased survival rate
- Explosion of species appearing because they were surviving longer
- Phylogenetic Trees - Animal Kingdom Present day Phyla
- Start at the base (root of tree)
- Common ancestry of all the other organisms
- At each branch, it was the next separation/diversion from the common ancestor
- Shorter branches mean they evolved a lot later
- If short branches are next to each other, they are closely related
- Simple v Complex Animals
- The simplest animals with nervous systems, cnidarians, have interconnected
neurons arranged in nerve nets
- Nerve nets is nervous system that is very simple
- In form of a net that goes around the whole organism
- No central processing center
- More complex animals have nerves (axons of multiple neurons are bundled
together
- Nerves channel & organize information flow through the nervous system
- As you go across the phyla tree, the nervous systems become more
complex
- Complex systems have a brain and spinal cord
- Based on Body form
- Bilaterally symmetrical animals exhibit cephalization = clustering of sensory
organs at the front end of body
- Bilaterally symmetrical - identical down the middle, like a mirror
- Like a worm
- Have a brain
- Not the case for asymmetrical & radially symmetrical animals (e.g., cnidarians,
echinoderms)
- Non symmetric bodies
 - Do not have brains
- Jellyfish, sea urchins, starfish
- Much more simple nervous system
- Based on lifestyle
- Nervous system organization usually correlates with lifestyle:
- Sessile molluscs (e.g., clams & chitons) have simple systems
- Have ganglia
- They don’t move much so don’t need as many neurons/as complex
system
- Mobile molluscs (e.g., octopuses & squids) have more sophisticated
systems
- Move around and catch prey so need more complex system
- Some have one brain and two ganglia
- Molluscs are a type of animal in the animal kingdom tree
- Types of Neurons
- Sensory neurons transmit information about external stimuli
- Light, touch, or smell
- Senses from environment and transmits to interneurons
- Interneurons integrate (analyze & interpret) the information from sensory
neurons
- Motor neurons transmit signals to muscle cells, causing them to contract
- Coincides with sensory input, integration & motor output
- Triggered to exert a reaction
- Found in muscle cells

General Structure of Vertebrate Nervous System (chapter 49)

- Animals with a backbone/spinal column/ (i.e., vertebrates) have a complex nervous

system that consists of:
- Vertebrates are animals with a backbone or spinal cord, have complex nervous
system
- Central Nervous System (CNS)
- Location where integration (second stage of info processing) takes place
- Brain & Spinal cord
- Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)
- Carries information into & out of CNS
- Sensory input and motor output stages of info processing
- Ganglia & Nerves (bundled neurons of PNS)
- Development of Central Nervous System
- CNS develops from the hollow dorsal nerve cord
- Any vertebrates embryos look the same with this nerve cord
 - Eventually gives rise to brain and spinal cord
- Cavity of nerve cord gives rise to the narrow central canal of the spinal cord & the
ventricles of the brain
- The canal & ventricles fill with cerebrospinal fluid (cf)
- cf supplies CNS with nutrients & hormones
- cf carries away wastes
- Brain cannot function without this fluid because receives no nutrients
- Central nervous system
- In addition to cf-filled ventricles, the brain & spinal cord contain:
- Gray matter consists of
- Neuron cell bodies
- Dendrites
- Unmyelinated axons
- Neurons with no myelin sheath
- White matter consists of
- Bundles of myelinated axons = enclosed in a myelin sheath
- Insulate and speed up nerve impulses
- Brain - grey matter on outside, white matter on inside
- Spinal cord - grey matter inside, white matter outside
- Spinal Cord
- Conveys information to & from brain
- Intermediate between brain and peripheral nervous system
- Generates basic patterns of locomotion
- movement
- Produces reflexes independently of brain
- Sensory inputs that are integrated in spinal cord before the brain
- Reflex = Body’s automatic response to a stimulus
- Protects body by providing a rapid, involuntary response to a particular
stimulus
- Goes to the spinal cord, not to the brain so it is a fast enough
response
- EX: putting hand on hot stove, really fast, if went to brain before
the spinal cord, hand would be burnt
- Can be tested via knee-jerk reflex
- Doctor hits tendon in quad muscles, sensory neuron goes to spinal
cord, sends signal to spinal cord, hits motor neuron and causes
quad to contract and leg to come up
- Skips the interneuron
- Peripheral Nervous system
- Transmits information to & from CNS
- Regulates movement & internal environment
 - Afferent neurons: transmit information to CNS
- To sensory neurons
- Efferent neurons: transmit information away from CNS
- Exit nervous system
- To motor neurons
- Efferent Neurons
- PNS contains two efferent components:
- Motor system
- Controls skeletal muscle
- Autonomic nervous system
- Sympathetic division
- Parasympathetic division
- Enteric nervous system
- Controls smooth muscles and glands
- Functions
- Motor System
- Carries signals to skeletal muscles
- Can be voluntary
- Autonomic nervous system
- Regulates smooth and cardiac muscles
- General involuntary
- Heart pumping
- Smooth muscles include muscles around blood vessel walls,
stomach, bladder, small and large intestine
- Actions that do not require thinking, just happen
- Autonomic Nervous system
- Sympathetic
- Regulates arousal and energy generation (fight or flight)
- Defense of body
- Digestion and healing stops , heart rate goes up
- Parasympathetic
- Antagonistic (opposite) effects on target organs
- Promotes calming and returning to rest and digest functions
- Relaxation response
- Enteric
- Exerts direct control over digestive tract, pancreas and gallbladder
- Antagonistic examples of Parasympathetic vs Sympathetic
- Sympathetic dilates pupils, parasympathetic constricts pupils
- Sympathetic stops digestion and healing, parasympathetic stimulates
stomach/digestion
- Sympathetic speeds up heart, parasympathetic slows it down
 - TODAY: we are so stressed that we are always in sympathetic which is
bad for digestion and alertness
- Slow breathing can help you get out of the sympathetic stage

Transmission of Nerve Impulses

- How are electrical impulses transmitted from neuron to neuron
- In Neurons: Ions are unequally distributed between the interior of cells and the
surrounding fluid
- Interior of cell
- Exterior of cell (e.g, surrounding fluid)
- Inside of cell is negatively charged relative to outside (positively charged)
- This charge difference = voltage
- across plasma membrane is a source of potential energy
- Membrane Potentials in Neurons
- Membrane potential
- Voltage (difference in electrical charge) of a cell across its plasma
membrane
- Resting potential
- Membrane potential of a neuron not sending signals usually between -60
& -80 mV
- Resting neuron
- Action potentials
- Changes in membrane potential
- Voltage will change
- Formation of the resting potential
- How do we get the voltage
- In most neurons:
- Concentration of K+ is higher inside the cell
- Concentration inside 140 mM, outside is 5 mM
- Concentration of Na+ is higher outside the cell
- Concentration outside is 15 mM and outside 150 mM
- Sodium-potassium pumps use the energy of ATP to maintain these K+ & Na+
gradients across the plasma membrane
- Pump acts slowly
- Maintains potassium inside and sodium outside
- The sodium-potassium pump transports three Na+ out of the cell for every
two K+ that it transports in
- These concentration gradients represent chemical potential energy
- Difference in ion concentration sets up potential energy
- The opening of ion channels in the plasma membrane converts chemical potential
to electrical potential
 - A neuron at resting potential contains many open K+ channels & fewer open Na+
channels
- K+ diffuses out of cell (facilitated diffusion)
- Buildup of negative charge within neuron because positive ions are
leaving
- Major source of membrane potential
- More potassium ions leaving than sodium ions coming in, creating
negative charge inside
- Modeling the Resting Potential using Potassium
- Resting potential can be modeled by an artificial membrane that separates two
chambers
- Concentration of KCl is higher in inner chamber & lower in outer chamber
- K+ diffuses down its gradient to the outer chamber
- Negative charge (Cl–) builds up in the inner chamber
- At equilibrium, both the electrical & chemical gradients are balanced
- The difference between changers becomes more and more distinct, such negative
charge prevents the potassium from flowing across the chamber
- At resting potential, only ion channels are open, more potassium channels than
sodium, membrane potential is -70, sodium potassium pumps are working to keep
it at -70
- Modeling the Resting Potential using Sodium
- Concentration of NaCl is higher in outer chamber & lower in inner chamber
- Na+ diffuses down its gradient to the inner chamber
- Negative charge (Cl–) builds up in the outer chamber
- At equilibrium, both the electrical & chemical gradients are balanced
- There are more potassium channels in a regular neuron cell than sodium because
if just sodium, the negative charge would be on the outside
- Modeling the resting potential
- The equilibrium potential (Eion) is the membrane voltage for a particular ion at
equilibrium and can be calculated using the Nernst equation:
- Eion = 62 mV (log([ion]outside/[ion]inside))
- The equilibrium potential of K+ (EK) is negative, while the equilibrium potential
of Na+ (ENa) is positive
- In a resting neuron, the currents of K+ & Na+ are equal & opposite
- The resting potential across the membrane remains steady
- Action potential
- Action potentials = Signals conducted by axons
- Intracellular recording can be used to monitor the changes in membrane potential
- Action potential and gated ion channels
- Neurons contain gated ion channels: open or close in response to stimuli
- Changes in membrane potential occur
 - Regular ion channels are always open
- Gated ion channels open or close in response to a stimulus
- Voltage-gated ion channels: open or close in response to a change in voltage
across plasma membrane of neuron
- Hyperpolarization
- Gated K+ channels open
- K+ diffuses out
- Making inside of cell more negative
- Hyperpolarization = Increase in magnitude of membrane potential
- Since positive ion leaves, the negative charge inside becomes more strong
as more and more leave, increasing the magnitude
- Magnitude- the change in voltage becomes stronger

- Depolarization
- Opening other types of ion channels triggers a depolarization
- Reduction in magnitude of membrane potential
- Depolarization occurs if gated Na+ channels open
- Na+ diffuses into cell
- Inside of membrane becomes less negative
- Change in membrane potential
- Graded Potentials and Action potentials
- Graded potentials = Changes in polarization where the magnitude of the change
varies with the strength of the stimulus
- Larger stimulus causes a greater change in membrane potential
- Hyperpolarization and depolarization has a larger / stronger stimulus
- If a depolarization shifts the membrane potential sufficiently, it results in a
massive change in membrane voltage called an action potential
- Action potentials
- Have a constant magnitude (in contrast to graded potential)
 - Are all-or-none
- Same magnitude, always going there
- Transmit signals over long distances
- They arise because some ion channels are voltage-gated
- Opening or closing when the membrane potential passes a certain level
called threshold
- Threshold is -60 mV
- Always reaches same amount of membrane potential
- Generation of Action Potential
- Action potential results from changes in membrane potential as ions move
through voltage-gated channels
- At resting potential
- 1) Most voltage-gated sodium (Na+) & potassium (K+) channels are
closed
- More potassium leaving than sodium coming in
- Inside is more negative than outside
- Membrane potential is -70
- When action potential is generated
- 2) stimulus leads to voltage gated sodium channels open first
- Sodium diffuses into cell, changes membrane potential to more
positive (depolarization)
- Reverts charge inside making it depolarized
- Outside becomes negative, inside positive
- 3) during the rising phase, threshold is crossed and membrane potential
increases
- Positive feedback, as the sodium voltage gates open, the voltage
increases, opening more and more sodium gates to open and more
sodium to flow in, until it reaches the peak of action potential
- Can only happen if the stimulus is sufficiently strong to reach the
specific threshold
- Reaches positive membrane potential
- Potassium channel is still closed
- 4) during the falling phase, voltage gated sodium channels become
inactivated
- Voltage gated potassium channels open
- K+ flows out of cell
- Inside returns to negative charge
- Membrane potential returns to negative
- sodium channels are now closed, no sodium coming in
- 5) during the undershoot membrane permeability to potassium is at first
higher than at rest
 - Then voltage gated potassium channels close
- Resting potential is restored

- Refractory period
- Refractory period = “Downtime” after an action potential, when a second
action potential cannot be initiated
- Blocks sodium gated channels from opening
- Refractory period is a result of a temporary inactivation of Na+ channels
- Action potential can only flow in one direction, away from cell
body
- Conduction of Action Potential
- At the site where the action potential is generated (usually the axon hillock), an
electrical current depolarizes the neighboring region of the axon membrane
- Electrical stimulus is initiated at the axon hillock, place between cell body
and axon
- Action potentials travel in only one direction: toward the synaptic terminals
- Inactivated Na+ channels behind the zone of depolarization prevent the action
potential from traveling backwards (i.e., refractory period)
- Stimulus comes in, sodium channels are open, membrane potential is
changed , more sodium channels are open, then where the old sodium was
 on the axon the potassium channels open, process continues down the
axon
- Only go in one direction due to refractory period, stopping the nerve
impulse from going in both directions

- The rate at which action potentials are produced in a neuron is proportional to

input signal strength
- If the strength is strong, there is a high rate of action potential (going
through very fast)
- If the strength isn’t as strong, the rate of action potential is slower
- Gated ion channels & action potentials play an important role in nervous system
activity
- Mutations in genes that encode ion channels lead to disorders affecting the nerves
or brain—or the muscles or heart
- Important that the genes for action and resting potentials are not mutated
- Evolutionary Adaptations of Axon structure
- The speed of an action potential increases with the axon’s diameter
- In vertebrates, axons are insulated by a myelin sheath, which causes an action
potential’s speed to increase
- Through evolution, the axon diameter was increased in order to increase
the speed of action potentials
- Myelin sheaths are made by glia cells
- Oligodendrocytes in the CNS
- Schwann cells in the PNS
- Saltatory Conduction
 - Voltage-gated sodium channels are restricted to nodes of Ranvier
- Gaps in the myelin sheath
- Spaces between the myelin sheath
- Place where action potential can change
- Action potentials in myelinated axons jump between the nodes of Ranvier in a
process called saltatory conduction
- Another way to speed up nerve impulses in vertebrates
- Types of Synapses
- At electrical synapses, the electrical current flows from one neuron to another
through gap junctions
- In between the synapses are gap junctions, nerve impulse simply flows
through the gap junctions
- At chemical synapses, a chemical neurotransmitter carries information between
neurons
- More chemical synapses than electrical
- Most synapses are chemical synapses
- Chemical Synapses
- The presynaptic neuron synthesizes & packages neurotransmitter in
synaptic vesicles located in the synaptic terminal
- The action potential opens voltage-gated Ca2+ channels, triggering an
influx of Ca2+
- Allow calcium to flow into synaptic terminal
- Elevated [Ca2+] causes vesicles to fuse to presynaptic membrane
- Release of neurotransmitters into synaptic cleft
- Neurotransmitter diffuses across the synaptic cleft
- Received by ligand-gated ion channels in the postsynaptic cell
- Transfers an action potential from one cell to the next
- Generation of Postsynaptic Potentials
- Direct synaptic transmission involves binding of neurotransmitters to ligand-
gated ion channels in the postsynaptic cell
- Neurotransmitter binding causes ion channels to open
- Generating a postsynaptic potential
- Postsynaptic potentials fall into two categories
- Excitatory postsynaptic potentials (EPSPs) are depolarizations that
bring the membrane potential toward threshold (trying to create an action
potential in the new cell)
- Inhibitory postsynaptic potentials (IPSPs) are hyperpolarizations that
move the membrane potential farther from threshold (inhibits the action
potential from being created)
- Excitatory Postsynaptic Potential
- The cell body of a postsynaptic neuron may receive inputs from hundreds
or thousands of synaptic terminals
- A single EPSP is usually too small to trigger an action potential in a
postsynaptic neuron
- Usually need more than one, postsynaptic cells have a lot of
synapses
- Individual postsynaptic potentials can combine to produce a larger
potential in a process called summation
- Sum of the excitatory potential
- If two EPSPs are produced in rapid succession, an effect called temporal
summation occurs
 - When two excitatory potentials are combined right after each other
very quickly, pushing a postsynaptic cell over the threshold
- In spatial summation, EPSPs produced nearly simultaneously by
different synapses on the same postsynaptic neuron add together
- These two excitatory potentials are happening at the same time, not
at the same space
- The combination of EPSPs through spatial & temporal summation can
trigger an action potential
- Inhibitory Postsynaptic Potential
- Through summation, an IPSP can counter the effect of an EPSP
- Important if an action potential needs to be stopped for some
reason
- Stops the action potential by creating a hyperpolarization
- Cancels out the excitatory potential
- The summed effect of EPSPs & IPSPs determines whether an axon hillock
will reach threshold & generate an action potential
- Termination of Neurotransmitter Signaling
- After a response is triggered, the chemical synapse returns to its resting state
- Neurotransmitter molecules are cleared from synaptic cleft
- Neurotransmitters need to be cleaned up/removed so another signal can
come through for the next action potential
- Enzyme breaks neurotransmitters apart so they can’t block the ligand
gated channels or a neurotransmitter transport chanel can be put back into
the synaptic cleft and be reused
- Blocking this process can have severe effects because nerve impulses cannot be
transmitted
- EX: The nerve gas Sarin triggers paralysis & death due to inhibition of the
enzyme that breaks down the neurotransmitter controlling skeletal muscles
- Neurotransmitters stay in the synaptic cleft and stop nerve impulses from
coming through

Take Home
- Structure & Function of Neurons
- Types of Neurons and Information Processing
- General Structure of Vertebrate Nervous System (CNS, PNS)
- Functions of Afferent and Efferent Neurons
- Transmission of Nerve Impulses
- Resting Potential
- Graded Potential
- Action Potential
- Postsynaptic Potential
- Conduction of Action Potentials
- Synapses