Building Blocks of the nervous system Flashcards
Nerve cells
generate? form?
generate electrical signals
form complex circuits
cell body (soma)
Contains all of the normal machinery of life
dendrites (dendritic tree)
Provide a large surface area for receiving information from other cells
axon (nerve fibre)
Transmits information to other nerve cells using digital signalling
Synaptic boutons (terminals)
Location where one nerve cell passes information to another
Physical support and protection for nerves
3
meninges and cerebrospinal fluid
blood brain barrier
Defence for nerves
microglia
Nutrition and biochemical support for nerves
astrocytes (astroglia) control the environment of nerve cells
Astrocytes (astroglia)
interaction with nerve cells?
what do they help form?
what do they form?
They transport substances to and from nerve cells, and process them -> helps build up and break down molecules for nerve cells along the way
They instruct CNS capillaries to form the BBB -> endothelial cells are glued together to make tight junctions
They swaddle nerve cell bodies and dendrites, adjusting the concentration of substances in the fluid layer between them
(astrocytes sheath coat dendrites + cell body of nerve cells form a swaddle -> thin layer of fluid between cell membrane of astrocyte + dendrite -> astrocyte pump substances into and out of that fluid to maintain conc)
Myelin sheaths - role and why?
myelinating glial cells increase the speed of neural signals as they insulate and enclose the axon
mylein sheaths in cns and pns
oligodendrocytes- cns
neurolemmocytes (schwan) - pns
Grey matter
whats here? (4)
astrocytes providing biochemical support for the nerve cells
nerve cell bodies and their dendrites
local axons forming complex electrical circuits
blood vessels, associated with astrocytes
White matter
whats here? (2)
bundles of axons linking different regions of grey mmyelinating oligodendrocytes
astrocytes associated with capillaries
atter
