Equilibrium and Resting Potentials

Question 1

receive the synaptic inputs from many other neurons and comprise the major receiving portion of a neuron (they basically act like the neuron’s ears)

Answer 1

dendrites

Question 2

conducts action potentials and thus conveys information over long distances that is onto its target neurons

Answer 2

axons

Question 3

have specialized terminals with which they make synaptic contacts with other neurons or muscle cells

Answer 3

axons

Question 4

Protein synthesis occurs in the

Answer 4

cell body of neurons

Question 5

industrial region of each neuron.

Answer 5

cell body

Question 6

refers the electrical difference between two compartments (the inside and the outside of the cell in this case) that is needed to exactly counterbalance the concentration force driving an ion from a compartment where there is a higher concentration of the ion into the compartment having a lower concentration of that ion.

Answer 6

The equilibrium potential

Question 7

why is nervous system important

Answer 7

Multicellular cells are highly interdependent. The cells have become so specialized in their functions that no cell or tissue is capable of an independent existence. Hence a rapid mode of communication is important

Question 8

Evolution has provided two solutions to the problem of intercellular communication:

Answer 8

endocrine system

nervous system

Question 9

this system of communication is

accomplished by means of a chemical agent, or hormone

Answer 9

endocrine system

Question 10

characteristic of intercellular communication via hormones is its

Answer 10

slowness because it is limited by the rate of blood flow

Question 11

Principle Rationale for a Nervous

System

Answer 11

Rapid Communication Over Long Distances

Question 12

system designed for rapid intercellular communication over long distances with high
fidelity

Answer 12

nervous system

Question 13

cells that comprise the nervous system are called

Answer 13

neurons

Question 14

In the nervous system, communication occurs by means of pulses of electrical signals called

Answer 14

action potential

Question 15

Neurons have long cellular processes, called

Answer 15

axons

Question 16

Neurons have long cellular processes, called axons over which
action potentials can be conducted at speeds of up to

Answer 16

120 meters/sec

Question 17

4 major parts of neurons

Answer 17

cell body
dendrites
axon
axon terminal

Question 18

cell body also known as

Answer 18

soma

Question 19

soma, or cell

body, contains the

Answer 19

nucleus, nucleolus, endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi apparatus and all the
organelles and features that characterize all cells.

Question 20

where the majority of protein

synthesis occurs, and thus is the neuron’s industrial center.

Answer 20

cell body

Question 21

are a series of processes
that extend from the cell body, and are the parts of the neuron that receives information from
other neurons, as

Answer 21

dendrites

Question 22

is a process that extends out from the cell body and

is the part of the neuron that conducts information from the cell body to distant sites.

Answer 22

axons

Question 23

basically like a wire in an electrical circuit.

Answer 23

axons

Question 24

Each neuron has how many axon/s

Answer 24

1

Question 25

end of the axon

Answer 25

axon terminal

Question 26

close arrangement of the axon’s terminal and the dendrite or cell body of another cell occurs at a special site called the

Answer 26

synapse

Question 27

The axon terminal at the synapse has numerous specializations, and the most obvious are the

Answer 27

numerous synaptic vesicles

Question 28

The “balloons” are actually membranous vesicles that contain a chemical called a

Answer 28

neurotransmitter

Question 29

The major idea | is that when a signal is received at one of the dendrites, the signal triggers an electrical pulse which is an

Answer 29

action potential

Question 30

The major idea is that when a signal is received at one of the dendrites, the signal triggers an electrical pulse, an action potential, at the junction where the cell body meets the axon. This particular portion of the axon is called the

Answer 30

axon hillock

Question 31

When the action potential reaches the axon terminal, it causes the vesicles in the terminal to release their

Answer 31

chemical neurotransmitter

Question 32

neurotransmitter are released into this area

Answer 32

synaptic cleft

Question 33

When the receptors bind the chemical, they open | pores in the receptors and allow electricity, in the form of

Answer 33

positive ions -> flow into cell

Question 34

influx of positive charges into the cell then triggers an action potential at the

Answer 34

axon hillock of | the receiving cell

Question 35

The entire rationale of the nervous system can be condensed into a single idea;

Answer 35

communication simply means that one cell influences the electrical state of another cell by the release of chemicals at points of synaptic contact.

Question 36

The communication between two cells, where one releases neurotransmitter and the other has receptors that bind the neurotransmitter, occurs at the

Answer 36

synapse

Question 37

are the universal conveyors of information in all multicellular animals

Answer 37

action potential

Question 38

Axons and action potentials have three basic and essential attributes for conducting information. Please enumerate

Answer 38

1. conducted over long distances 2. high fidelity 3. propagated rapidly

Question 39

Additionally, the neurotransmitter is | released only in the

Answer 39

synaptic cleft

Question 40

knee jerk reflex involves with what muscle

Answer 40

quadriceps femoris

Question 41

stretch receptors in muscles are called

Answer 41

muscle spindles

Question 42

electrical change in the sensory axon ending is called

Answer 42

receptor potential

Question 43

If the receptor potential is sufficiently large, it will initiate a second type of electrical signal near the afferent axon endings on the muscle spindle.

Answer 43

action potential

Question 44

electrical change that will propagate along axon from the muscle spindle into the spinal cord

Answer 44

action potential

Question 45

The stretched muscle also | stretches the

Answer 45

sensory receptors on the muscle spindle.

Question 46

The stretched receptor changes the electrical state of the receptor that is called a

Answer 46

receptor potential

Question 47

second neuron in the reflex circuit

Answer 47

motor neuron

Question 48

The open pores allow | ______ to enter the soma of the motor neuron thereby changing its electrical state

Answer 48

positive charges

Question 49

The change | in electrical state of the motor neuron is called a

Answer 49

synaptic potential

Question 50

The action potential propagates along the sensory axon at this speed

Answer 50

100-120 m/sec

Question 51

separating the membranes of the sensory terminal and the | motor neuron dendrite

Answer 51

synaptic cleft

Question 52

The increase in positivity is confined to the region of the motor neuron near the synapse and it is graded in proportion to the

Answer 52

amount of transmitter released at the synapse

Question 53

the satellite cells of the nervous system

Answer 53

glial cells

Question 54

Indeed most cells in the nervous system are called

Answer 54

glial cells/ glia

Question 55

four | major types of glial cells in the nervous system. Please enumerate

Answer 55

astrocytes oligodendrocytes Schwann cells microglia

Question 56

have elaborate processes and are only found in the brain and spinal cord. They are not present on peripheral nerves, such as on the axons of motoneurons or on sensory nerves. Their major function is to maintain a normal chemical environment for neuronal signaling.

Answer 56

Astrocytes

Question 57

are also restricted to the brain and spinal cord, and form the myelin sheaths around some, but not all neurons

Answer 57

oligodendrocytes

Question 58

The processes of these glial cells wrap around a portion | of and axon thereby creating the myelin sheath.

Answer 58

oligodendrocytes

Question 59

are related to oligodendrocytes, but are only found in the peripheral nervous system (the nerves outside of the brain and spinal cord) where they form the myelin sheaths around peripheral neurons

Answer 59

Schwann cells

Question 60

a type of glial cell that act like the macrophages in other tissues

Answer 60

Microglia

Question 61

They | are primarily scavenger cells that remove cellular debris from sites of neuronal injury

Answer 61

Microglia