Neural communication Flashcards
(14 cards)
Define a Neuron
A nerve cell; the basic building block of the nervous system
Sensory Neurons
Neurons that carry incoming information from the sensory receptors to the brain and spinal cord
Motor Neurons
Neurons that carry outgoing information from the brain and spinal cord to muscles and glands
Interneurons
Neurons within the brain and spinal cord that communicate internally and intervene between the sensory inputs and motor outputs
Dendrite
The bushy, branching extensions of a neuron that revice messages and conduct impulses toward the cell body
Axon
The extension of a neuron, ending in braching terminal fibers, through which messages [ass to other neurons or to muscles or glands
Myelin Sheath
A layer of fatty tissue segmentally encasing the fibers of monet neurons; enables vastly greater transmission speed of neutral impulses as the impulse hops from one node to the next
Axon Potential
A neutral impulse; a breif electrical charge that travels down an axon
Describe how a neuron works
Neurons, like batteries, generate electricity from chemical events
Synapse
The junction between the axon tip of the sending neuron and the dendrite or cell body of the reciving neuron
Neurotransmitters
Chemical messangers that cross the synapse gaps between neurons
Reuptake
A neurotransmitters reabsorption by the sending neuron
What does ACh do?
In charge of learning and memory. ACh is the messanger at every junction between a motor neuron and sketal muscle. when released muscles contract
How drugs affect ACh
If ACh transmission is blocked, as happens during some kinds of anestesia, the muscles cannot contract and we are paralyzed
