Neuron Communication

Question 1

Describe the 4 different types of glial cells and their roles

Answer 1

astrocytes
oligodendrocytes
Schwann cells
microglia

Question 2

Understand generally the importance of astrocytes to the blood-brain barrier

Answer 2

x

Question 3

Describe which glial cells produce myelin and where and discuss the importance of
myelin in the brain

Answer 3

x

Question 4

Describe what constitutes white matter and gray matter in the brain

Answer 4

x

Question 5

Draw a neuron and label the following parts: dendrites, soma (cell body), nucleus, axon hillock, axon, axon terminals. Also, have an understanding for the direction information travels in a neuron.

Answer 5

x

Question 6

Be able to describe the big picture of how a neuron fires an action potential

Answer 6

x

Question 7

Define what a potential is

Answer 7

x

Question 8

Name the key cations and anions that are involved in maintaining resting potential, firing action potentials and facilitating neuron communication

Answer 8

x

Question 9

Describe the difference between ion channels and active transporters

Answer 9

x

Question 10

Describe the relative concentrations of the key ions inside and outside of the cell and the membrane potential of the inside of the cell at rest

Answer 10

x

Question 11

Describe the two forces acting on ions

Answer 11

x

Question 12

Describe what is happening in a neuron at rest: what channels are open, which ions are
moving, what their relative concentrations are, etc.

Answer 12

x

Question 13

Describe the four factors resting potential relies on

Answer 13

x

Question 14

Describe the two kinds of input a neuron can receive

Answer 14

x

Question 15

Define what an excitatory post-synaptic potential (EPSP) and an inhibitory post-synaptic
potential (IPSP) are

Answer 15

x

Question 16

Describe what a depolarization is and the factors that may lead to a depolarization

Answer 16

x

Question 17

Describe what a hyperpolarization is and the factors that may lead to a hyperpolarization

Answer 17

x

Question 18

Describe what is meant by the idea that the soma summarizes the signal and give some examples of how signals might be summarized

Answer 18

x

Question 19

Explain what we mean when we say an action potential is “all-or-none”

Answer 19

x

Question 20

Draw an action potential and explain what is happening at each stage – stimulus causes membrane potential to cross a threshold, depolarization, repolarization, hyperpolarization or refractory period, resting potential – i.e., what channels are open, which ions are moving in which direction, what is the membrane potential, etc.

Answer 20

x

Question 21

Describe what is happening during a refractory period and why it’s important

Answer 21

x

Question 22

Describe how an axon potential is propagated down an unmyelinated axon and down a myelinated axon and the difference between the two situations

Answer 22

x

Question 23

Define saltatory conduction and describe the importance of nodes of Ranvier

Answer 23

x

Question 24

Explain what is meant by rate coding

Answer 24

x

Question 25

Describe the differences between an electrical and chemical synapse

Answer 25

x

Question 26

Describe the neuron doctrine and how it differed from other ideas about what the brain was actually composed of

Answer 26

x

Question 27

Define what a neurotransmitter is and name some key neurotransmitters we’ll talk about in this class and the categories they fall under

Answer 27

serotonin, dopamine, epinephrine, | norepinephrine, acetylcholine, GABA, glutamate

Question 28

serotonin

Answer 28

x

Question 29

dopamine

Answer 29

x

Question 30

epinephrine

Answer 30

x

Question 31

norepinephrine

Answer 31

x

Question 32

acetylcholine

Answer 32

x

Question 33

GABA

Answer 33

x

Question 34

glutamine

Answer 34

x

Question 35

Explain what a synapse is

Answer 35

x

Question 36

Draw a synapse and label: presynaptic neuron, postsynaptic neuron, vesicles, neurotransmitters, calcium channels, transporters, postsynaptic receptors, axon terminal, dendrite

Answer 36

x

Question 37

Describe the big picture of neuron communication, e.g., where the action potential is coming from, what happens when the axon terminal is depolarized, what calcium does, how vesicles move, what happens once neurotransmitter is released into the synapse, etc.

Answer 37

x

Question 38

Describe the two types of receptors and how they differ

Answer 38

x

Question 39

Describe how neuron communication stops

Answer 39

x

Question 40

Describe the different ways that leftover neurotransmitter is cleared from the synapse

Answer 40

x

Question 41

Define an agonist and antagonist

Answer 41

x

Question 42

Describe the four types of channels we’ve discussed

Answer 42

x

Question 43

Describe how optogenetics works

Answer 43

x

Question 44

Given a situation like the cone snail toxin or the poison dart frog or a novel toxin, be able to apply your understanding of how membrane potentials are created, how an action potential fires, and how neurons communicate to reason through how these toxins might work

Answer 44

x

Question 45

Use your knowledge of diffusion forces and electrostatic forces to predict where ions would “want” to go in a given situation

Answer 45

x

Question 46

Explain how action potentials, which are all-or-none signals, can code for the intensity of a stimulus

Answer 46

x

Question 47

Explain why we might best think of neurons as coincidence detectors

Answer 47

x

Question 48

Explain the debate between the “soups” and the “sparks” and how Otto Loewi’s experiment (be able to describe the methods and results) provided some important evidence in favor of the “soups.”

Answer 48

x

Question 49

Describe what happens in multiple sclerosis (MS)

Answer 49

x

Question 50

Apply what you know about neuron communication to explain how psychoactive drugs like SSRIs, MAOIs, amphetamines, cocaine, curare, etc. work

Answer 50

x

Question 51

If given a novel drug and a basic sketch of what it does, be able to apply your understanding of how neurons communicate to reason through how this drug exerts its effects

Answer 51

x

Question 52

Explain why optogenetics is such an interesting and potentially very useful method

Answer 52

x