Neurophysiology

Question 1

Staining

Answer 1

scientists used staining for brain tissue, which increased the contrast between different types of tissues within the brain and found a nerve net
- some of the staining showed that when one part of the brain was activated, the brain activated as a whole

Question 2

nerve nets

Answer 2

• were said to be continuous

- provided a complex pathway for conducting signals uninterrupted

Question 3

Camillo Golgi

Answer 3

• used silver nitrate to stain brain slices
• visualized 1% of neurons
• reduce noise
• individualistic
• showcased that neurons were individualistic units

Question 4

Ramon y Cajal

Answer 4

• used golgi stains to observe and describe neurons
• found that neurons did not touch
• space: synaptic cleft for communication
• crotal plasmic kiss
• discovery was centerpiece of the neuron doctrine

Question 5

neuron doctrine

Answer 5

the idea that individual cells transmit signals in the nervous system, and that these cells are not continuous with other cells as proposed by the nerve net theory

Question 6

Cell Body

Answer 6

metabolic center of neuron

Question 7

dendrites

Answer 7

recieve signals

Question 8

axon

Answer 8

transmit signals

Question 9

myelin sheath

Answer 9

coating of axon - increases transmission

Question 10

terminal button

Answer 10

• endpoint of signal, attached to another dendrite but they do not touch

Question 11

sensory receptors

Answer 11

specialized neurons that pick up information from the environment, rather than from other neurons

Question 12

neural circuits

Answer 12

neurons are not connected indiscriminately to other neurons, but form connections only to specific neurons

Question 13

Recording from a neuron

Answer 13

• use of microelectrodes which are divded into a recording electrode and a reference electrode
• picks up electrical signals via salt solution and is then recorded into a device
• measure the difference in charge
• proposed by Edgar Adrian
• voltage is always relative

Question 14

Depolarization phase

Answer 14

• when neuron is firing

Question 15

repolarization phase

Answer 15

• getting back to where it was before

Question 16

resting potential

Answer 16

• relative charge across membrane while at rest

Question 17

undershoot

Answer 17

dip after repolarization phase to get back to resting potential

Question 18

threshold

Answer 18

• important for the all or nothing response

- once you pass this thresholds, neurons will fire and if not, they will not fire

Question 19

Weak stimulus

Answer 19

• does not fire as quickly

Question 20

strong stimulus

Answer 20

action potentials happen very frequently

Question 21

synapses

Answer 21

neurons pass on AP to other neurons

Question 22

presynaptic cleft

Answer 22

neuron releases the neurotransmitter

Question 23

postsynaptic cleft

Answer 23

receptors here bind to the neurotransmitter

Question 24

representation

Answer 24

everything we experience is the result of something that stands for that experience

Question 25

principle of representation

Answer 25

everything a person experiences is based not on direct contact with stimuli, but on representations in the person’s nervous system

Question 26

retina

Answer 26

layer of neurons that lines the back of the eye

Question 27

David Hubel and Thorsten Wisel experiment

Answer 27

• presented visual stimuli to cats and determined which stimuli causes specific neurons to fire
• known as feature decetors

Question 28

feature detectors

Answer 28

respond to specific stimulus features like orientation, movement and length

Question 29

Charles Gross experiment

Answer 29

• experiment where they recorded from single neurons in the monkey’s temporal lobe
• found that temporal lobe responds to complex stimuli
• foudn that a neuron refused to respond to any of the standard stimuli

Question 30

hierarchical processing

Answer 30

progression from lower to higher areas of processing of the brain

Question 31

neurons

Answer 31

small units within the brain that create and transmit information about our experiences