*

Neuron, Types of
neurons,
Structure, and
functions of
neurons, Neural
conduction
synaptic
transmission
Neuron….

*A neuron (also called neurones or nerve cells) is a nerve cell that is the
fundamental units and basic building block of the nervous system.

* Neurons are similar to other cells in the human body in a number of ways,
but there is one key difference between neurons and other cells.

* Neurons are responsible for receiving sensory input from the external
world, for sending motor commands to our muscles, and for transforming
and relaying the electrical signals at every step in between.

* Neurons are specialized to transmit information throughout the body.

* These highly specialized nerve cells are responsible for communicating

information in both chemical and electrical forms.

* There are also several different types of neurons responsible for different
tasks in the human body.
* Sensory neurons carry information from the sensory receptor
cells throughout the body to the brain.

* Motor neurons transmit information from the brain to the

muscles of the body.

* Interneuronsare responsible for communicating information

between different neurons in the body.
Structure….

* Neurons vary in size, shape, and structure depending on their role

and location.
* However, nearly all neurons have three essential parts: a cell body,
an axon, and dendrites.
Cell body….

* Also known as a soma, the cell body is the neuron’s core.

* The cell body carries genetic information, maintains the
neuron’s structure, and provides energy to drive activities.
* It houses important organelles, such as the nucleus, endoplasmic
reticulum, ribosomes, mitochondria and more.
* The nucleus is located roughly in the center of the cell
body and is surrounded by endoplasmic reticulum that is
continuous with the nuclear membrane.

* The main function of the nucleus is to store DNA. DNA is

the genetic material for the cell and holds all the
information about the cells structure and function. It can
be used during DNA replication which is required for cell
division.

* Neurons need to produce lots of neurotransmitters for

communication.
Dendrites

* Dendrites are fibrous roots that branch out from the cell body.

* Likeantennae, dendrites receive and process signals from the

axons of other neurons.

* Neurons can have more than one set of dendrites, known as

dendritic trees.

* Forinstance, Purkinje cells are a special type of neuron found in

the cerebellum.

* These cells have highly developed dendritic trees which allow them
to receive thousands of signals.
Axon

* Anaxon is a long, tail-like structure which joins the cell body at a

specialized junction called the axon hillock.

* Each neuron in your brain has one long cable that extended away from
the main part of the cell.

* Thiscable, several times thinner than a human hair, is called an axon,

and it is where electrical impulses from the neuron travel away to be
received by other neurons.

* Many axons are insulated with a fatty substance called myelin.

* Myelin helps axons to conduct an electrical signal.

* Neurons generally have one main axon.

Axon Terminal:
* An axon terminal is the button-like
endings of axons through which axons
make synaptic contacts with other nerve
cells.
* An axon terminal contains various
neurotransmitters that are released at
the small gap between two communicating
neurons.
* This gap is called a synapse.
* The neuron that sends nerve impulses by
releasing neurotransmitters via the axon
terminal at the synapse is called
a presynaptic neuron. In contrast, the
neuron that receives the impulse is called
a postsynaptic neuron.
Functions…..

* Receive signals (or information).

* Integrate incoming signals (to determine whether or not the

information should be passed along).

* Communicate signals to target cells (other neurons or muscles or

glands).

* Neurons send signals using action potentials.

* An action potential is a shift in the neuron’s electric potential caused

by the flow of ions in and out of the neural membrane.

* Action potentials can trigger both chemical and electrical synapses.

* Neurons are a special type of cell with the sole purpose of
transferring information around the body.

* When you want your hand to move, your brain sends signals
through your nerves to your hand telling the muscles to
contract.

* But your nerves don’t just say “hand, move.” Instead your
nerves send lots of electrical impulses (called action potentials)
to different muscles in your hand, allowing you to move your
hand with extreme precision.

*
Parts of neuron with specialized features for Action
Potential….

* Dendrites:receive signals from neighbouring neurons (like a

radio antenna)

* Axon: transmit signals over a distance (like telephone wires)

* Axon terminal: transmit signals to other neuron dendrites or

tissues

* Myelin sheath: speeds up signal transmission along the axon

Concentration gradients

* Concentration gradients
are key behind how action
potentials work.
* In terms of action
potentials, a concentration
gradient is the difference
in ion concentrations
between the inside of the
neuron and the outside of
the neuron (called
extracellular fluid).
Resting membrane potential

* Neurons have a negative concentration gradient most of the time,

meaning there are more positively charged ions outside than inside the
cell.
* This regular state of a negative concentration gradient is called resting
membrane potential.

* The resting potential of neurons is about -70 mV

* During the resting membrane potential there are:

1. more sodium ions (Na ) outside than inside the neuron
2. more potassium ions (K ) inside than outside the neuron

* The concentration of ions isn’t static though! Ions are flowing in and
out of the neuron constantly as the ions try to equalize their
concentrations.
* The cell however maintains a fairly consistent negative concentration
gradient.
Action Potential…

* Action potentials (those electrical impulses that send signals

around your body) are nothing more than a temporary shift (from
negative to positive) in the neuron’s membrane potential caused
by ions suddenly flowing in and out of the neuron.

* Anaction potential is a rapid rise and subsequent fall in voltage

or membrane potential across a cellular membrane with a
characteristic pattern.

* Sufficient current is required to initiate a voltage response in a

cell membrane; if the current is insufficient to depolarize the
membrane to the threshold level, an action potential will not
fire. (threshold value is approximately -55)
* During the resting state (before an action potential occurs) all of
the gated sodium and potassium channels are closed.
* Thesegated channels are different from the leakage channels,
and only open once an action potential has been triggered.
* Thesechannels are “voltage-gated” because they are open and
closed depends on the voltage difference across the cell
membrane.
* Voltage-gated sodium channels have two gates (gate m and gate
h), while the potassium channel only has one (gate n).
1. Gate m (the activation gate) is normally closed, and opens
when the cell starts to get more positive.
2. Gate h (the deactivation gate) is normally open, and swings
shut when the cells gets too positive.
3. Gate n is normally closed, but slowly opens when the cell is
depolarized (very positive).
* Deactivated (closed) - at rest, channels are deactivated. The
m gate is closed, and does not let sodium ions through.

* Activated (open) - when a current passes through and

changes the voltage difference across a membrane, the
channel will activate and the m gate will open.

* Inactivated(closed) - as the neuron depolarizes, the h gate

swings shut and blocks sodium ions from entering the cell.

*
* Hyperpolarizationis when the membrane potential
becomes more negative at a particular spot on the neuron’s
membrane.

* Depolarization is when the membrane potential becomes

less negative (more positive).

* Repolarization is the change in membrane potential that

returns it to a negative value just after the depolarization
phase of an action potential which has changed the
membrane potential to a positive value.
* Stimulus starts the rapid change in voltage or action potential. In
patch-clamp mode, sufficient current must be administered to the
cell in order to raise the voltage above the threshold voltage to
start membrane depolarization.
* Depolarization is caused by a rapid rise in membrane potential
opening of sodium channels in the cellular membrane, resulting in
a large influx of sodium ions.
* Membrane Repolarization results from rapid sodium channel
inactivation as well as a large efflux of potassium ions resulting
from activated potassium channels.
* Hyperpolarization is a lowered membrane potential caused by the
efflux of potassium ions and closing of the potassium channels.
* Restingstate is when membrane potential returns to the resting
voltage that occurred before the stimulus occurred.

*
* Itrefers to the amount of time it takes for an excitable
membrane to be ready to respond to a second stimulus once it
returns to a resting state.
* Action potentials work on an all-or-none basis. This means that
an action potential is either triggered, or it isn’t – like flipping
a switch.
* When the brain gets really excited, it fires off a lot of signals.
How quickly these signals fire tells us how strong the original
stimulus is - the stronger the signal, the higher the frequency
of action potentials.
* There is a maximum frequency at which a single neuron can
send action potentials, and this is determined by its refractory
periods.

*
* Ionic equilibrium returns
back to resting
potential.
* At this stage the cell
close to new stimuli.
* In the relative period
stimuli that reach over
threshold level can
initiate action potential.

* Absolute refractory
period

* Relative refractory
period
Absolute R P:
* The absolute refractory period corresponds to depolarization and
repolarization
* Time from the opening of the Na+ activation gates until the closing of
inactivation gates.
* The absolute refractory period: –
* Prevents the neuron from generating an action potential – Ensures that
each action potential is separate – Enforces one-way transmission of nerve
impulses.

Relative R P:
* The relative refractory period, which corresponds to hyperpolarization.
* The interval following the absolute refractory period when: –
* Sodium gates are closed
* Potassium gates are open
* Repolarization is occurring
* The threshold level is elevated, allowing strong stimuli to increase the
frequency of action potential events.
* Nerve signals occur in two forms:
* 1. graded potentials
* 2. action potentials

* Graded potentials are important in short distances. Action

potentials are the long distance signals of nerve and muscle
membranes.
* Nerveand muscle cells as well as some endocrine, immune,
and reproductive cells have plasma membranes capable of
producing action potentials.
* These membranes – are called excitable membranes. – Their
ability to generate action potentials is known as excitability.
* All
cells are capable of conducting graded potentials, but
excitable membranes can conduct action potentials.
* Short-lived, local changes in membrane potential.
* Decrease in intensity with distance.
* Their magnitude varies directly with the strength of the
stimulus
* Sufficiently strong graded potentials can initiate action
potentials
* Can only travel short distances
* Voltage changes in graded potentials are gradual
* Current quickly spreads and disappears due to the leaky plasma
membrane

*
* Neurons communicate with one another at junctions
called synapses.
* At a synapse, one neuron sends a message to a target neuron—
another cell.
* Most synapses are chemical; these synapses communicate
using chemical messengers.
* Other synapses are electrical; in these synapses, ions flow
directly between cells.
* At a chemical synapse, an action potential triggers the
presynaptic neuron to release neurotransmitters.
* Thesemolecules bind to receptors on the postsynaptic cell
and make it more or less likely to fire an action potential.

*
* The key difference between chemical and electrical synapse is
their method of transmitting signals.
* Chemical synapse pass signals in the form of chemical molecules
called neurotransmitters while electrical synapse transmits
signals in the form of electrical signals without the use of
molecules.
* The structure of chemical synapse and electrical synapse is also
slightly different from each other due to their mode of action.
Chemical synapses
* Ina chemical synapse, action potentials affect other neurons
via a gap between neurons called a synapse.
* Synapses consist of a presynaptic ending, a synaptic cleft, and a
postsynaptic ending.
* When an action potential is generated, it’s carried along the
axon to a presynaptic ending.
* When an action potential, or nerve impulse, arrives at the
axon terminal, it activates voltage-gated calcium channels in
the cell membrane Ca2+ which is present at a much higher
concentration outside the neuron than inside, rushes into the
cell.

(Stores neurotransmitters)
* The Ca2+ allows synaptic vesicles to fuse with the axon
terminal membrane, releasing neurotransmitter into the
synaptic cleft.

* These molecules of neurotransmitters cross the synaptic cleft

and bind to receptors in the postsynaptic ending of a
dendrite.

* Neurotransmitters can excite the postsynaptic neuron, causing

it to generate an action potential of its own.
Electrical synapses

* Atelectrical synapses, unlike chemical synapses, there is a direct

physical connection between the presynaptic neuron and the
postsynaptic neuron.
* Thisconnection takes the form of a channel called a gap junction,
which allows current—ions—to flow directly from one cell into another.
* Thisgap is much smaller than a synapse, and includes ion channels
which facilitate the direct transmission of a positive electrical signal.
* Electrical synapses transmit signals more rapidly than chemical synapses
do.
* Some synapses are both electrical and chemical. At these synapses, the
electrical response occurs earlier than the chemical response.
* Electrical synapses are less adaptable than chemical synapses since they
can’t switch from excitatory to inhibitory signals.
Neurotransmitter :-

* Neurotransmitters are chemical messengers in the body.

* Their job is to transmit signals from nerve cells to target cells.
* These target cells may be in muscles, glands, or other nerves.
* The brain needs neurotransmitters to regulate many necessary
functions, including: heart rate, breathing, sleep cycles, digestion,
mood, concentration, appetite, muscle movement
* The nervous system controls the body’s organs, psychological functions,
and physical functions.
* Nerve cells fire nerve impulses and release neurotransmitters, which
are chemicals that carry signals to other cells.
* [Link] neurotransmitters “excite” the neuron
and cause it to “fire off the message,” meaning, the message
continues to be passed along to the next cell. Examples of
excitatory neurotransmitters include glutamate, epinephrine
and norepinephrine.

* Inhibitory. Inhibitory neurotransmitters block or prevent the

chemical message from being passed along any farther. Gamma-
aminobutyric acid (GABA), glycine and serotonin are examples
of inhibitory neurotransmitters.

*
Neurotransmitters:

* Fade away (a process called diffusion).

* Are reabsorbed and reused by the nerve cell that
released it (a process called reuptake).
* Arebroken down by enzymes within the synapse so it
can’t be recognized or bind to the receptor cell (a
process called degradation).

*
Neurotransmitters Neurotransmitters

Acetylcholine (ACh) Affects movement, learning, memory, REM sleep

Gaba-Aminobutyric Facilitates neural inhibition in the central nervous system

Acid (too much action potential)

Dopamine (DA) Controls voluntary movements of the body and affects

movement, attention, learning, reinforcement, pleasure

Norepinephrine (NE) Affects eating, alertness, wakefulness

Epinephrine Affects metabolism of glucose, energy release during

exercise.

Serotonin (5HT) Affects mood, sleep, appetite, impulsivity, aggression

5-hydroxytryptamine
* Abnormalities in dopamine transmission is one of the causes of
psychotic disorder, such as schizophrenia.
* Dopamine hypothesis of schizophrenia states that schizophrenia is
caused due to excess activity at dopamine synapses in certain brain
areas.
* Researches have concluded that there is an increase in dopamine
release in people showing the first symptoms of schizophrenia
(hallucinations and delusions).
* Drugs that are most effective in treating schizophrenia, are the most
effective at blocking dopamine receptors.
* This hypothesis is further supported by researches who have
concluded that continuous use of drugs like amphetamine, cocaine,
etc. also show psychotic symptoms and causes substance-induced
psychotic disorder. These drugs increase the activity at dopamine
synapses.

*
* Serotonin plays several roles in your body, including influencing learning,
memory, happiness as well as regulating body temperature, sleep, sexual
behavior and hunger.
* Lack of enough serotonin is thought to play a role in depression, anxiety,
mania and other health conditions.
* High level of serotonin is a condition that happens when serotonin levels
are increased too much.
* It usually happens if you increase the dose of a medication known to
increase serotonin levels or take another drug known to increase
serotonin.
* Mild symptoms include shivering, heavy sweating, confusion,
restlessness, high blood pressure, muscle twitches and diarrhea. Severe
symptoms include high fever, seizures, fainting and abnormal heartbeat.
* Serotonin syndrome can be fatal if it’s severe and not caught early and
treated quickly.

*
*
*Neuroplasticity, also called brain plasticity, refers to the
capacity of the brain to change and adapt in structure and
function in response to learning and experience.

*It is the biological, chemical, and physical capacity for the

brain to reorganize its structure and function.

*Neuroplasticity
occurs as a result of learning, experience
and memory formation, or as a result of damage to the
brain.

*Learning and new experiences cause new neural pathways

to strengthen whereas neural pathways which are used
infrequently become weak and eventually die. This process
is called synaptic pruning.
* Although traditionally associated with changes in childhood,
recent research indicates that mature brains continue to show
plasticity as a result of learning.

* During human development, neuroplasticity provides protective

effects in terms of managing traumas (Cioni et al., 2011).

* Plasticityallows the brain to cope better with the indirect

effects of brain damage resulting from inadequate blood supply
following a stroke.

* Also,learning music or second languages can increase

neuroplasticity (Herholtz & Zatorre, 2012).

* Fundamentally, the nervous system needs to rearrange itself in

order to adapt to the new situation that it faces.
*The brain possesses a remarkable ability to rewire
itself.
*These changes occur at individual neuron
pathways making new connections.
*This occurs in all healthy people, especially children,
as well as after various problems like brain injuries.

* Types of neuroplasticity:
1. Functional : Functional plasticity is the brain's
ability to move
functions from a damaged area of the brain after trauma, to
other undamaged areas. Existing neural pathways that are
inactive or used for other purposes take over and carry out
functions lost because of the injury.

2. Structural : Structural neuroplasticity is the brain's ability to

change its physical structure as a result of learning, involving
reshaping individual neurons (nerve cells).
* The idea goes back the “father of neuroscience,” Santiago
Ramón y Cajal, who talked about “neuronal plasticity” in the
early 1900s.

* He recognized that, brains could indeed change after a person

had reached adulthood.

* During the process of learning something new, our neurons

undergo a process called dendritic branching. This is when the
dendrites of neurons make new connections to other neurons. It
is these connections that enable us to learn and master new
skills.
 * To investigate the effects of the
environment on brain growth and
development (neuroplasticity), Mark
Rosenzweig and his colleagues designed
an experiment where rats were placed in
different cages and lived for 30-60 days
before they were euthanized and a post-
mortem study was conducted to measure
the thickness and heaviness of the brain
cortex as well as the amount of
acetylcholine receptors and synapses.
* In Rosenzweig’s rat experiment, male rats
were chosen from different litters to be
randomly allocated to two different
conditions: enriched condition (EC), and
the deprived condition (DC).

*
* In the EC, there were about 10-12 rats and there were a range of
toys that the rats could play with. This group also received
“maze training”.

* The DC was a cage that was slightly smaller and the rat was alone
and the cage was isolated in a separate room from the other
cages. Both conditions had adequate food and water. The rats
lived in these different conditions for four to ten week periods
(30-60 days).

* Afterthese treatment periods, the rats were autopsied in order

to determine if any differences had developed.

* The rat’s brains were dissected and various sections were

measured, weighed and analyzed to determine the amount of
cell growth and levels of neurotransmitter activity.
* Conclusion of Experiment….

* Rosenzweig found that rats living in the EC developed a heavier

and thicker brain cortex.
* More specifically, the frontal lobes of the rats were heavier and
they had developed more acetylcholine receptors.
* Further studies found that the brain weight of the rats can
increase 7 – 10% and synapses increase by about 20%.
* Neural degeneration is a component of both brain development
and disease.
* Neural degeneration, as it typically occurs, is a complex process:
It is greatly influenced by nearby glial cells, by the activity of the
degenerating neurons and by the particular cause of the
degeneration.
* In the laboratory, however, neural degeneration is often induced
in a simple, controlled way: By cutting axons (i.e., by axotomy).
* Two kinds of neural degeneration, anterograde degeneration
and retrograde degeneration.
* Anterograde degeneration is the degeneration of the distal
segment—the segment of a cut axon from the cut to the synaptic
terminals.
* Retrograde degeneration is the degeneration of the proximal
segment—the segment of a cut axon from the cut back to the
cell body.

*
* Anterograde degeneration occurs quickly following axotomy
because the cut separates the distal segment of the axon from the
cell body, which is the metabolic center of the neuron. The entire
distal segment becomes badly swollen within a few hours, and it
breaks into fragments within a few days.
* The course of retrograde degeneration is different; it progresses
gradually back from the cut to the cell body. These early cell body
changes are either degenerative or regenerative in nature.
* Early degenerative changes to the cell body (e.g., a decrease in
size) suggest that the neuron will ultimately die.
* Early regenerative changes (e.g., an increase in size) indicate that
the cell body is involved in a massive synthesis of the proteins that
will be used to replace the degenerated axon.
* But early regenerative changes in the cell body do not guarantee
the long-term survival of the neuron; if the regenerating axon does
not manage to make synaptic contact with an appropriate target,
the neuron eventually dies.
* Neural regeneration means the regrowth of damaged neurons.

* The capacity for accurate axonal growth, which higher

vertebrates possess during their development, is lost once they
reach maturity.

* In
the mammalian PNS, regrowth from the proximal stump of a
damaged nerve usually begins 2 or 3 days after axonal damage,
once new growth cones have formed.

* What happens next depends on the nature of the injury; there

are three possibilities.

*
* First, if the original Schwann cell myelin sheaths remain intact,
the regenerating peripheral axons grow.
* Second, if the peripheral nerve is severed and the cut ends
become separated by a few millimeters, regenerating axon
tips often grow into incorrect sheaths and are guided by
them to incorrect destinations.
* Third condition, if the
cut ends of a severed mammalian
peripheral nerve become widely separated or if a lengthy
section of the nerve is damaged, there may be no
meaningful regeneration at all.
* Theadult mammalian brains have the ability to reorganize
themselves in response to experience.
* Pons and colleagues (1991) mapped the primary somatosensory
cortex of monkeys whose contralateral arm sensory neurons
had been cut 10 years before.
* This study created a stir because the scale of the
reorganization was far greater than had been assumed to be
possible.
* Theprimary somatosensory cortex face area had expanded its
border by well over a centimeter over the 10-years interval
between surgery and testing.

*
* Equipotentiality is the
theory that the brain has the capacity (in
the case of injury) to transfer functional memory from the
damaged portion of the brain to other undamaged portions of the
brain.
* This hypothesis, put forward by Karl Spence Lashley, is part of
his law of mass action.
* Lashley stated the efficiency of any complex function of the
brain is reduced proportionately to how much damage the brain
as a whole has sustained, not to the damage of any particular
area of the brain.
* Inessence, this states that the storage capacity of the brain is
flexible and much like a computer hard drive, has the capacity to
move stored information to other areas if necessary.

*
* Lashley pioneered experimental work conducted on rats with
surgically induced brain lesions, by damaging or removing
specific areas of a rat’s cortex, either before or after the
animals were trained in mazes and visual discrimination.
* His famously unsuccessful search for the “engram” – the
localized trace of the memory for a maze in a trained rat’s brain
led to the term of Mass Action.
* He concluded with the principle of "mass action," in which
learning is distributed across all parts of the brain rather than
stored in a single regions.
* Lashley made several fundamental discoveries about how the
brain stores and processes information.