• Shuffle
    Toggle On
    Toggle Off
  • Alphabetize
    Toggle On
    Toggle Off
  • Front First
    Toggle On
    Toggle Off
  • Both Sides
    Toggle On
    Toggle Off
  • Read
    Toggle On
    Toggle Off
Reading...
Front

Card Range To Study

through

image

Play button

image

Play button

image

Progress

1/42

Click to flip

Use LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys to navigate between flashcards;

Use UP and DOWN arrow keys to flip the card;

H to show hint;

A reads text to speech;

42 Cards in this Set

  • Front
  • Back
Synaptic transmission
Process of information transfer at a synapse
Electrical synapse
Electrical current from one neuron to the next (Edward Furshpan and David Potter)
Chemical synapse
Otto Loewi. Frog experiment.
Gap junctions
Where electrical synapses occur (specialized sites). The membranes of two cells are separated by only about 3nm, and this narrow gap is spanned by clusters of special proteins called connexins.
Gap junction channel
Allos ions to pass directly from the cytoplasm of one cell to the cytoplasm of the others. The pore of most gap junctions is relatively large.
Postsynaptic potential (PSP)
When 2 neurons are electrically coupled, an action potential in the presynaptic neuron causes a small amt of ionic current to flow across the gap junction channels into the other neuron.
Secretory granules
Larger vesicles about 100 nm in diameter. Contain soluble protein that appears dark in the electron (dense-core vesicles)
Membrane differentations
Dense accumulations of protein adjacent to and within the membranes on either side of the synaptic cleft
Active zones
Actual site of neurotransmitter release
Postsynaptic density
Protein thickly accumulated in and just under the postsynaptic membrane
Neuromuscular junction
Chemical synapses that occur between the axons of motor neurons of the spinal cord and skeletal muscle.
Glu, GABA, Gly, ACh
Amino acids that mediate fast synaptic transmission at most CNS synapses
Transporters
Special proteins embedded in the vesicle membrane. Concentrate neurotransmitters inside the vesicle.
Voltage-gated calcium channels
Opened in active zone by depolarization of the terminal membrane. Large inward driving force of Ca2+
Exocytosis
Vesicles release their contents into synaptic cleft.
Endocytosis
Recovers vesicle membrane and recycles vesicle (filled again with neurotransmitter)
Transmitter-gated ion channels
Receptors are membrane spanning proteins consisting of four or five subunits that come together to form a pore between them. Without neurotransmitter, pore is usually closed. When NT present, slight twist = open
Excitatory Post Synaptic Potential (EPSP)
A transient postsynaptic membrane depolarization caused by the presynaptic release of neurotransmitters
Inhibitory Post Synaptic Potential (IPSP)
A transient hyperpolarization of the postsynaptic membrane potential caused by the presynaptic release of neurotransmitter
Autoreceptors
Presynaptic receptors that are sensitive to the neurotransmitter released by the presynaptic terminal
Second messengers
Enzymes that synthesize molecules
Metabotropic Receptors
Protein-coupled receptors that trigger widespread metabolic effects
Neuropharmacology
Study of the effects of drugs on nervous system tissue
Inhibitors
Proteins that inhibit the normal function of receptors
Receptor antagonists
Inhibitors of neurotransmitter receptors
Receptor agonists
Mimic actions of naturally occurring neurotransmitter
Nicotinic ACh receptors
the ACh-gated ion channels in muscle receptors
Synaptic integration
Process by which multiple synaptic potentials combine within one postsynaptic neuron
Mini PSP
Exocytosis can occur without presynaptic stimulation leading to a slow release of neurotransmitter. The response from the postsynaptic cell = mini
Quantal analysis
A method of comparing the amplitudes of minis and evoked postsynaptic potentials = determine how many vesicales release neurotransmitter during normal synaptic transmission
EPSP Summation
The simplest form of synaptic integration in the CNS. There are 2 types, spatial and temporal
Spatial summation
Adding together of EPSPs generated simultaneously at many different synapses on a dendrite.
Temporal summation
Adding together of EPSPs generated at the same synapse if they occur in rapid succesion, wihtin about 1-15msec of one another
Length constant
The distance (lambda) where the depolarization is 37% of that at the origin
Internal resistance
the resistance to current flowing longitudinally down the dendrite (r[i])
Membrane resistance
The resistance to current flowing across the membrane
Shunting inhibition
Prevents the current from flowing through the soma to the axon hillock
Modulation
A synaptic transmission that modifies the effectiveness of EPSPs generated by other synapses with transmitter-gated ion channels.
Norepinephrine (NE)
Amine neurotransmitter
Adenylyl Cyclase
Catalyzes the chemical reaction that converts ATP into cAMP
Protein Kinases
Catalyze a chemical reaction called phosphorylation.
Phosphorylation
The transfer of phosphate groups from ATP to specific site on cell proteins.