cerebral cortex has more than a billion neurons. Each of these neurons are connected by synapses. These synapses are connected to several thousand other neurons. Neurons communicate with one another by sending messages through long fibers called axons. These axons send messages by sending pulses out. The function of the brain is to have control over the other organs of the body. Some basic types of responsiveness such as reflexes can be mediated…
Let’s talk a little about how similar a tree in our backyards is to a neuron in our brain. A human brain cell has close to 100 billion neurons. If that’s not impressive, I don’t know what else is. The parts of a neuron are much like the parts of a tree in many ways. The word dendrite is a greek term meaning “tree-like.” The dendrite is much like the branches on a tree because just like branches on a tree receives nutrients through the tree to the leaves to help grow more leaves, a dendrite grows…
pathway is further divided into three levels of neurons for transmission: The first level is where the sensation is translated into an electrical impulse from pseudounipolar neurons branching from the skin leading to the dorsal root ganglion where its axons synapses with the neuron at…
significant in understanding how the neurons in our body work. They used a giant squid axon because it’s big and therefore makes it easier to measure voltages across the membrane of a cell. It help to understand how the action potential is reached by the cell by using an electrode measuring inside the cell and the ion flux content that’s outside the cell. Since nerve cells in humans are extremely small, they used giant squid axons to get a better understanding of how the electrical signal is…
I. Introduction Action potentials are generated as a result of a neuron’s membrane reaching a specific threshold. In order to reach this threshold, a cell must depolarize. Typically, cells depolarize with the opening of voltage-gated sodium channels. During the rising phase of the action potential, these channels allow positive sodium ions to flow into the cell in what is called the depolarization phase. The flow of these ions into the cell is often referred to as the sodium current. Once the…
effect on our mood and behavior. The neuron is composed of 5 main parts, the cell body, dendrite, the axon, myelin sheath, terminal buttons, all are composed together to form the…
innervated by a motor neuron (motor nerve). It plays a key role in body movement and breathing along with our nervous system. The synaptic knob, motor end plate, and the synaptic cleft are all key parts of the neuromuscular junction. The synaptic knob of an axon connects with a skeletal muscle fiber to form the neuromuscular junction. The synaptic knob has numerous synaptic vesicles that are filled with the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. The synaptic knob also contains calcium pumps and…
then the axon carries the action potential to its terminal buttons, and finally a neurotransmitter will be released. The neurons will send information, so it can travel down the axon and away from the body of the cell. The main goal of an action potential is to have a thought be created by the end of the process. A depolarizing current is created when an action potential explodes with electrical activity. It is important to remember that the transferring of ions across and through the axon walls…
Immune Mediated Development of Guillain-Barré Syndrome Guillain-Barré syndrome is an acute inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy that presents with ascending motor weakness, sensory abnormalities, and loss of reflexes. Guillain-Barré syndrome can be divided into 4 major clinically distinct forms: acute inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (AIDP), the Miller Fisher syndrome (MFS), acute motor axonal neuropathy (AMAN), and acute sensorimotor axonal neuropathy (AMSAN). There are a…
(efferent) nerves are further divided into two; somatic system (voluntary control) and autonomic system (involuntary control). (Fig. 1: Microscopic images of nerve cells and axons.) Nerves convey messages…