The Cells of the Nervous System

Neurons and Glia

 Two kinds of cell in the nervous system
 Neurons – receive information and transmit it to other cells
 Glia – serve many functions
 the human brain contains approximately 86 billion neurons on average

Santiago Ramon y Cajal, a Pioneer of Neuroscience

 one of the main founders of neuroscience
 imprisoned for the crime of not paying his Latent class
 wanted to become an artist but his father insisted him to study medicine; become an
anatomical researcher and illustrator
 his detailed drawings of the nervous system are still considered definitive today
 he used Golgi’s methods (silver salts) on the infant’s brain
 demonstrated that nerve cell remained separate instead of merging from one another

The Structure of an Animal Cell

 Plasma Membrane – surface of a cell; a structure that separates the inside of the cell from the
outside environment
 Nucleus – (except for mammalian red blood cells) the structure that contains the chromosomes
 Mitochondrion – structure that perform metabolic activities, providing the energy that the cell
uses for all activities
o Have genes separate from those nucleus in the cell
 Ribosomes – site within a cell that synthesize new protein molecules
 Endoplasmic Reticulum – a network of thin tubes that transport newly synthesized proteins to
other location

The Structure of a Neuron

 Have long branches extensions
 All neurons include a soma (cell body), and most also have dendrites, an axon, and presynaptic
terminals.
 Motor Neuron – with its some in the spinal cord, receives excitation through its dendrites and
conducts impulses along its axon to a muscle
 Sensory Neuron – specialized at one end to be highly sensitive to a particular type of
stimulation, such as light, sound, or touch.
 Dendrites – branching fibers that gets narrower near their ends (comes from the greek word
“tree”)
o Lined with specialized synaptic receptors, at which the dendrites receives information
from other neurons
o Many dendrites contain dendritic spines – short outgrowths that increase the surface
area available for synapse
 Cell body or Soma – contains the nucleus, ribosomes, and mitochondria
o Most of neuron’s metabolic rate occurs here
 Axon – thin fiber of constant diameter (comes from the greek word “axis”)
 Most vertebrae axons are covered with an insulating material called myelin sheath with
interruptions known as nodes of Ranvier. Invertebrate axons don’t have myelin sheath.
  Presynaptic Terminal – swelling branch at the end of the axon; aka end bulb or bouton
 Afferent axon – brings information into a structure
 Efferent axon – carries information away from the structure
 Interneuron or Intrinsic Neuron – if a cell dendrites and axons are entirely contained within a
single cell structure

Variations among Neurons

 Vary enormously in brain, size, and function
 The shape of a neurons determine its connection with other cells and thereby determines its
function

Gila (or neuroglia)

 Derived from the Greek word meaning “glue”, reflects early investigators’ idea that glia were
like glue that held the neurons together.
 Glia outnumber neurons in the cerebral cortex, but neurons outnumbered glia in several other
brain areas, especially the cerebrum. Overall, the numbers are almost equal.
 There are several types of Glia
 Astrocytes (star-shaped) – wraps around the synapses of functionally related axons. By
surrounding a connection between neurons, an astrocytes shields it from chemical circulating in
the surrounds. It is important for generating rhythms such as your rhythm of breathing.
 Microglia – tiny cells that act as part of the immune system, removing viruses and fungi from
the brain.
 Oligodendrocytes in the brain spinal cord and Schwann Cells in the periphery of the body build
the myelin sheaths that surround and insulate certain vertebrate axons. Also supply an axon
with nutrients necessary for functioning.
 Radial Glia – guide the migration of neurons and their axons and dendrites during embryonic
development.

The Blood-Brain Barrier

 The mechanism that excludes most chemicals from the vertebrate brain

Why do we need a Blood-Brain Barrier?

 Extrude virus particles through the membrane so that the immune system can find them to kill it
and the cell that contains it.
 However, certain viruses do cross the blood-brain barrier. It infects the brain and leads to death.
 When rabies virus invades the blood-brain barriers-leads to death.
 Microglia-fights the virus without killing the neurons
 Chicken pox virus enters spinal cord cells, viruses merge from the spinal cord decades causing
painful condition called SHINGLES

How the Blood Brain Barrier Works?

 Depend on endothelial cells (form the wall of the capillaries)
 Cells are separated by small gaps (in the brain they are joined so tightly)
 Useful chemicals (fuels and amino acids-the building blocks for proteins)
 For these chemical to cross the blood brain barrier, the brain needs special mechanism.
 Most large molecules and electrically charged molecules cannot cross from the blood to the
brain.
  Oxygen and Carbon dioxide cross easily, a scan certain fat-soluble molecules. Active transport (a
protein-mediated process that expends energy pump chemicals from the blood into the brain)
systems pump glucose and amino acids across the membrane.
 Most cells use a variety of carbohydrates
 Vertebrae neurons depend almost entirely on glucose
 (cancer cells and the testes cells that make sperm also rely on glucose)
 Metabolizing glucose requires oxygen
 Glucose is the only nutrient that crosses the blood barrier in large quantities. To use glucose the
body needs Vitamin B1, thiamine. Prolonged thiamine deficiency (common among those who
are alcoholic) leads to death of neurons or Korsakoff’s syndrome, marked by severe memory
impairments

RESTING POTENTIAL OF THE NEURON

 All parts of a neuron are covered by a membrane about 8 nanometers (nm) thick.
 The membrane is composed of two layers ( free to float relative to each other) of
o Phospholipid molecules -containing chains of fatty acid. Embedded among phospholipid
are cylindrical protein molecules through which certain chemicals can pass
o Phosphate group

THE MEMBRANE OF THE NEURON

Embedded in the membrane are protein channels that permit certain ions to cross through the
membrane at a controlled rate

THE RESTING POTENTIAL

 POLARIZATION – a difference in electrical charges between inside and outside of the cell
 The electrical potential inside the membrane is slightly negative with respect to the outside
o (because of negatively charged proteins inside the cell. The sodium-potassium pump
movessodium ions out of the neuron, and potassium ions.)
 Resting potential – difference in voltage

FORCES ACTING ON SODIUM AND POTASSIUM IONS

 Selective permeability – Some chemicals pass through it more freely than others do.
o like oxygen,carbon dioxide ,urea and water cross freely through channels that are
always open
o Sodium, potassium,calcium and chloride ,cross thru mermbrane channels that are
sometimes open and closed.
 When the membrane is at rest what happened?

When a channel open, it permits some type of ion to

cross the membrane. When it closes, it prevents
passage of that ion .
FORCES ACTING ON SODIUM AND POTASSIUM IONS

 THE SODIUM - POTASSIUM PUMP – a protein complex repeatedly transports three sodium ions
of the cell while drawing two potassium ions into it.
o It is an active transport that requires energy.
o Effective only because of selective permeability of the membrane.
o When the neuron is at rest , two forces act on Sodium
 1. Consider the electrical gradient. Sodium is positively charged, and the inside
is negatively charged ( this makes pull the sodium into the cell-opposite
electrical charges attract)
 2. Consider the concentration gradient -the difference in distribution of ions
across the membrane
o Potassium is subject to potassium forces
o Potassium is positively charged and the inside of the cellis negatively charged, electrical
gradient tends to pull potassium in.
o If the potassium channels were wide open, potassium would have a small net flow out
of the cell.

Sodium ions are more concentrated outside the neuron,

and potassium ions more concentrated inside. Protein
and chloride ions ( not shown) bear negative charges
inside the cell. At rest ,almost no sodium ions cross the
membrane except by the sodium-potassium pump.
Potassium tends to flow into the cell because of an
electrical gradient but tends to flow out because of the
concentration gradient. However ,potassium gates
retard the floe of potassium when membrane is at rest.

THE ACTION POTENTIAL

 ACTION POTENTIAL – When the membrane is sufficiently depolarized to each cell's threshhold,
sodium and pottassium channels open. Sodium ions enter rapidly ,reducing and reversing the
charge across the membrane.
 Increasing the negative charge inside the neuron may change it into:
o hyperpolarization-increase polarization

THE ALL OR NON- LAW

 The amplitude and velocity of an action potential are independent of the intensity of the
stimulus that initiated it.
THE MOLECULAR BASIS OF THE ACTION POTENTIAL
1. At the start, sodium ions are mostly outside the neuron, and potassium ions are mostly inside.
2. When the mebrane is depolarized,sodium and potassium channels in the membrane open.
3. At the peak of the action potential ,the sodium channels close
ACTION POTENTIAL
 After the peak of the action potential, the membrane returns toward its original level of
polarization because of the outflow of potassium ions.

PROPAGATION OF THE ACTION POTENTIAL

 This describes the transmission of an action potential down an axon. The propagation of an
animal species is the production of offspring.
 At first the opening of potassium channels produces little effect
 Opening sodium channels lets sodium ions rush into the axon
 Positive charge flows down the axon and opens voltage sodium channels at the next point
 At the peak of the action potential, the sodium gates snap shut. They remain closed for the next
millisecond or so despite of the polarization of the membrane
 Because voltage -gated potassium channels remain open ,potassium ions flow out of the axon,
returning the membrane towards its original depolarization
 A few milliseconds later, the voltage -dependent potassium channels close.

The Myelin Sheath and Saltatory Conduction

 In axons that are covered with myelin, action potentials form only in the nodes that separate
myelinated segments. Transmission in mylinated axons is faster than unmyelinated
 Myelin- an insulating materialcomposed of fats and protein
 Myelinated axon- those covered with myelin sheath
 Nodes of Ranvier short section of axon

LOCAL NEURONS
 Local neurons – Neurons without an axon exchange information with only their closest
neighbors
 Because they do not have an axon, they do not follow the all or non-law
 When local neurons receives information from other neurons it has graded potential
 Graded potential – a membrane potential that varies in magnitude in proportion to the intensity
of the stimulus