Specific Neurotransmitters

Acetylcholine
Chemical Structure: an ester of acetic acid and choline ("cholinergic")
Place of Action: Both CNS and PNS; only transmitter used in motor movement; important nervous transmitter
Main Effects of Postsynaptic Neurons: excites muscles; assists our brain and nervous action
Disorders (Too Much/Little): memory loss (Alzheimer), and muscle fatigue/weakness (myasthenia gravis)

Norepinephrine

Chemical Structure: Adrenergic

Place of Action: sugar stores (in all cells), 

Main Effects of Postsynaptic Neurons: increased heart rate

Disorders (Too Much/Little):

Dopamine

Chemical Structure:

Place of Action:

Main Effects of Postsynaptic Neurons:

Disorders (Too Much/Little):

Serotonin

Chemical Structure:

Place of Action:

Main Effects of Postsynaptic Neurons:

Disorders (Too Much/Little):

GABA

Chemical Structure:

Place of Action:

Main Effects of Postsynaptic Neurons:

Disorders (Too Much/Little):

Glutamate

Chemical Structure:

Place of Action:

Main Effects of Postsynaptic Neurons:

Disorders (Too Much/Little):

Glycine

Chemical Structure:

Place of Action:

Main Effects of Postsynaptic Neurons:

Disorders (Too Much/Little):

Endorphins

Chemical Structure:

Place of Action:

Main Effects of Postsynaptic Neurons:

Disorders (Too Much/Little):

screw it. just gonna take a hit for the 1-2 questions this will be on the test. not wasting an hour looking this up

Neuroanatomy Unit III Sect. I

Going clear back to the beginning of Unit III and working my way through. Hopefully I've made it easy to understand where I'm at.


 Name three main functions of nervous system.
Sensory input- gathering information
Integration- interpretation
Motor output- making the body respond to those stimuli

 Describe anatomical organization of nervous system (central and peripheral) and
its components.
Central Nervous System (CNS)- brain and spinal cord
Peripheral NS- everything that used to communicate with the brain and spine

 Describe physiological organization of peripheral nervous system (afferent, efferent). Explain the role of afferent division of PNS and compare its visceral and somatic components. Explain the role of efferent division of PNS and compare its autonomic (visceral) and somatic components. Name two branches of autonomic nervous system and explain their roles in regulation of body functions.
PNS has two parts:
Afferent- carrying impulses to the CNS, has both conscious and unconscious components
Efferent- carrying impulses to the PNS, also has intentional (ie somatic) and automatic parts
The autonomic part is then split into sympathetic (emergencies) and parasympathetic (relaxation) systems

 Describe the cellular components of a neuron (body, axon, dendrite, axon hillock
and synaptic knob).
Neuron body- contains nucleus and organelles, conducts charge to some degree
Axon- carries impulse away from neuron body
Dendrite- carries impulse into neuron body
Axon hillock- where axon begins, sending off the initial charge
synaptic knob- end of axon, releasing neurotransmitters when activated

 Describe three types of neurons based on their structure, explain their function.
Unipolar- axon divides into two, found in the brain and spine
Bipolar- has both a long axon and a long dendrite, found in eye and nose (sensory)
Multipolar- many small dendrites and a long axon, most common

 Give functional classification of neurons (motor, sensory and interneurons). Give
example using reflex arc.
Word for word:
Sensory- afferent neurons
Motor- efferent neurons
Interneurons- associated neurons
Touching a stove triggers reflexive arch, the hard wired, unconscious response necessary when an immediate response is required.

 Explain the following terms: electricity, voltage (potential difference), current, resistance, polarity, electrical gradient, and chemical gradient.
Electricity- stationary or moving electrons and protons
Voltage- electric potential: the difference in electrical charge between two points in a circuit expressed in volts
Current- a flow of electricity through a conductor; "the current was measured in amperes"
Resistance- a material's opposition to the flow of electric current
Polarity- having a pair of equal and opposite charges
Electrical gradient- the difference in electrical charge (valence) across the membrane
Chemical gradient- a difference in the bulk concentration of an ionic species on either side of the membrane

 Name different types of plasma membrane ion channels and explain how they function; give examples. Compare intracellular and extracellular concentration of sodium, potassium and chloride ions. Comment on the membrane permeability for these ions at rest. Explain physiological bases for resting membrane potential.
What ion is mostly responsible for it? Is the resting membrane potential a truly
restful state or is it an active process? What is the role of sodium-potassium
pump in this process? What is the numerical value of resting membrane potential
in a neuron?
There are passive and active ion channels. Passive means that the ions flow with the gradient (electrical and chemical). Most of the time the sodium (Na) and potassium (K) are flowing in these directions. Since these ions (Na and K) they don't want to go up the gradient, they have to be actively transported by pumps in order to reset the cell.
Normally there is too much K inside the cell and too much Na outside the cell. This is what creates the gradients.
Potassium is responsible for the resting membrane potential because it flows out more than sodium flows in.
Maintaining a resting state requires a good effort because these two ions are always trying to slip in/out and having to be pumped back.
Resting membrane potential= -70mV

Unit III for my own Reference

Unit III - Neurophysiology
 Name three main functions of nervous system.
 Describe anatomical organization of nervous system (central and peripheral) and
its components.
 Describe physiological organization of peripheral nervous system (afferent,
efferent).  Explain the role of afferent division of PNS and compare its visceral
and somatic components. Explain the role of efferent division of PNS and
compare its autonomic (visceral) and somatic components.  Name two branches
of autonomic nervous system and explain their roles in regulation of body
functions.
 Describe the cellular components of a neuron (body, axon, dendrite, axon hillock
and synaptic knob).
 Describe three types of neurons based on their structure, explain their function.
 Give functional classification of neurons (motor, sensory and interneurons).  Give
example using reflex arc.
 Explain the following terms: electricity, voltage (potential difference), current,
resistance, polarity, electrical gradient, and chemical gradient.
 Name different types of plasma membrane ion channels and explain how they
function; give examples.  Compare intracellular and extracellular concentration of
sodium, potassium and chloride ions.  Comment on the membrane permeability
for these ions at rest.  Explain physiological bases for resting membrane potential.
What ion is mostly responsible for it?  Is the resting membrane potential a truly
restful state or is it an active process?  What is the role of sodium-potassium
pump in this process?  What is the numerical value of resting membrane potential
in a neuron?
 Define depolarization and hyperpolarization and explain how they are affected by
the change in the membrane permeability of different ions.
 Explain how is the permeability of sodium and potassium voltage-gated channels
regulated.  Describe three states of sodium voltage-gated channels.
 Define action potential.  Name the phases of action potential in a neuron. Explain
their ionic bases. Where action potential is normally generated? What is the role
of sodium-potassium pump in this process?
 Explain the “All or None” principle. Give examples of subthreshold and threshold
impulses.  Will the stronger stimulus case a larger action potential? How is the
strength of a stimulus transmitted in the nervous system?
 Define absolute and relative refractory period.  Explain the ionic bases for these
phenomena.
 Define the terms insulator and conductor.  Give examples.
 Explain how the action potential is spreads along the axon, why does it normally
spread in only one direction, why it is said to be self-propagating and nondecremental?
 Explain the structure and function of myelin.  Compare the speed of conductance
in myelinated and unmyelinated axons.  Explain physiological bases for saltatory
conduction.
 Compare A, B and C fibers.
 Explain what causes action potentials? Is it a spontaneous change or is it caused
by the change in the environment?  Compare graded and action potential.  Name
two types of graded potentials.  BIO 231  Dr. Tanya McVay
 Define receptors and classify them according to the type of energy to which they
respond.  Describe how generator potentials are produced and explore their effects
on action potential production.
 Compare phasic and tonic receptors. Define sensory adaptation.
 Explain how different types of stimuli are conveyed to CNS: type of sensation,
place of origin of sensation and strength of stimulus.
 Explain how the stimulus is passed from one neuron to the other.  Compare
chemical and electrical synapses.
 Identify the parts of the synapse. Explain the mechanism of synaptic transmission.
What is the role of calcium ion in this process?  What is the role of
neurotransmitter?
 Explain how is synaptic transmission terminated.  What are the means by which
the neurotransmitter is removed from the synaptic cleft?
 Explore the following neurotransmitters based on their chemical structure, place
of action, main effects on postsynaptic neurons: Acetylcholine, norepinephrine,
dopamine, serotonin, GABA, glutamate, glycine and endorphins.  Name disorders
associated with their inadequate production.
 Compare excitatory postsynaptic potentials and inhibitory postsynaptic potentials.
 Name three types of synapses based on their location on a neuron.  
 Compare graded potentials (generator and postsynaptic) and action potentials.
 Define neuronal pool and explain how neuronal recruitment relates to the strength
of the stimulus.  Name four types of neuronal circuits.  Explain the difference
between the serial and parallel processing.

Pancreas and Minor Endocrine Glands

Ok so since the final is tomorrow I guess that I should start putting up the other sections!

 Explore gross and microscopic anatomy of pancreas. Compare hormones to

enzymes produces there. List hormones of the pancreas*. Recall the normal

fasting level of blood glucose and explain how insulin* and glucagon* maintain

this concentration. Relate insulin insufficiency to diabetes type I and II. What are

the symptoms in patients with this disorder and how do they relate to insulin

function? What preventative measures can be taken by diabetic patients and

people at risk?

Anatomy- because the pancreas has both endocrine and exocrine glands it has both types of setup on the microscopic level. The outside of cell groups are exocrine, that all circle/focus around a central canal that they disperse their hormones into. The middle area, aka the Islets of Langerhans, is an endocrine area.

Hormones of pancreas:

     Glucagon- raises blood sugar levels. Breaks down glycogen, fatty acids and fat into sugar. Acts on 2nd messenger (cAMP).

     Insulin- "Store fuel for later." Activates tyrosine kinase in cells that makes them increase glucose uptake, increase glycogen synthesis, increase ATP amounts from glucose, increase amino acid uptake and protein production, and increase fat production.

     Somatostatin- an inhibitory hormone

     Pancreatic polypeptide- self regulate the pancreas secretion activities

Normal fasting sugar level- 80mg/dL

Insulin and glucagon maintain homeostasis through humoral regulation. Not much more to say on that...

Diabetes mellitus- lack of insulin production, forcing body to use fatty acids as food. Manifests in frequent peeing, sugary urine, constant thirst, and constant hunger. All of this is because the body cannot hold onto sugars.

     Type 1- autoimmune destruction of pancreatic B cells (the insulin producers)

     Type 2- abnormal insulin that is either not recognized or is destroyed by immune system

Preventative measures: lose weight (most important since obesity and diabetes work together well) by eating healthy and exercising. Remind them that they have the power to keep their diabetes under control and the horrible things that can happen if they don't :D

 List minor endocrine glands, their hormones and major effects on the body.

The only list I could find to address this is under the heading, General Organization of the Endocrine System (Unit IV Lec. I). If there are more please let me know.

Adipose tissue- lipton (appetite control) and resistin (controls energy homeostasis)

Intestinal wall- cholecystokinin (triggered by fats, tells gallbladder to release digestive enzymes)

Stomach- gastrin (stimulates gastric acid production), histamine (triggers inflammatory response), endorphins (happy drug), serotonin (another happy hormone), cholecystokinin (fat digestion), and somatostatin (inhibitory hormone)

Kidney- erythropoietin (red blood cell production) and calcitriol (tells body to absorb calcium and put it in the blood)

Heart- Atrial natriuretic peptide and brain type natriuretic peptide both lower blood pressure

I'm pretty sure she said that we only have to know the main one but since she didn't have the "most important one" in her notes I covered all of them.