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| Five research perspectives |
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Description (structural, functional)
Evolution
Development
Mechanisms
Applications |
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| The process by which an individual changes in the course of its lifetime - that is, grows up and grows old. |
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An approach to finding relations between body variables and behavioral variables that involves manipulating body structure or function and looking for resultant changes in behavior. |
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An approach to finding relations between body variables and behavioral variables that involves intervening in the behavior of an organism and looking for resultant changes in body structure or function. |
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| An equation predicting the voltage needed to just counterbalance the diffusion force pushing an ion across a semipermeable membrane from the side with a high concentration to the side with a low concentration |
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| an increase in membrane potential (the interior of the neuron becomes even more negative |
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| A reduction in membrane potential (the interior of the neuron becomes less negative) |
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| an electrical potential that is initiated by stimulation at a specific site, which is a graded response that spreads passively across the cell membrane, decreasing in strength with time and distance |
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| the stimulus intensity that is just adequate to trigger an action potential at the axon hillock |
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| the fact that the amplitude of the action potential is independent of the magnitude of the stimulus |
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| the positive or negative change in membrane potential that may follow an action potential |
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| voltage-gated Na+ channel |
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Definition
| a Na+ - selective channel that opens or closes in response to changes in voltage of the local membrane potential; it mediates the action potential |
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| transiently inactivated or exhausted |
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| absolute refractory phase |
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Definition
| a brief period of complete insensitivity to stimuli |
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| relative refractory phase |
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Definition
| a period of reduced sensitivity during which only strong stimulation produces an action potential |
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| a genetic abnormality of ion channels, causing a variety of symptoms |
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| a toxin from puffer fish ovaries that blocks the voltage-gated sodium channel, preventing action potential conduction |
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| an animal toxin that blocks sodium channels when applied to the outer surface of the cell membrane |
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| a toxin, produced by poison arrow frogs, that selectively interferes with Na+ channels |
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| the speed at which an action potential is propagated along the length of an axon (or section of peripheral nerve) |
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| a gap between successive segments of the myelin sheath where the axon membrane is exposed |
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| the form of conduction that is characteristic of myelinated axons, in which the action potential jumps from one node of Ranvier to the next |
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| a local potential that is initiated by stimulation at a synapse, can vary in amplitude, and spreads passively across the cell membrane, decreasing in strength with time and distance. |
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| also called gap junction. The region between neurons where the presynaptic adn postynaptic membranes are so close that the action potential can jump to the postsynaptic membrane without first being translated into a chemical message. |
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excitatory postsynaptic potential
(EPSP) |
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Definition
| a depolarizing potential in the postsynaptic neuron that is caused by excitatory presynaptic potentials. EPSPs increase the probability that the postsynaptic neuron will fire an action potential. |
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Definition
| the brief delay between the arrival of an action potential at the axon terminal and the creation of a postsynaptic potential |
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inhibitory postsynaptic potential
(IPSP) |
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Definition
| a hyperpolarizing potential in the postsynaptic neuron that is caused by inhibitory connections. IPSPs decrease the probability that the postsynaptic neuron will fire an action potential. |
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Definition
| the summation at the axon hillock of postsynaptic potentials from across the cell body. if this summation reaches threshold, an action potential is triggered. |
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| the summation of postsynaptic potentials that reach the axon hillock at different times. The closer in time that the potentials occur, the more complete the summation. |
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| the process by which synaptic neurotransmitter is repackaged into synaptic vesicles. |
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| a substance that binds to receptor molecules, such as those at the surface of the cell |
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| any substance, produced within the body, that selectively binds to the type of receptor that is under study. |
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| any substance, originating from outside the body, that selectively binds to the type of receptor that is under study. |
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| a neurotransmitter produced and released by parasympathetic postganglionic neurons, by motoneurons, and by neurons throughout the brain |
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| also called receptor. A protein that captures and reacts to molecules of a neurotransmitter or hormone. |
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| an alkaloid neurotoxin that causes paralysis by blocking acetylcholine receptors in muscle |
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| a neurotoxin, isolated from the venom of the banded krait, that selectively blocs acetylcholine receptors. |
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| a molecule, usually a drug, that binds a receptor molecule and initiates a response like that of another molecule, usually a neurotransmitter. |
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| a molecule, usually a drug, that interferes with or prevents the action of a transmitter |
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| a molecule, usually a drug, that interferes with or prevents the action of a transmitter |
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| Referring to cells that use acetylcholine as their synaptic transmitter |
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Definition
| a compensatory increase in receptor availability at the synapses of a neuron. |
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| a compensatory reduction in receptor availability at the synapses of a neuron |
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Definition
| a receptor protein that includes an ion channel that is opened when the receptor is bound by an appropriate ligand. |
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| also known as chemically gated ion channel. an ion channel that opens or closes in response to the presence of a particular chemical. |
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| a receptor protein that does not contain an ion channel but may, when activated, use a G protein system to alter the functioning of the postsynaptic cell. |
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| A class of proteins that reside next to the intracellular portion of a receptor and that are activated when the receptor binds an appropriate ligand on the extracellular surface. |
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| A class of proteins that reside next to the intracellular portion of a receptor and that are activated when the receptor binds an appropriate ligand on the extracellular surface. |
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| A slow-acting substance in the postsynaptic cell that amplifies the effects of synaptic activity and signals synaptic activity within the postsynaptic cell |
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| the chemical breakdown of a neurotransmitter into inactive metabolites |
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| the process by which released synaptic transmitter molecules are taken up and reused by the presynaptic neuron, thus stopping synaptic activity |
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| specialized receptors in the presynaptic membrane that recognize transmitter molecules and return them to the presynaptic neuron for reuse |
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| referring to a synapse in which a presynaptic axon terminal synapses onto a dendrite of the postsynaptic neuron, either via a dendritic spine or directly onto the dendrite itself |
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| referring to a synapse in which a presynaptic axon terminal synapses onto the cell body (soma) of the postsynaptic neuron |
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Definition
| referring to a synapse in which a presynaptic axon terminal synapses onto another axon's terminal |
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