Neuroscience Exploring the Brain Chapter 2

Outnumber neurons 10:1, insulate, support, and nourish neurons, repair injuries, remove debris

Process information, sense environmental change, communicate changes to other neurons, command body's response to environment

Neurons and Glia

Neurons Basic Functional Units of Nervous System
Conform to Cell Theory
Communicate through synapses

Nissl Stain - stains nucleolus (rRNA) and Nissl bodies (ribosomes, RER)
Golgi Stain - silver chromate stains .5% of neurons

Golgi stain
Nervous system composed of continuous reticulum (wrong)

Neurons exist in discrete entities, communicate by contact

Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopy
Two-Photon Miscroscopy
Electron Microscopy (resolution .1nm)

Protein synthesis in soma and dendrites
RER - translation for export and insertion into plasma membrane
Free Ribosomes - translation for relsea into cytosplasm and transport to nucleus

Cellular respiration in soma, axons, axon terminals, dendrites
Pyruvic acid for Krebs Cycle
ADP + P --> ATP
17 ATP per 1 pyruvic acid

Phospholipid bilary 5nm thick
Varying protein composition influences neuronal function

Microtubules 20nm - alpha and beta tubulin monomers through acon and neurites, polymerization and depolymerization, regulated by MAPs
Neurofilmanets 10nm - three protein strands of dimer filaments, strong, cell shape, least dynamic
Microfilmanets 5nm - two strains of polymerized actin monomers, dynamically regulate cell shape, anchored to membranes

Alzheimer's
Stabilizes microtubules
Abnormal lead to aggregation and microtubule disintegration

Axon hillock, axon proper, axon terminal
No ER
Distinct protein composition
No microtubules in terminals
Synaptic vesicles in terminals
Membrane proteins in terminals
Large number of mitochondria in terminals

Point of contact separated by 20nm called synaptic cleft
Information transmission from presynaptic to postsynaptic