Lecture #3

Chapter 2
Neuroscience and Behavior

-Basic premise: everything psychological is simultaneously biological

-Behavior, thought, mood, etc... is the product of activity among billions and billions of
interconnected cells called neurons.
___________ myelin sheath terminal branches of axon
__________| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||/-------------<
__________|cell body |_____axon _______________________-----------------<
__________|___________|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||\__________
dendrites ->->neural impulses->->

-How do neurons communicate?

-Each neuron contains:
-a cell body
-two types of branching fibers
-dendrites: receive messages from other cells and pass it to
the cell body
-short bushes of fiber
-axon: passes neural message (information) from the cell
body and passes it to the other neurons, muscles or
glands
-can be short or long (e.g. short in brain, long in leg)
-extensions of the neuron
-usually end in terminal branch
-many axons are covered in a fatty substance, called
myelin (the myelin sheath)
-increases speed of neural message traveling along
the axon (neural conduction)
-as you get older, you get more and more myelin
-cells with no myelin = gray matter, cells with
myelin = white matter
-Multiple Sclerosis - decay of the myelin - causes
lots of problems: loss of motor and mental
abilities

How do neurons work?

- the neuron fires a brief electrical impulse when stimulated by heat, light, sound,
pressure, chemicals, etc. (e.g. you put your finger near a flame)
-the impulse is called an action potential
-Occurs in one part of the neuron, then travels the length of the neuron (down the
axon) to the next cell
 -the brain is bathed in salt water - inside and outside each cell are ions (charged
particles)
+ + + sodium and chloride + + + (outside axon)
- - - - potassium- - - - - - - (inside axon)
+ + + sodium and chloride + + + (outside axon)

-when the cell is at rest, the inside o f the cell is more negatively charged than the
outside, because the positively charged sodium ions are kept outside the cell
-the cell becomes less negative when stimulated, because channels in the cell
open up allowing positive sodium ions outside to flow inside -> this causes the
cell to depolarize -> if it depolarizes enough, it triggers an action potential

-e.g.
+++++++++ - ---++++++
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -> +++++-------
++++++++++ -------+++++

-once a cell depolarizes in one part, it triggers the next part to open its sodium
channels to depolarize that part - this carries the action potential down the length
of the cell
-an action potential in one part of the cell triggers succeeding action potentials in
adjacent parts of the cell, which is how the neural message is carried along the
cell
-after the action potential: pumps move the sodium outside and the potassium
inside so the cell is polarized once again

-How does a message communicate with the next cell?

-the axon terminals of the sending cell are filled with round sacks (vesicles) which
contain a chemical (neurotransmitter)
-an action potential causes the vesicles to move down the terminal fibers and
release the neurotransmitter
-the axon terminals of the sending cell almost but not quite touch the surface of
the receiving cell - the gap is called a synapse
-the neurotransmitter travels across the synapse into the receptors in the dendrites
of the next cell

The axon terminals of one cell almost, but not quite, tough the surface of another cell -
the gap is called the synapse - when an action potential reaches the axon terminal, the
even causes vesicles, containing neurotransmitters, to release the neurotransmitter,
which flows out of the sending neuron, across the synapse to the receptor sites on the
receiving neuron - that process can trigger an action potential in the receiving neurons

-different neurotransmitters fit into particular receptors “like a key in a lock”

-how do they know what path to take?
-paths are laid down by genetics
 -memory/experience can also lay down neural paths
-There are at least seventy -five types of neurotransmitters
-e.g. serotonin and dopamine
-both are related to mood disorders
-both are in the limbic system
-both have their own neurons that they like to stimulate
-neurotransmitters have receptor sites that they fit into like a key in a lock
-the two effects a neurotransmitter can have:
1.) Excitatory - makes an action potential more likely to happen - allows
sodium to flow into the cell e.g. acetylcholine (ACh) is released at
muscle junctures and activates the movements of muscles
2.) Inhibitory - makes an action potential less likely to happen-
hyperpolarizes the cell, e.g. GABA makes cells stop firing to
inhibit activity

The all or none principle

-any given cell can receive both excitory and inhibitory neurotransmitters
-to fire, a receiving cell must receive more excitatory than inhibitory
neurotransmitters and they must exceed the threshold
- if it does not exceed the threshold the cell will not fire
-strong excitation does not case stronger action potentials
-like a gun: the trigger must be pulled past a certain point in order for it to fire,
and it will not fire differently depending on how the trigger is pulled
-it explains a lot of our behavior when we take chemicals that affect
neurotransmitters

Drugs and Poisons

-Poisons that affect ACh
1)Curare - poison used in hunting by natives - paralyses prey
-is chemically similar to ACh - it fits into the ACh receptor sites but will
not cause the sodium channels to open - blocks ACh from working
-ACh antagonist - it blocks the action of ACh
2)Botulin (botulinum toxin)
-comes from improperly canned food
-blocks release of ACh from the axon terminal
-causes paralysis, loss of feeling, and sometimes death (the heart and lungs
are paralyzed)
-used in bo-tox cosmetic treatments - smoothes out wrinkles by paralyzing
the face
-can also relieve some diseases
3)Venom of the Black Widow spider
-causes convulsions
-causes ACh to flood across the axon terminal - mass activation of
muscles
-you can convulse to violently that you die
-take home point: these 3 poisons have 3 different effects on the same
neurotransmitter