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Neurons – A whistle-stop Tour
Above: Structure of a typical neuron
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ http://www.google.co.nz/imgres?imgurl=http://cwx.prenhall.com/bookbind/pubbooks/morris5/medialib/images/F02_01.jpg&imgrefurl=http://http://www.google.co.nz/images?q=neuron&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla http://www.google.co.nz/imgres?imgurl=http://www.faqs.org/photo-dict/photofiles/list/667/1077neuron.jpg
stained pyramidal neurons in cerebral cortex
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nR0m7rYZ_aY&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLxU80ge7vg&feature=player_embedded
By the end of this session you should be able to answer the following:
What is: An axon?What is a ‘spike’?
How many molecules are there in a neurotransmitter?
What does a dendrite do?Why is there a picture of a AA battery on this page?
What is in the synaptic cleft?Is synaptic transmission electrical, chemical, or both?
By the
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Synaptic Transmission
Neurons communicate by chemical and electrical synapses when an electrical impulse is transmitted from one neuron to another along the AXON. This happens at a molecular level.
At synapses, the ends of axons (called axon terminals) nearly, but not actually touch the next neuron. Axon terminals contain many synaptic vesicules loaded with 2000 molecules of a specialised compound called a neurotransmitter. An electrical impulse called a ‘spike’ sends electrical impulses down the axon.Waiting for the ‘spike’ from the neurotransmitter is a receiver, called the dendrite. Between the axon terminal of one neuron and the dendrite is a tiny saltwater-filled gap called the synaptic cleft.
The brain can transmit between 400 to 1,200 spikes per second, but cannot go at the top rate for more than a few seconds. A typical ‘spike’ requires 70 millivolts , or one-twentieth of the power in an AA battery.(adapted from The Accidental Mind, D.J. Linden)
How Neurons Work