CHAPTER 41: NEURAL SIGNALING

The Nervous System

 Animal’s nervous system transmit information (stimuli) into the spinal cord and
the brain (and in turn respond to it)
 Composed mainly of neurons and glial cells
- How an animal responds to stimuli is dependent on how neurons are
organized and connected to each other
- A vertebrate’s brain is a forest of neurons interconnected to one another;
a single neuron may be functionally connected to thousands of other
neurons
 The endocrine system works with the nervous system to regulate many
processes
 The ability of an animal to survive its own environment and maintain
homeostasis is highly dependent to its capacity to detect and respond to
stimuli
 Neurobiology is a multidisciplinary area of research that studies the cells of the
nervous system and its organization
 Some neurobiologists focus on the cognitive and emotional aspects of the
brain
 Other researchers focus on neurogenesis, the production of new neurons
- They study neurodegenerative diseases (diseases that affect neurons)
like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s that plagues our population
Neural Signaling
 Overview
 Responses to stimuli depend on information transfer by neural networks
- Thousands of stimuli bombard an animal, the info from each stimulus
must be transmitted into the nervous system, and then from the nervous
system to the muscle and glands
 Neural signaling involves four processes
- Reception of a stimulus by sensory receptors
 Detection of changes in the environment (stimulus) like changes
in temperature, light, sound, odor, or movement
 Hunger, pain, and changes in blood pressure or glucose levels
are counted as stimuli
- Transmission to/from the Central Nervous System (CNS) along
afferent/efferent neurons
 Afferent: senses stimuli then converting it to electrical signals,
these neurons pass the info to the CNS for processing and
integration (sensory neurons to CNS)
  Efferent: transport signals from the CNS to the effectors (muscle
for movement or glands for the secretion of hormones and of
other macromolecules) (CNS to motor neurons)
- Integration of info in the CNS by interneurons (processing info)
- Action by effectors (muscles or glands)
- Transmission happens twice (before=afferent and after=efferent
integration)

 Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)

- Composed of sensory receptors and afferent and efferent neurons
 Afferent neurons transmit info from the sensory receptors to the
CNS are called sensory neurons (info -> electrical impulses/nerve
impulses -> CNS)
 Efferent neurons that carry signals from the CNS to skeletal
muscle are called motor neurons (CNS -> efferent -> effectors)
(movement of the skeletal muscles, motor neurons will serve as
the efferent neuron)
Neurons and Glial Cells
 Neurons are highly specialized cells designed to receive and transmit electrical
signals called nerve impulses or action potential into a particular target (CNS or
effectors)
 Parts:
- Cell body/Soma: where the bulk of the cytoplasm and the nucleus can
be seen; this is where common metabolic processes such as ATP
production is done
 Typically, there are two types of processes/cytoplasmic
extensions project from the body; dendrites and axon
- Dendrites: highly branched cytoplasmic processes specialized to
receive stimuli from a certain source like a sensory organ or another
neuron, and send signals to the cell body; The cell body
integrates/processes incoming signals
- Axon: long cytoplasmic process that conducts nerve impulses away
from the cell body to another neuron, muscle or gland; They are thin, but
can be as long as a meter (depends on the target of the nerve impulse)
 The axon can divide into axon collaterals. At its end, the axon
forms many branches, called terminal branches, that end in
synaptic (axon) terminals
 Typically connected to the dendrite of another neuron
 Synaptic terminals release neurotransmitters (chemical signals
that contain the info that was translated into the nerve impulse;
signals in a neuron are electrical in nature however neurons need
to transform these electrical signals to chemical when transferring
the said impulse into the next neuron or effector) that transmit
signals from one neuron to another (or to an effector)
 The junction between a synaptic terminal and another
neuron (or effector) is called a synapse
 Electrical signals are inherently fast but its speed is not enough;
the survival of the animal highly depends on the efficiency and
speed of a neuron in transporting info or impulses
 Axons outside the CNS are surrounded by Schwann cells
 Schwann cells are a variety of glial cells whose main
purpose is to speed up transmission of the nerve impulses
through the axon
 These cells wrap their plasma membrane into the axon,
creating the myelin sheath
 Gaps in the myelin sheath (nodes of Ranvier) between
Schwann cells are not insulated with myelin
 The myelin sheath is a cover that insulate the axon from
electrical impulses
 Nerve impulses jump into areas without the
insulation/myelin sheath; these areas are called the nodes
of Ranvier; because of this, the speed of the transmission
of the nerve impulses are considerably accelerated
Neurogenesis
 Production of new neuron does not occur in the CNS after birth…an obsolete
idea
 Several decades ago, the idea that neurons regenerate is far-fetched; dati,
iniisip na neurons were created during the developmental stages in the womb,
and stop right before child birth; however recent research suggest that this is an
obsolete idea
 Fernando Nottebohm (1970s) found that birds produce new neurons daily in
the brain center that regulates their songs
 One of the earliest research about neurogenesis in adult animals
 This was dismissed because they believe that this only happens to birds,
and not in other higher forms of organisms
 Elizabeth Gould demonstrated neuron proliferation in primates
 She and her team examined that rats in early investigations may have been
in a state of stress (stress damages the brain and inhibits mitosis in
neurons)
- This negates previous research regarding neurogenesis in rats and its
connection to mammals
 Neurobiologists now agree that neurogenesis occurs regularly in adult
mammalian brains even after birth
 Neurogenesis is hampered by stress (extreme stresses such as malnutrition and
extreme emotional stresses such as the removal of rat offspring from their
mother; nevertheless, stress can hamper your growth as a human – extreme
pressure, malnutrition, or not sleeping on the designated time of sleep for
humans)
Nerve and Tracts
 Nerve
 Hundreds-thousands of axons wrapped together in connective tissue
 Within the CNS, bundles of axons are called tracts or pathways rather than
nerves
 Outside the CNS, cell bodies of neurons are usually grouped in ganglia (PNS)
 Inside the CNS, collections of cell bodies are called nuclei rather than
ganglia
Glial Cells
 Collectively termed as the neuroglia, glial cells carry out major regulatory
functions
 Glial cells were previously thought to be passive cells in the nervous system
whose main function is to support and protect the neurons
 More than 75% of the cells in the human CNS are glial cells; however, they only
account for 50% of the system’s volume due to the sheer size of the neurons
 Testament to the complexity of our brain in terms of its development, plasticity,
and maintenance
 4 Types of Glial Cells
1. Astrocytes
- Most numerous glial cells, and are often star-shaped
- Provide physical support for neurons and supply the neurons with
nutrients
- Help regulate composition of extracellular fluid in CNS by removing
excess potassium ions
- Form tight junctions in the blood-brain barrier (highly selective semi-
permeable border of the endothelial cells that prevents the solutes in the
circulating blood from entering the extracellular fluid of the CNS)
- Help regulate the self-cleaning mechanisms of the cerebrospinal fluid
- Participate in information signaling with the neurons via gap junctions
and with signaling molecules (electrical signals are relatively weak;
however, communication is still possible through chemical signals and
are sensitive to neurotransmitters)
- Play a role in neural development by guiding the neurons into their
specific sites; function as stem cells in brain/spinal cord; induce synapse
formation in the brain for learning and memory; these cells are very
important to neural plasticity (ability of our brain to change and learn)
2. Oligodendrocytes
- Glial cells that form insulating myelin sheaths around the axons of the
neurons in the CNS
 Speed transmission of neural impulses
 Not to be mistaken with Schwann cells; Schwann cells are
responsible for the myelin sheath on neurons on the PNS
- In the neurological disease, multiple sclerosis (MS; one of the most
common demyelinating disease in the world; affecting 36/100,000
indivs), patches of myelin deteriorate at irregular intervals along axons in
the CNS and are replaced by scar tissue
 Symptoms: blurred vision, fatigue, numbness, muscle spasm, and
mobility problems

3. Ependymal Cells
- Ciliated glial cells that line internal cavities of the CNS
 Help produce and circulate cerebrospinal fluid of vertebrates
- Recent research also suggest that ependymal cells might function as
neural stem cells and have the potential to differentiate to neurons or
other glial cells
 4. Microglia
- Acts as protection of the CNS from foreign pathogens, and removes cell
debris
- Specialized macrophage near blood vessels
 When activated, they may release signaling molecules that
mediate inflammation that help the delivery of other immune cells
into the affected area
- Influences brain development via the destruction of unnecessary
neurons in the brain
- Important in mediating responses to injury or disease

CHAPTER 42: EVOLUTION

Nervous System
 Millions of neurons work together to transmit information from the external
environment to the central nervous system
 After the information is integrated, neural signals are transmitted to effectors
that produce responses (movement or encoding the idea to our memory)
 Nervous systems also monitor and regulates our organs, heart rate,
breathing, hunger, shivering of the muscles in response to cold temperature
and hundreds of other internal activities to maintain homeostasis
 We use different tools to study neural function
 Examples of which are PET/Positron emission tomography scan (helps
reveal how our internal organs like the brain function with the use of
radioactive tracers) and fMRI/Functional magnetic resonance imaging (uses
gigantic MyoNets to measure brain activity at a given time)
Invertebrate Nervous System
 Nerve net (cnidarians such as hydras and jellyfishes)
  Interconnected neurons with no central control organ
 Control movements
 Advantage: cnidarian can respond to predator or prey approaching from any
direction, thus quickly adjusting their responses (can also detect possible
meals nearby)
 Radial Nervous System
 Found in echinoderms such as sea stars
 Consists of a nerve ring around the mouth from which a large radial nerve
extends into each arm
 Modified nerve net with some selective organization of neurons

 Bilateral Nervous System

 The head region contains cerebral ganglia that serve as a primitive brain for
the flatworms
 Two solid, ventral (underside), longitudinal nerve cords extend from the
cerebral ganglia to the posterior (back) end, connected by finely transverse
nerves
 Found in platyhelminths or flatworms
 First time of cephalization that can be seen
- Cephalization is when the sense organs are focused in the front, thus
creating the head

 Annelids and Arthropods

 Possesses a solid ventral nerve cord
 Cell bodies of many neurons are massed into ganglia; afferent and efferent
neurons lie in lateral nerves
 Cerebral ganglia (brain) have regions specialized for integrating information
transmitted to the ganglia from sense organs
  Bodily functions are governed by the cerebral ganglia; if you decapitate
them, they will continue to live; however, they do not respond adaptively to
the changes of the environment

 Mollusks and Cephalopods (octopuses and squids)

 Have complex nervous systems that include well-developed sense organs
(innervated/supplied with sensory neurons)
 Can be compatible to the nervous system of the vertebrates cuz of its
complexity
 The brain is present in cephalopods which makes them the smartest
invertebrates in the sea (aliens sa movies are sometimes octopuses)
Trends in Evolution
 Increased number of nerve cells (and complexity)
 Concentration of nerve cells forming the ganglia (grouped together in a specific
part)
 Specialization of function of the nerve cells, such as afferent (acquire
environmental or internal stimuli) and efferent (transport the directives of their
ganglia, cerebral ganglia or brain into the effectors such as muscles) nerves,
and its effectors
 Increased number of interneurons and more complex synaptic contacts
(increased connections; connections are as important as the neurons)
 Cephalization or formation of a head where majority of the neurons are located
concentrates sense organs at the front end of the body
 it has the most complex interneuron connections cuz as multicellular
organisms evolve, numerous sensory organs develop at the front of the
organism relative to the direction of its movement; this is for the organism to
respond to the environment more quickly while moving
 These trends don’t happen individually for a species or as an individual step in
the evolutionary ladder. Previous trends are pre-requisites for the next trend, but
it doesn’t stop there, it continues to take place in more complex organisms like
vertebrates
Vertebrate Nervous System
 2 main divisions
 Central Nervous System (CNS)
- Highly developed brain
- Dorsal, tubular spinal cord
 Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)
- Sensory receptors
- Nerves
 Peripheral Nervous System
 Outside the brain and the spinal cord
 Connected to the CNS for processing
 Body parts are linked to the brain by cranial nerves, and to the spinal cord
by spinal nerves
 Afferent (sensory) neurons inform the CNS of changing conditions;
efferent neurons transmit instructions from the CNS to effectors, which
maintain homeostasis
 Sub-divided into two divisions: Somatic and Autonomic Divisions
 Somatic Division
 Concerned with changes in the external environment
 It is involved in the relay of sensory and motor information to and from the
CNS (afferent and efferent neurons)
 Autonomic Division
 Regulates the internal environment (our body)
 2 kinds of efferent pathways: (antagonistic to each other)
- Sympathetic Nervous System
 Stimulates the organs and mobilize the use of energy
 Fight or flight response
- Parasympathetic Nervous System
 Influences the organs to conserve and restore energy
 Rest and digest response