Control of Animal

Processes:
Neural Control
Broad Overview
Coordinates of Dr. Dorina Szuroczki

E-mail: No office hours, send email

dszuroczki@brock or post question of
u.ca discussion (Brightspace)
A bit about myself...
A little about me
Tentative Topic Schedule:
Weeks Topics
Jan 8-19 Introduction to neural control
Part 1&2
Jan 22 - Central Nervous System
26
Jan 29 – Neurotoxins & Leaning &
Feb 2 Memory Part 1
Feb 5 – 9 LTPLearning & Memory Part 2
Consolidation
Feb 12 - Human Memory
16
Feb 19 – Winter Break
23
Feb 26 – Online Midterm (see
March 1 Brightspace for details)
April 6
March 4 - LTR Consolidation
Central Nervous System (CNS)

• “Heart” of the course

• Sensing of the environment leading to rapid,
specific communication between cells in
multicellular organisms is the domain of the
nervous system
Why It Matters . . .behaviour requires complex
interactions of cells within the nervous system
 Information Flow in
Nervous Systems: An
Overview

• Neurons and their

organization in nervous
systems
• Action potentials: A unique
feature of excitable cells
• Conduction of action
potentials along neurons
Nervous System
• Cells that make up the nervous system are
responsible for receiving, analyzing, and
transmitting information
• These functions result from the activities of only
two major cell types: neurons and glial cells
• In most animals, these cells are organized into
complex networks called nervous systems
Nervous System (cont’d)
• In the peripheral nervous system (PNS), the long
slender projections of neurons (axons) are bundled
into cablelike projections (nerves)
• Nerves provide a common pathway between
different structures and the CNS
• In the CNS, networks are organized into ganglia and
brains
Four Functions of the Animal
Nervous System
• Communication between cells in an animal by neural
signaling, involves flow of information at 2 levels: within a
neuronal cell (or neuron) and between neurons in networks or
circuits
• In most animals, the 4 components of neural signaling are:
1. Reception (PNS)
• Detection of a stimulus
2. Integration (CNS)
• Integrates information to formulate appropriate response
Four Functions of the Animal Nervous
System (cont’d)
3. Transmission (CNS)
• Conducts message along neurons
4. Response (body)
• Transmits signal to effector organs to
produce a response
Neuron Structure
• The dendrites, and often the cell body, receive
signals (“reception”) and integrate and
transmit them toward the spike initiation
zone/axon hillock
• Axons (“transmission”)
• Conduct signals away from the spike
initiation zone to another neuron or an
effector
• Spike initiation zone/Axon hillock
(“integration”): the first site along the
neuron capable of generating an action
potential (i.e., sending info down the
axon)
Types of Neurons
•Afferent neurons (sensory neurons) – “incoming
email”
•Conduct information from sensory receptors to
interneurons
•Interneurons – “processing”
•Integrate the information into a response
•Efferent neurons (motor neurons) – “response sent”
•Carry response signals to effectors which carry out
the response
Neural Signals: Steps in Processing
of Information in Single Neurons
Efferent: Afferent:

[Insert Fig. 45.1 on p. 1201]

A Basic Neuron Circuit
• Connections between the axon terminals of one
neuron and the dendrite of another, link neurons into
a neuronal circuit. These circuits involve the same 4
components of neuronal signaling just at a higher
level
• An afferent neuron, an interneuron, and an
efferent neuron make up a basic circuit
• Circuits combine into networks that interconnect the
peripheral and central nervous systems
Neural
Signaling
Neurons are supported structurally
and functionally by Glial Cells
•Glial cells
• Non-neuronal cells that provide nutrition
and support to neurons
•2 types: Astrocytes (“star-like”)
•Help maintain ion balance surrounding
neurons
•Oligodendrocytes, Schwann cells
 Schwann Cell

[Insert Fig. 45.4 on p. 1203]

• Myelinated neurons have Schwann cells that coat the

axon in a myelin sheath
• Acts as an electrical insulator
• As many as 300 overlapping layers of the
 Resting Membrane Potential of a
Cell
• Membrane potential of a cell results
from the unequal distribution of
positive and negative charges on
either side of the membrane
• This establishes a potential
difference, or a “resting potential”
across the membrane
• In all cells at rest, there is more K+
ions inside, and more Na+ ions
 Resting Potential of Neurons
• Ions cannot just cross the membrane;
they need protein embedded in the
membrane – different types:
1. Na+/K+ active transport pump (pumps
3 Na+ out and 2 K+ in using energy)
• Sets up a concentration gradient
of Na+ ions (higher outside) and
K+ ions (higher inside) = a steady
resting membrane potential
(unequal distribution inside vs.
Resting Potential of Neurons
2. Some channels are always open - allows K+ to flow out
freely (ion diffuse along concentration gradient)
• because of their positive charge though, they are pulled
back in = electrochemical gradient
3. Some channels need a signal to open or close like an
electrical change in the membrane (voltage-gated
channels), some need physical forces etc.
• In a resting nerve cell membrane, all the sodium gates
are closed and some of the potassium gates are open.
AS A RESULT, sodium cannot diffuse through the
Resting Potential
Graded Membrane Potentials
• Changes in membrane potential due to changes in membrane
permeability or flow of ions are called graded potentials
• In neurons, graded potentials are part of the integration that
takes place in dendrites and cell bodies
• If more +ively charged ions enter the cell, or – ions leave, then

the charge across the membrane will become less – and the
membrane will be less polarized (depolarized)
• If more –ively charged ions enter, while + ions leave, then =

membrane will become more -, or more polarized

(hyperpolarized)
Changes in Membrane Potential Due
to Changes in Ion Permeability

Less –ive as there are more + ions inside

[Insert
cell Fig. 45.6 on p. 1204]
Ions restored to initial levels

Less +ive as there are more - ions inside

cell
An Action Potential Is Rapid and
Reversible
• Although graded potentials
cannot be transmitted over long
distances, action potentials can
• Action potentials are initiated in
the neuron at the spike initiation
zone (i.e., sums up the total
signal received)
• If this sum exceeds the limiting
threshold, the action potential is
triggered
Membrane Potential During an
Action Potential
Producing an Action Potential
1. When the membrane is at the
resting potential, the activation
gates of Na+ and K+ channels
are closed
• As a depolarizing stimulus (e.g. a
neurotransmitter) raises the
membrane potential to threshold,
the activation gates of Na+ and
K+ channel open
• This causes a burst of Na+ ions
to flow into the axon along its
Producing an Action Potential
2. Once above threshold, more
Na+ channels open along the
axon, causing a rapid flow of
positive charges that raises the
membrane potential toward the
peak of the action potential
Producing an Action Potential
3. Once at peak, the change in
charge at the plasma membrane
causes the Na+ channels to
inactivate- stops the inward flow of
Na+
• At the same time, activated K+
channels allow K+ to flow
outward in response to its
concentration gradient
• The refractory period now
begins (keeps impulses flowing
Producing an Action Potential
4. The outward flow of K+
along its concentration
gradient compensates for the
inward movement of Na+ ions
and causes the membrane
potential to begin to fall
Producing an Action Potential
5. As the membrane potential reaches
the resting value, the activation gate
of the Na+ channel closes and the
inactivation gate opens
• In most neurons, the K+ activation
gate remains open and K+ continues
to flow outward for a brief period of
time after the membrane reaches the
resting membrane potential
• Causes hyperpolarization, where the
membrane dips below resting
Producing an Action Potential
6. Closure of the K+ activation
gate stabilizes the membrane
potential at the resting value
• The refractory period has
ended and the membrane is
now ready for another action
potential
Propagation of Action Potential
•Action potentials move along an axon
as the ion flows generated in one
segment depolarize the potential in the
next segment
How stimuli change the resting
membrane potential
Action potential Summary video