3: Neurons and

Synapses

Brain and Behavior

David Eagleman
Jonathan Downar
Chapter Outline
 The Cells of the Brain
 Synaptic Transmission: Chemical
Signaling in the Brain
 Spikes: Electrical Signaling in the Brain
 What Do Spikes Mean? The Neural Code
 Individuals and Populations

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The Cells of the Brain
 Neurons: A Close-Up View
 Many Different Types of Neurons
 Glial Cells

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Neurons: A Close-Up View
 Ramon y Cajal established the Neuron
Doctrine, which states that the brain is
made of many small, discrete cells.
 There are almost 100 billion neurons in the
human brain.
 These neurons are like any other cell in
the body, with a membrane, a nucleus,
and specialized organelles.
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Neurons: A Close-Up View

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Neurons: A Close-Up View
 Neurons have four important regions.
 Dendrites: Branching projections that collect
information

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Neurons: A Close-Up View
 Neurons have four important regions.
 Soma (Cell Body): Contains the nucleus and
integrates information

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Neurons: A Close-Up View
 Neurons have four important regions.
 Axon: Conducts the neural signal across a
long distance

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Neurons: A Close-Up View
 Neurons have four important regions.
 Axon terminals: Small swellings that release
signals to affect other neurons
 Chemical signals, known as neurotransmitters,
cross small gaps, known as synapses.
 It is estimated that there are about 500 trillion

synapses in the adult brain.

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Neurons: A Close-Up View

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Many Different Types of Neurons
 Neurons can be classified by their
function:
 Sensory neurons carry information to the
brain.
 Motor neurons carry information from the
brain to the muscles.
 Interneurons convey the signals around the
nervous system.

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Many Different Types of Neurons

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Many Different Types of Neurons
 Neurons can be classified by their shape:
 Multipolarneurons have many dendrites.
 Bipolar neurons have one dendrite and one
axon.
 Monopolar neurons have only one projection
from the soma, which branches to form the
axon and the dendrite.

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Many Different Types of Neurons

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Glial Cells
 Glia play many roles within the nervous
system:
 Speeding up the neuronal signaling
 Regulating extracellular chemicals
 Enabling neurons to modify their connections

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Glial Cells
 Oligodendrocytes, in the central nervous
system, and Schwann cells, in the
peripheral nervous system, wrap myelin
around axons to speed up signals.
 Nodes of Ranvier are small gaps in the
myelin sheath.

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Glial Cells

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Glial Cells
 Astrocytes regulate extracellular chemicals
and regulate local blood flow.
 Microglia provide immune system
functions for the central nervous system.

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Synaptic Transmission: Chemical
Signaling in the Brain
 Release of Neurotransmitter at the
Synapse
 Types of Neurotransmitters
 Receptors
 Postsynaptic Potentials

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Release of Neurotransmitter at
the Synapse
 Neurotransmitters are chemicals released
by the presynaptic cell to affect the
postsynaptic cell.
 The synaptic cleft is the 20- to 30-nm
space between the cells.
 The small size of the synaptic cleft allows
the concentration of the neurotransmitter
to change rapidly.
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Release of Neurotransmitter at
the Synapse

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Types of Neurotransmitters
 There are small-molecular-weight
neurotransmitters, such as monoamines
and amino acids, soluble gases, such as
NO and CO, and large-molecular-weight
neurotransmitters, which are peptides.
 Most neurons release one or two small
transmitters as well as a peptide.

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Types of Neurotransmitters

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Receptors
 Specialized proteins in the cell membrane
 Neurotransmitters interact with receptors
to affect the postsynaptic cell.
 Ionotropic receptors allow ions to flow
across the membrane, changing the
charge of the cell membrane.
 Metabotropic receptors relay information
into the cell using a series of proteins.
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Receptors

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Receptors
 Neurotransmitters only bind to receptors
for a short time and need a way to be
removed.
 Degradation: The neurotransmitter is broken
apart.
 Diffusion: The neurotransmitter moves down
the concentration gradient and out of the
synapse.
 Reuptake: Neurotransmitter is transported
back into the original cell. 26
Receptors

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Postsynaptic Potentials
 When at rest, there is a voltage difference
between the inside and the outside of the
cell.
 The inside of the cell is more negative
than the outside, about -70 mV.

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Postsynaptic Potentials
 Excitatory postsynaptic potentials alter the
membrane voltage, moving the voltage
closer to 0.
 Inhibitory postsynaptic potentials move the
voltage further from 0.
 Postsynaptic potentials are small (about 1
mV) and fast (a few milliseconds).

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Postsynaptic Potentials

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Spikes: Electrical Signaling in the
Brain
 Adding up the Signals
 How an Action Potential Travels
 Myelinating Axons to Make the Action
Potential Travel Faster
 Action Potentials Reach the Terminals and
Cause Neurotransmitter Release

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Adding up the Signals
 Action potentials are all or none.
 EPSPs and IPSPs combine to affect the
membrane voltage.
 In temporal summation, PSPs arriving at
the soma at close to the same time are
combined.
 In spatial summation, PSPs arriving at
different locations on the soma are
combined. 32
Adding up the Signals

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Adding up the Signals
 The soma receives 100s or 1000s of PSPs
at a time.
 EPSPs sum together to depolarize the cell
(move the voltage closer to 0).
 If the membrane voltage reaches
threshold (approximately -60 mV), an
action potential is generated at the axon
hillock.
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How an Action Potential Travels
 In neurons at rest, there are more Na+
ions outside the cell and more K+ ions
inside the cell.
 At threshold, voltage-gated Na+ channels
open, allowing Na+ ions to flow into the
cell, down the chemical concentration and
electrical gradients.
 Voltage-gated K+ channels open, allowing
K+ ions to flow out of the cell.
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How an Action Potential Travels

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How an Action Potential Travels
 The current formed by the Na+ ions flows
down the neuron, depolarizing the next
part of the neuron.
 There is a refractory period after the action
potential, when the voltage-gated Na+ ion
channels are less likely to open.
 Calcium and chloride ions also contribute
to the action potential.
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Myelinating Axons to Make the
Action Potential Travel Faster
 Myelin is interrupted by gaps, known as
nodes of Ranvier, where the action
potential is regenerated.
 The action potential jumps from node to
node, greatly speeding up transmission.
 Myelination decreases the amount of
energy used by the neuron.

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Myelinating Axons to Make the
Action Potential Travel Faster

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Action Potentials Cause
Neurotransmitter Release
 Action potentials cause voltage changes in
the axon terminals, causing voltage-gated
calcium channels to open.
 Calcium ions cause vesicles with
neurotransmitters to bind to the
presynaptic membrane.
 Neurotransmitters are released and cross
the synapse.
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Action Potentials Cause
Neurotransmitter Release

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What Do Spikes Mean? The
Neural Code
 Encoding Stimuli in Spikes
 Decoding Spikes

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Encoding Stimuli in Spikes
 In the brain, there are approximately 100
billion neurons, each sending up to a few
hundred action potentials per second.
 The number of spikes per second is used
to describe the neuron’s response to a
stimulus.

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Encoding Stimuli in Spikes

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Encoding Stimuli in Spikes
 Neurons have a baseline level of activity,
so the neuron can either increase or
decrease the firing rate.
 Research suggests that there may be
other coding methods.

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Encoding Stimuli in Spikes

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Decoding Spikes
 A typical neuron receives 10,000 incoming
synapses.
 Neurons may be responding not to
individual input but to the average input.

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Decoding Spikes

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Individuals and Populations
 Populations of Neurons
 Forming a Coalition: What Constitutes a
Group?
 Open Questions for Future Investigation

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Populations of Neurons
 Local coding is the idea that stimuli in the
outside world are encoded by different
neurons.
 Population coding is the idea that each
stimulus is represented by a collection of
neurons.
 Each individual neuron many participate in
multiple collections of neurons.
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Forming a Coalition: What
Constitutes a Group?
 Neurons can be mutually excitatory or a
coalition of neurons can support the high
firing rate of the population.
 Neurons may form a coalition by firing in
synchrony.

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Forming a Coalition: What
Constitutes a Group?

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Open Questions for Future
Investigation
 At present, the neural code is not
understood.
 Why do neurons have random changes in
membrane voltage?
 What is the role of the non-spiking
neurons in the brain?
 What is the role of glia in information
processing?
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