Lecture notes
INTRODUCTION TO NEUROSCIENCE
- Institution
- University Of Portsmouth (UoP)
This document contains learning background on the brain specifically on the neurons.
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INTRODUCTION TO NEUROSCIENCE ANDPHARMACOLOGY
NEURONS
● Neuroscience is the study of the body’s nervous system.
● Neurons are the basic structure of the nervous system.
● The nervous system controls every aspect of human behaviour;
curiosity, pain, emotions, learning, reasoning, fear, movement, so
on…
Level of Analysis
● Molecular
,INTRODUCTION TO NEUROSCIENCE AND
PHARMACOLOGY
● Cellular
● Systems
● Behavioural
● Cognitive
Cost of Ignorance
Nervous System Disorders
● Alzheimer’s disease: A progressive degenerative disease of the
brain, characterized as dementia(memory loss) and always fatal.
● Parkinson disease: A progressive degenerative disease of the
brain that leads to difficulty in initiating voluntary movement.
● Multiple Sclerosis: A progressive disease that affects nerve
conduction, characterized by episodes of weakness, lack of
coordination and speech disturbance.
● Depression: A serious disorder of mood, characterised as
insomnia (difficulty in sleeping), loss of appetite and feeling of
dejection.
● Epilepsy: A condition characterized by periodic disturbance of
brain electrical activity that can lead to seizures.
● Stroke: A loss of brain function caused by disruption of blood
supply, usually leading to permanent sensory, motor or cognitive
deficit.
● Cerebral palsy: A motor disorder caused by damage of the
cerebrum at the time of birth.
● Spinal paralysis: Loss of feeling and movement caused by
traumatic damage of the spinal cord.
,INTRODUCTION TO NEUROSCIENCE AND
PHARMACOLOGY
● Schizophrenia: A severe psychotic illness characterized by
delusion, hallucinations and bizarre behaviour.
CELLS WHICH MAKE UP THE NERVOUS SYSTEM
Neurons and Glia
● Neurons
1. Process information.
2. Command body response.
3. Sense environmental changes.
4. Communicate changes to other neurons.
● Glia
1. Insulates, supports, nourishes, contributes to the
regulation of neurons.
THE NEURON DOCTRINE
● The Neuron is the basic functional unit of the Brain.
● Brain function and human behaviour arises from the
communication between different types of neurons.
● Neurons communicate using;
1. Electrical signals.
2. Chemical signals.
● There are 100 billion neurons in our brain.
, INTRODUCTION TO NEUROSCIENCE AND
PHARMACOLOGY
● Each neuron has between 1,000 to 10,000 connections to
other neurons called the neural pathways.
THE TYPICAL NEURON
A typical neuron is composed of;
1. Soma(cell body)
2. Dendrites
3. Axon.
SOMA (CELL BODY)
Composes of;
● Cytosol: Watery fluid inside the cell.
● Cytoplasm: Contents within a cell membrane(eg.
Organelles, excluding nucleus).
● Organelles: Membrane-enclosed structures within the
soma.
● Ribosomes: Small granular structures. Critical in protein
biosynthesis (translation of mRNA = protein)
ORGANELLES
● THE NUCLEUS
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