Concept Questions

List the major subdivisions of the human nervous system.

What two organs make up the central nervous system?

Contrast the somatic nervous system with the autonomic nervous system.

What are the five main types of glia?

Describe the myelin sheath found on some nerve fibres.

What is a neurilemma?

Describe the three different forms of Schwann cells.

What is the difference between an axon and a dendrite?

What are three structural categories of neurons?

What are the three main functional categories of neurons?

What are the essential components of a reflex arc?

What are the three layers of connective tissues that hold the fibres of a nerve together?

What is the difference between a nerve and a tract?

How does white matter differ from grey matter?

Under what circumstances can a nerve fibre be repaired?

What mechanisms are involved in producing the resting membrane potential?

In a resting neuron, what positive ion is most abundant inside the plasma membrane?

How does depolarisation of a membrane differ from hyperpolarisation?

List the events that lead to the initiation of an action potential.

What is meant by the term threshold potential?

How does impulse conduction in an unmyelinated fibre differ from impulse conduction in a myelinated fibre?

What are the three structural components of a synapse?

List the steps of synaptic transmission.

What is an EPSP? What is an IPSP?

How does temporal summation differ from spatial summation?

How do excitatory neurotransmitters differ from inhibitory neurotransmitters?

What are the four chemical classes of neurotransmitters?

What are neuromodulators?