NEUR 3200 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Voltage Clamp, Nernst Equation, Tetraethylammonium

• School: Carleton University
• Department: Neuroscience
• Course: NEUR 3200
• Professor: John Stead

Document Summary

Approximate the number of neurons, glia and synapses in the human brain. Know basic cell structure and functions associated with astrocytes, oligodendroglia, schwann cells and microglia. Understand the principles of divergence and convergence. Understand that when considering neurons, the cns is basically composed of neuronal sheets, neuronal clumps, and connections between neurons. Know the difference between a tract, a nerve and a commissure. Define basic terms relating to electrical flow, including electrical potential, potential difference, resistance, conductance, current, charge, capacitance. Be able to approximate the velocity of signal transduction along axons. Have an appreciation of the difference between active signal propagation along a membrane and passive signal propagation along a membrane (electrotonus) Have a general understanding of how electrotonic propagation operates in terms of ion movements (no need to memorize equations) , and is therefore proportional to to radius. Understand the two types of gradient (voltage, concentration) that govern the distribution of ions across a membrane.