Physiology 2130 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Resting Potential, Axon Hillock, Electrochemical Gradient

• School: Western University
• Department: Physiology
• Course: Physiology 2130
• Professor: John Bell

Document Summary

Int r o d uc t io n. Nerve and muscle cells are excitable because they can use resting membrane potential to generate an electrochemical impulse [action potential: action potential is the way nerve cells communicate. S t r uc t ur e o f a ne r ve. Dendrites: thin branching processes of the cell body and it"s main job is to receive incoming signals. Increase overall sa of the neuron so it can communicate with other neurons: # of dendrites on the given nerve cell vary depending where in the nervous system the cell is located. Cell body (soma): control center of nerve cell: nucleus and all necessary organelles for directing cellular activity. Axon: projection of the cell body which carries the outgoing signal to the target cell in the form of an action potential: may or may not be myelinated (layered phospholipid membrane sheath wrapped tightly around the axon)