PSY 205 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Resting Potential, Positron Emission Tomography, Magnetic Resonance Imaging

• School: Syracuse University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSY 205
• Professor: Shannon Houck

Document Summary

Individual cells in the nervous system that receive, integrate, and transmit information: permit communication within the nervous system. Vast majority only communicate with other neurons. Small minority receive signals from outside the nervous system - from sensory organs. Or carry messages from the nervous system to the muscles that move the body. Soma: cell body, contains the cell nucleus and much of the chemical machinery common to most cells. Dendrites: parts of a neuron that are specialized to receive information. Axon: long, thin fiber that transmits signals away from the soma to other neurons or to muscles or glands, may branch off to communicate with a number of other cells. Insulating material that encases some axons: speeds up transmission of signals that move along axons, stabilizes axon structure and patterns of connectivity in neural networks, deterioration in myelin sheath. Terminal buttons: small knobs that secrete chemicals called neurotransmitters. Chemicals serve as messengers that may activate neighboring neurons.