PSYC 2015 Chapter Notes - Chapter 2: Reflex Arc, Sympathetic Nervous System, Interneuron
Document Summary
Charles scott sherrington demonstrated that communication between one neuron and the next is different from communication along a single axon: he inferred a specialized gap between neurons and called it a synapse. Circuit from sensory neuron to muscle response is called a reflex arc. Temporal summation= repeated stimuli within a brief time have a cumulative effect. Post synaptic neuron= neuron that receives transmission. Graded potentials may be either depolarizations (excitatory) or hyperpolarizations (inhibitory) Sherrington also found that synapses have the property of spatial summation, which is summation over space. Temporal summation and spatial summation ordinarily occur together: a neuron might receive input from several axons in succession. Some synapses produce fast, brief effects, and others produce slow, long-lasting effects. Most neurons have a spontaneous firing rate, a periodic production of action potentials even without synaptic input. Epsps increase the frequency of action potentials above the spontaneous rate, and ipsps decrease it.
