Psychology 2220A/B Chapter Notes - Chapter 4: Resting Potential, Axon Hillock, Behavioral Neuroscience

• School: Western University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: Psychology 2220A/B
• Professor: Derek Quinlan

Document Summary

Ions contributing to resting potential: sodium (na+, chloride (cl-, potassium (k+, negatively charged proteins (a-, synthesized within the neuron, found primarily within the neuron. Generation and conduction of postsynaptic potentials: neurotransmitters bind at postsynaptic receptors, these chemical messengers bind and cause electrical changes, depolarizations making the membrane potential less negative, hyper-polarization- making the membrane potential more negative. Travel passively from their site of origination. Decremental (graded)- they get smaller as they travel. Integration of psps and generation of action potentials. One epsp typically will not suf ce to cause a neuron to re and release neurotransmitter- summation is needed. In order to generate an ap or re , the threshold of activation must be reached near the axon hillock. Integration of ipsps and epsps must result in a potential of about -65mv in order to generate an ap. Adding or combining a number of individual signals into one overall signal. Spatial summation- integration of events happening at different places.