Nerve Impulse
Nerve Impulse
Nerve Impulse
IMPULSE
CONDUCTION
CONTENTS
1.Structure of a nerve cell
2. Resting Potential
3. Action Potential
(a) Formation of an action potential
4. Propagation of Action Potentials as
an Impulse
(b) Saltatory conduction
5. Neurotransmission: Jumping the
Synaptic Cleft
TYPICAL NEURON
Neuron
• Axon Ending
– a cluster of branches (100’s to 1000’s)
– each with a bulblike synaptic knob
– relays signal to next neuron / effector cell
Typical neuron
RESTING POTENTIAL
Resting potential may be defined as the
difference in voltage between the inside and
outside of the cell as measured across the
cell membrane.
• When a neuron is not being stimulated, it
maintains a resting potential
Ranges from –40 to –90 millivolts (mV)
Average about –70 mV
RESTING POTENTIAL
• Two major forces act on ions in establishing
the resting membrane potential
1. Electrical potential produced by unequal
distribution of charges
2. Concentration gradient produced by
unequal concentrations of molecules
from one side of the membrane to the
other
RESTING POTENTIAL
• Sodium–potassium pump creates significant
concentration gradient
• Concentration of K+ is much higher inside the
cell
• Membrane not permeable to negative ions
• Leads to buildup of positive charges outside
and negative charges inside cell
• Attractive force to bring K+ back inside cell
• Equilibrium potential – balance between
diffusional force and electrical force
8
ACTION POTENTIAL
• Action potential may be defined as the entire series of
changes which contribute towards the changes in
membrane potential.
Action
potentials:-
– Result when depolarization reaches the threshold
potential (–55 mV)
– Depolarizations bring a neuron closer to the threshold
– Hyperpolarizations move the neuron further from the
threshold
– Caused by voltage-gated ion channels
• Voltage-gated Na+ channels
• Voltage-gated K+ channels
ACTION POTENTIAL
• Voltage-gated Na+ channels
– Activation gate and inactivation gate
– At rest, activation gate closed, inactivation gate open
– Transient influx of Na+ causes the membrane to
depolarize
• Voltage-gated K+ channels
– Single activation gate that is closed in the resting
state
– K+ channel opens slowly
– Efflux of K+ repolarizes the membrane
ACTION POTENTIAL
• The action potential has three phases
– Rising, falling, and undershoot
• Action potentials are always separate, all-or-
none events with the same amplitude
• Do not add up or interfere with each other
• Intensity of a stimulus is coded by the
frequency, not amplitude, of action potentials
11
12
GENRATION OF ACTION
POTENTIAL
PROPAGATION OF ACTION
POTENTIAL
• Propagation of action potentials
– Each action potential, in its rising phase, reflects a
reversal in membrane polarity
– Positive charges due to influx of Na+ can depolarize the
adjacent region to threshold
– And so the next region produces its own action potential
– Meanwhile, the previous region repolarizes back to the
resting membrane potential
• Signal does not go back toward cell body
15
PROPAGATION OF ACTION
POTENTIAL
• Two ways to increase velocity of conduction
– Axon has a large diameter
• Less resistance to current flow
• Found primarily in invertebrates
– Axon is myelinated
• Action potential is only produced at the
nodes of Ranvier
• Impulse jumps from node to node
• Saltatory conduction
16
SALTATORY CONDUCTION
17
NEUROTRANSMISSION
• Electrical [no synapse]
– common in heart & digestive tract - maintains steady,
rhythmic contraction
– All cells in effector contain receptor proteins for
neurotransmitters
• Presynaptic neuron
• Vesicles
• [Calcium channels]
• Synaptic cleft
• Postsynaptic neuron
• Neurotransmitter receptor
NEUROTRANSMISSION
• Action potential
synaptic knob Ca2+
opening of Ca+
channels
neurotransmitter
vesicles fuse with
membrane
release of
neurotransmitter into
synaptic cleft
NEUROTRANSMISSION
• Action potential
neurotransmitter
vesicles fuse with
membrane
release of
neurotransmitter into
synaptic cleft
NEUROTRANSMISSION
• Action potential
binding of
neurotransmitter to
protein receptor
molecules on receiving
neuron membrane
opening of sodium
channels
triggering of new
action potential
NEUROTRANSMITTERS
• Amino acid derived Neurotransmitters
– Derived from amino acid tyrosine norepinephrine,
epinephrine
• Amine Neurotransmitters
– acetylcholine, histamine, serotonin
• Amino Acids
– aspartic acid, GABA, glutamic acid, glycine
• Polypeptides
– Include many which also function as hormones
– endorphins
References
• Cell and Molecular Biology by Gerald Karp
• Cell and Molecular Biology,8th ed.E.D.P.
Robertis and E.M.F. De Robertis
• Net source:- www.freeman.karp.in