The Nervous System - Student Lesson Outline 

In this video, I discuss the neuron, briefly touching on all of the parts of a neuron including the dendrites, soma, axon hillock, axon, and axon terminals or synaptic boutons. I describe how a signal travels from the dendrites of a neuron, down the axon, and to the axon terminals to communicate with another neuron through the release of neurotransmitter.

For a more in-depth 10-Minute Neuroscience video on the parts of a neuron, watch this: https://youtu.be/5p9ucgRDie8

For an article (on my website) explaining the structure and function of neurons, click this link: https://neuroscientificallychallenged.com/posts/know-your-brain-neurons

The image of a brain used in this video is a CC image courtesy of _DJ_ on Flickr. The work can be seen here: https://flic.kr/p/dLbzPm and the CC license can be seen here: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

TRANSCRIPT:

Welcome to 2 minute neuroscience, where I simplistically explain neuroscience topics in 2 minutes or less. In this installment I will discuss the neuron. 

This is a brain. Estimates vary but right now the best guess seems to be that our brains contain around 85 billion neurons. The neuron is a nerve cell and is the primary functional unit of the nervous system.

This is a generic image of a neuron. Neurons actually come in all shapes and sizes but is the prototypical version of a neuron that you’ll often see in a textbook. These structures extending from the left side of a neuron that look a little bit like tree branches are called dendrites.

Dendrites are the area where neurons receive most of their information. There are receptors on dendrites that are designed to pick up signals from other neurons that come in the form of chemicals called neurotransmitters. Those signals picked up by dendrites cause electrical changes in a neuron that are interpreted in an area called the soma or the cell body. The soma contains the nucleus. The nucleus contains the DNA or genetic material of the cell. The soma takes all the information from the dendrites and puts it together in an area called the axon hillock. If the signal coming from the dendrites is strong enough then a signal is sent to the next part of the neuron called the axon. At this point the signal is called an action potential.

The action potential travels down the axon which is covered with myelin, an insulatory material that helps to prevent the signal from degrading. The last step for the action potential is the axon terminals, also known as synaptic boutons. When the signal reaches the axon terminals it can cause the release of neurotransmitter. These purple structures represent the dendrites of another neuron. When a neurotransmitter is released from axon terminals, it interacts with receptors on the dendrites of the next neuron, and then the process repeats with the next neuron.

REFERENCE:

Purves D, Augustine GJ, Fitzpatrick D, Hall WC, Lamantia AS, McNamara JO, White LE. Neuroscience. 4th ed. Sunderland, MA. Sinauer Associates; 2008.

2-Minute Neuroscience: The Neuron

A Simple and brief explanation about how our nerves are interconnected and how the system works.

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Nervous System - Get to know our nervous system a bit closer, how does it works? | Neurology

http://www.interactive-biology.com - Making Biology Fun
In this episode, I talk about the divisions of the nervous system and deal with terms like the Central and Peripheral Nervous Systems, Brain and Spinal Cord, Somatic and Autonomic Nervous System, Sympathetic and Parasympathetic Nervous System. Enjoy the brief overview and stay tuned for more :)

063 The Divisions of the Nervous System

What is a Reflex Arc | Physiology | Biology | FuseSchool

Our bodies have a system in place which enables us to react really quickly called reflex reactions. 

Reflex reactions are immediate, unconscious responses to a stimulus that provides us with protection and aids survival. When your safety demands a quick response, the signals may bypass the brain and be acted upon as soon as they reach the spinal cord. These shorter pathways are called reflex arcs. 

Reflex arcs are in-built, or innate, behaviours. And we all behave in the same way. Even though the brain is bypassed for the immediate response, the nerve message is still passed onto the brain so that you can think about whether any further action is needed. 

So the pathway has been cut down by speeding up the central nervous system aspect - the message reaches the spinal cord and heads straight back out down motor neurons to produce a response. 

We cut out the central nervous system to reduce the pathway from stimulus → receptor → sensory neurone → central nervous system → motor neurone → effector pathway to stimulus → receptor → sensory neurone → motor neurone → effector pathway. 

There are 2 types of reflex: 
1) Simple reflexes like we have seen already. Your brain is not aware of the initial response and are there to aid your survival. 
2) Conditioned reflexes. These involve prior thought or learning and your body responds subconsciously because of this prior learning… Pavlov’s dogs is an example of conditioned reflexes. During his experiments, Pavlov rang a bell immediately before feeding the dogs. He found that after a while, the dogs would produce saliva just on hearing the bell without food being provided. Pavlov called this a learnt response, which does not involve conscious thought and is  conditioned reflex.


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What is a Reflex Arc | Physiology | Biology | FuseSchool

The Nervous System - Student Presentation 

The Nervous System - Teaching Presentation 

The Nervous System is a lesson by Teach Science with Fergy, containing engaging videos, presentations and activities to help develop students' science knowledge.

The Nervous System - Student Lesson Outline

Science Resource Description