PSYO 1011 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Myelin, Phineas Gage, Axon Terminal

• School: Dalhousie University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYO 1011
• Professor: n/a

Document Summary

Full recovery, but balance between intellectual faculties & animal propensities destroyed. Phineas gage: mind radically changed, no longer gage . Cells of the nervous system: neurons, building blocks of the nervous system, linked together in circuits, receive, process & send messages, 200+ different neurons based on structure. Billions of neurons in the nervous system: glia, outnumber neurons 10:1, support neurons & hold them in place, multiple functions. Neuronal structure: dendrites, terminals, connect neuron to the next cell. Synapses: myelin sheath, nodes of ranvier, where neurons interconnect (but do not touch, fatty cells that surround & insulate axon, uninsulated gaps between myelin sheath. Prevents substances from entering the brain: increase sa of cell body, receive input from other neurons. Soma (cell body: axon, contains nucleus & other cell machinery vital to cell life, carries nerve signals away from cell to other neurons, muscles or glands, up to a meter long. Branches out at end to form axon terminals.