PSY 1101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Nerve Agent, Morphine, Latrodectus

• School: University of Ottawa
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSY 1101
• Professor: Najwa Haddad

Document Summary

Structure of neuron: dendrites: short branches projecting from cell body. It is analogous to a wire or a cable: the axons of longer neurons are surrounded by a myelin sheath. Axons of shorter neurons are not surrounded by a myelin sheath. They thus appear to be grey: the myelin sheath is made up of a lipid (fat) material that may surround long axons. They serve to (1) protect the axon (2) insulate the axon (3) speed up transmission: terminal ending (bouton endings): as the name indicates, this is the terminal ending of the axon. At this ending, there is a swelling (the bouton ). This is caused by the storage of neurotransmitter substance here. A physical gap (called the synaptic gap or simply the. Synapse ) separates the terminal ending and the dendrites of the next neuron. When (and if) the neurotransmitters are released, they must travel across this gap.