NEURL-UA 100 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Detent, Franz Nissl, Cytoarchitecture

• School: New York University
• Department: Neural Science
• Course: NEURL-UA 100
• Professor: Glimcher Paul

Document Summary

There are equal numbers of neurons and glia in the human brain. Neurons-sense changes in the environment, communicate these changes to other neurons and command the body responses to the sensations. Glial cells- contribute to brains function mainly by insulating, supporting, and nourishing neighboring neurons i. Histology- the microscopic study of the structure of tissues. Nissl stain-distinguishes between neurons and glia and enables histologists to study the arrangement or cytoarchitecture of neurons. The golgi stain- soaking brain tissue in a silver chromate solution makes a small percentage of neurons dark in their entirety i. Being able to make a single cell visible from the 100000 cells in the brain d. Neurons have at least two distinguishable parts i. ii. Cell body (soma or perikaryon)- usually only has one axon. Dendrites- really over 2mm; taper to find point to receive signals. Axons-can extend over great distances to carry the output of neurons; uniform diameter e.