PSY 2210 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Withdrawal Reflex, Microelectrode, Membrane Potential
3 Sep 2018
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Scenario: suppose you"ve removed a hot cup from the microwave. As you pick up the cup, the heat from the drink burns your hand. That pain caused by the heat triggers a withdrawal reflex that tends to make you drop the cup. Yet you manage to keep hold of it long enough to get to a table and put it down. This excitation of the synapses on motor neurons is counteracted by inhibition, supplied by the brain. The brain contains neural circuits that recognize what a disaster it would be if you dropped the cup on the floor. These neural circuits send information to the spinal cord that prevents the withdrawal reflex from making you drop the cup. Researchers have developed electrical recording techniques using very small sensors called microelectrodes that can be inserted into a neuron to record changes in electrical activity across the axon membrane.
