01:830:101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Axon Terminal, Neurotransmission, Reuptake

• School: Rutgers University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: 01:830:101
• Professor: graybrill

Document Summary

Action potentials - electric impulse that travels down the axon, followed by absolute refractory period: action potentials are all-or-none, regenerative - propagates all the way to the terminal. Positive charge flows rapidly in and then out: chemical neurotransmission, communication within neurons is chemical-electrical, but between neurons it is chemical via neurotransmitters (nts) Steps in neurotransmission: release of nt from axon terminal into cleft, binding of nt to receptor site on postsynaptic cell, halting the activity of the nt via chemical breakdown or reuptake into the presynaptic axon terminal. Sensation is the detection of stimuli in the environment by the senses. Receptors: specialized cells in our sensory organs that detect the stimuli and convert it into a. Perception: interpretation of the signals from the receptors. Visual system detects light: light (measured in wavelengths, human visible spectrum 400-700 nm. Iris - opening that modifies the amount of light permitted through the pupil.