PSY BEH 11B Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Axon Terminal, The Blind, Long-Term Potentiation

• School: UC-Irvine
• Department: Psychology and Social Behavior
• Course: PSY BEH 11B
• Professor: Linda Levine

Document Summary

Can earn extra credit by signing up for participation in experiments or writing paper. Overview of the structure of neurons & how neurons change. Neuron passes message to nearby neuron & that neuron passes message on. Basic unit of communication in nervous system is neuron. Receives signals from other neurons & responds by either sending signal on or not. Parts of neuron: dendrites, soma/cell body, axon, axon terminals. Where signals leave one neuron for another neuron. When signal reaches axon terminal -> neurotransmitters are released & picked up by receptors on dendrites of next neuron. Space between axon terminals of one neuron & dendrites of another neuron called synapse. Match intensity of message conveyed & then go off & share message with peers. Receiving or sensing part of the neuron. Receptors that pick of chemical signals called neurotransmitters from surrounding neurons. Calculates sum of signals & makes decision about whether signal strong enough to pass down the axon.