PSYA01H3 Chapter Notes - Chapter 3: Membrane Potential, Retina, Sympathetic Nervous System
Document Summary
3. 2 discovery of how neurons function information-processing tasks. Neurons- cells in the nervous system that communicate with one another to perform. Santiago ram n y cajal- used a staining technique invented by camillo golgi, to determine the structure of a neuron. He determined that neurons are the information- processing units of the brain and that even though he saw gaps between neurons, they had to communicate in some way , Cajal discovered that neurons are complex structures composed of three basic parts: the cell body, the dendrites, and the axon. Cell body- the largest component of the neuron that coordinates the information- processing tasks and keeps the cell alive. (metabolism, protein synthesis occur here) Neurons have a nucleus and cell membrane and two specialized extensions of the cell membrane a axon and dendrite. Dendrites- receive information from other neurons and relay it to the cell body. Axon- transmits information to other neurons, muscles, or glands.
