PSYC 2410 Chapter Notes - Chapter 9: Overproduction, Axon Guidance, Subventricular Zone
15 Apr 2013
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Psyc textbook notes from after the second midterm. The brain is not static, it is plastic (changeable) and it continuously changes in response to its genetic programs and environment. Neural development begins with a single fertilized egg cell and ends with a functional adult brain. In the beginning, there is a zygote- a single cell formed by the amalgamation of an ovum and a sperm. The zygote divides to form two daughter cells these two divide to form four, etc until a mature organism is produced. Development of neurons accomplish these in five phases: induction of the neural plate, neural proliferation, migration and aggregation, axon growth and synapse formation, death and synapse rearrangement. Three weeks after conception, the tissue that is destined to develop into the human nervous system becomes recognizable as the neural plate- a small patch of ectodermal tissue on the dorsal surface of the developing embryo.
