PSYC 280 Study Guide - Nernst Equation, Muscarine, Absence Seizure

• School: Simon Fraser University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 280
• Professor: John Reynolds

Document Summary

Electrical signals are the vocab of the nervous system. Living cells possess electrical charges (more negative inside) Electricity happens when you think, do an action, feeling an itch, etc. A balance of electrochemical forces produces the resting membrane potential of neurons: neuron contains mostly of protein anions (-): cannot exit the cell. Ion channel selects some k+ to cross membrane (selective permeability) Resting potential: balance b/w k+ inside and outside the neuron. Diffusion: the force that cause molecules diffuse from a region with high low concentration. Molecules move down their concentration gradient until evenly distributed. Electrostatic pressure: distribution of electrical charges (not the distribution of molecules) opposite charges attract, like charges repel (+ attracted to the interior of cell viceversa) Sodium-potassium pump: pumps 3 na+ ions out of cell for every 2 k+ pumped in this is the energy in brain. But postsynaptic potential usually happens when influenced by distance.