PSYCH 261- Final Exam Guide - Comprehensive Notes for the exam ( 67 pages long!)

• School: University of Waterloo
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYCH261
• Professor: Daniel Smilek

Document Summary

When at rest, the membrane maintains an electrical gradient, also known as polarization a difference in electrical charge between the inside and outside of the cell. The neuron inside the membrane has a slightly negative electrical potential with respect to the outside because of negatively charged proteins inside. When the membrane is at rest, the sodium and potassium channels are closed, permitting almost no flow of sodium and only a small flow of potassium. Sodium-potassium pump: protein complex & transports 3 sodium ions out of the cell while drawing 2 potassium ions into it. Concentration gradient: the difference in distribution of ions across the membrane. Messages sent by axons are called action potentials. An action potential always starts in an axon and propagates without loss along the axon. Ho(cid:449)e(cid:448)er, on(cid:272)e it starts, it (cid:862)back-propagates(cid:863) into the (cid:272)ell (cid:271)ody and dendrites. When an action potential back-propagates into a dendrite, the dendrite becomes more susceptible to the structural changes responsible for learning.