PSYC 271 Chapter Notes - Chapter 4: Axon Terminal, Mousetrap, Membrane Potential

• School: Queen's University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 271
• Professor: Monica Valsangkar- Smyth

Document Summary

4. 1 resting membrane potential: membrane potential: the difference in electrical charge between the inside and outside of a cell, recording: place one electrode on a neuron and the other in the extracellular fluid outside. Integration: adding/combining a number of individual signals (over space or time: spatial summation: local epsps produced simultaneously on different parts of the receptive membrane sum to form a greater epsp; vice versa for ipsps; simultaneous. 4. 4 conduction of action potentials: action potentials are produce and conducted through the action of voltage-activated ion channels (open and close in response to changes in the level of the membrane potential) Located in different brain areas: respond to a neurotransmitter in different ways, two ways to influence, depending on receptor type: Ionotropic receptors: associated with ligand-activated ion channels ion channel opens/closes immediately (inducing immediate postsynaptic potential: epsps (depolarizations) occur because neurotransmitter opens na+ channels, increasing na+ flow into the neuron. In all organs and cell types in the body.