Psychology 1000 Chapter Notes - Chapter 3: Neurotransmitter Receptor, Somatic Nervous System, Sympathetic Nervous System

• School: Western University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: Psychology 1000
• Professor: Shelley Cross- Mellor

Document Summary

Neurons: specialized cells called neurons are the basic building blocks of the nervous system. These nerve cells are linked together in circuits: at birth, your brain contained about 100 billion neurons, each neuron has three main parts: a cell body, dendrites, and an axon. They collect messages from neighbouring neurons and send them on to the cell body. The blood-brain barrier, prevents many substances, including a wide range of toxins, from entering the brain. The walls of the blood vessels within the brain contain smaller gaps than elsewhere in the body, and they are also covered by a specialized type of glial cell. The smaller gaps and glial cells keep many foreign substances from gaining access to the brain. This cell membrane is a bit like a selective allowing certain substances to pass through ion channels into the cell while refusing or limiting passage to other substances.