Chapter 11-12 A&P

How is an action potential propagated along an axon?

An influx of sodium ions from the current action potential depolarizes the adjacent area.

What is the role of calcium in synaptic activity?

Calcium influx into the synaptic terminal causes vesicle fusion.

Based on your knowledge of action potentials in neurons, what can you conclude about how they occur in cardiac muscle fibers?

Cardiac muscle fibers depolarize more quickly and spend more time depolarized than neurons do.

What type of conduction takes place in unmyelinated axons?

Continuous conduction

The sodium-potassium pump ejects two Na+ from the cell and then transports three K+ back into the cell in order to maintain the concentration gradients for sodium and potassium.

False

What changes occur to voltage-gated Na+ and K+ channels at the peak of depolarization?

Inactivation gates of voltage-gated Na+‎ channels close, while activation gates of voltage-gated K+‎ channels open.

Where do most action potentials originate?

Initial segment

During the hyperpolarization phase of the action potential, when the membrane potential is more negative than the resting membrane potential, what happens to voltage-gated ion channels?

K+ channels close. Na+ channels go from an inactivated state to a closed state.

Which of the following is the clearest example of a neuronal membrane's selective permeability?

K+ ions can diffuse across the membrane more easily than Na+ ions.

During an action potential, hyperpolarization beyond (more negative to) the resting membrane potential is primarily due to __________.

K+ ions diffusing through voltage-gated channels

The repolarization phase of the action potential, where voltage becomes more negative after the +30mV peak, is caused primarily by __________.

K+ ions leaving the cell through voltage-gated channels

The membranes of neurons at rest are very permeable to _____ but only slightly permeable to _____.

K+; Na+

Sodium and potassium ions can diffuse across the plasma membranes of all cells because of the presence of what type of channel?

Leak channels

Predict the possible effect of a drug that totally blocks the neurotransmitter receptor on the postsynaptic membrane. For example, curare is a neurotoxin used by several South American cultures. The primary effect of curare is that acetylcholine, a major neuromuscular neurotransmitter, cannot bind at its receptor because curare is blocking it. Predict the possible effects of curare on the postsynaptic membrane and muscle.

Local graded potentials and action potential transmission is blocked and there is no response by the postsynaptic cell, the muscle.

Which statement best describes exocytosis?

Membrane organelles fuse with the membrane and release contents out of the cell.

In which type of axon will velocity of action potential conduction be the fastest?

Myelinated axons with the largest diameter

The diffusion of what ion, across the neuronal membrane, is responsible for the local currents that depolarize regions of the axon to threshold?

Na+ (sodium)

The concentrations of which two ions are highest outside the cell.

Na+ and Cl-

What is happening to voltage-gated channels at this point in the action potential?

Na+ channels are inactivating, and K+ channels are opening.

During the action potential of a neuron, which ion is primarily crossing the membrane during the depolarization phase, and in which direction is the ion moving?

Na+ is entering the cell.

The Na+-K+ pump actively transports both sodium and potassium ions across the membrane to compensate for their constant leakage. In which direction is each ion pumped?

Na+ is pumped out of the cell and K+ is pumped into the cell.

What prevents the Na+ and K+ gradients from dissipating?

Na+-K+ ATPase

What is the direct role of neurotransmitter at a chemical synapse?

Neurotransmitter binds to receptors on the postsynaptic cell membrane and allows ions to diffuse across the membrane.

What characterizes repolarization, the second phase of the action potential?

Once the membrane depolarizes to a peak value of +30 mV, it repolarizes to its negative resting value of -70 mV.

How do action potential propagation speeds compare in myelinated and unmyelinated axons?

Propagation is faster in myelinated axons.

Ions are unequally distributed across the plasma membrane of all cells. This ion distribution creates an electrical potential difference across the membrane. What is the name given to this potential difference?

Resting membrane potential (RMP)

Which of the following is NOT a difference between graded potentials and action potentials?

Spatial summation is used to increase the amplitude of a graded potential; temporal summation is used to increase the amplitude of an action potential.

Which of the following best describes the Na+ and K+ concentrations across a neuron's plasma membrane?

The Na+ concentration is higher *outside the cell compared to inside. The K+ concentration is higher *inside the cell compared to outside.

Imagine that the cell membrane from the previous problem becomes more permeable to Na+. Predict how this will affect the RMP.

The RMP will be more positive.

Tetraethylammonium (TEA) blocks voltage-gated K+ channels such that K+ cannot pass even when the channels are open. However, TEA leaves K+ leakage channels largely unaffected. How would you expect the action potential to change if you treated a neuron with TEA?

The action potential would depolarize as usual, but the repolarization phase would take longer, causing the action potential to be more broad in time.

Why does the action potential only move away from the cell body?

The areas that have had the action potential are refractory to a new action potential.

You are going to record RMP from a cell using an electrode. You place your electrode and record a resting membrane potential every millisecond. You record an initial value of -70mV; however, over time you notice that your recordings become more and more positive until the RMP reaches 0mV. Assuming that Na+ and K+ are the major determinants of RMP in this cell, which of the following could best explain your results?

The cell's Na+−K+ ATPase pumps have stopped functioning

What does 0 mV on the Y-axis of an action potential tracing represent?

The cell's membrane is at equilibrium.

Why does regeneration of the action potential occur in one direction, rather than in two directions?

The inactivation gates of voltage-gated Na+‎ channels close in the node, or segment, that has just fired an action potential.

On average, the resting membrane potential is -70 mV. What does the sign and magnitude of this value tell you?

The inside surface of the plasma membrane is much more negatively charged than the outside surface.

What characterizes depolarization, the first phase of the action potential?

The membrane potential changes from a negative value to a positive value.

What event triggers the generation of an action potential?

The membrane potential must depolarize from the resting voltage of -70 mV to a threshold value of -55 mV.

What is the function of the myelin sheath?

The myelin sheath increases the speed of action potential conduction from the initial segment to the axon terminals.

In a myelinated axon, how do the nodes of Ranvier differ from other segments of the same axon?

The nodes are more permeable to ions.

The resting membrane potential depends on two factors that influence the magnitude and direction of Na+ and K+ diffusion across the plasma membrane. Identify these two factors.

The presence of concentration gradients and leak channels

During action potential propagation in an unmyelinated axon, why doesn't the action potential suddenly "double back" and start propagating in the opposite direction?

The previous axonal segment is in the refractory period.

Hypothetically, what would be the most immediate effect of doubling the number of Na+ leakage channels in the plasma membrane?

The resting membrane potential would become less negative (more positive).

Suppose a drug is developed that blocks K+ leakage channels. The drug prevents ions from passing through those channels. If this drug was applied to a neuron, what would be the most immediate effect on that neuron?

The resting membrane potential would become less negative (more positive).

The myelin on myelinated neurons can be degraded or destroyed in diseases such as multiple sclerosis-a process called demyelination. If a myelinated neuron was affected by demyelination, how would this affect action potentials in that neuron?

The speed of action potential propagation would be slower.

The plasma membrane is much more permeable to K+ than to Na+. Why?

There are many more K+ leak channels than Na+ leak channels in the plasma membrane.

Which of the following is NOT true of an electrical synapse?

They are specialized for release and reception of chemical neurotransmitters.

Local anesthetics block voltage-gated Na+ channels, but they do not block mechanically gated ion channels. Sensory receptors for touch (and pressure) respond to physical deformation of the receptors, resulting in the opening of specific mechanically gated ion channels. Why does injection of a local anesthetic into a finger still cause a loss of the sensation of touch from the finger?

Touch stimulation of this sensory receptor will open the mechanically gated ion channels, but action potentials are still not initiated because propagation of an action potential requires the opening of voltage-gated Na+ channels.

Which statement best characterizes a K+ leak channel?

Trans-membrane protein channels that are always open to allow K+ to cross the membrane without the additional input of energy.

What opens first in response to a threshold stimulus?

Voltage-gated Na+ channels

What is the first change to occur in response to a threshold stimulus?

Voltage-gated Na+ channels change shape, and their activation gates open.

Following repolarization, the neuron may become slightly hyperpolarized before it re-establishes its resting membrane potential. Hyperpolarization is due to a difference between how the voltage-gated Na+ and K+ channels work. What is this difference?

Voltage-gated Na+ channels stop the flow of Na+ relatively quickly, while voltage-gated K+ channels are slow to close, resulting in the overshoot.

What type of channel on the postsynaptic membrane binds neurotransmitter?

a chemically gated channel

A postsynaptic cell can be a neuron, a muscle cell, or a secretory cell. What is an example of a presynaptic cell?

a neuron

The velocity of the action potential is fastest in which of the following axons?

a small myelinated axon

What type of stimulus is required for an action potential to be generated?

a threshold level depolarization

The mechanism by which the neurotransmitter is returned to a presynaptic neuron's axon terminal is specific for each neurotransmitter. Which of the following neurotransmitters is broken down by an enzyme before being returned?

acetylcholine

Which of the following describes the nervous system integrative function?

analyzes sensory information, stores information, makes decisions

During what part of the action potential do voltage-gated Na+ channels begin to inactivate (their inactivation gates close)?

at the end of the depolarization phase, as the membrane potential approaches its peak value

Where are action potentials regenerated as they propagate along a myelinated axon?

at the nodes of Ranvier

Where in the neuron is an action potential initially generated?

axon hillock

During depolarization, which gradient(s) move(s) Na+ into the cell?

both the electrical and chemical gradients

If the membrane of a postsynaptic dendrite is setting up a graded potential, what must have happened after neurotransmitter was released by the presynaptic terminal?

bound at postsynaptic receptors to open postsynaptic ion channels.

The term central nervous system refers to the ________.

brain and spinal cord

What part of the nervous system performs information processing and integration?

central nervous system

Which component has a role in the postsynaptic cell during synaptic activity?

chemically gated channels

Binding of a neurotransmitter to its receptors opens __________ channels on the __________ membrane.

chemically gated; postsynaptic

Which of the following is NOT one of the chemical classes into which neurotransmitters fall?

chlorides

Which of the following is a factor that determines the rate of impulse propagation, or conduction velocity, along an axon?

degree of myelination of the axon

An action potential is self-regenerating because __________.

depolarizing currents established by the influx of Na+‎ flow down the axon and trigger an action potential at the next segment

Binding of the neurotransmitter to its receptor causes the membrane to __________.

either depolarize or hyperpolarize

Which neurotransmitter(s) is/are the body's natural pain killer?

endorphins

Which membrane potential occurs because of the influx of Na+ through chemically gated channels in the receptive region of a neuron?

excitatory postsynaptic potential

Neurotransmitter is released from presynaptic neurons through what mechanism?

exocytosis

When a sensory neuron is excited by some form of energy, the resulting graded potential is called a(n) ________.

generator potential.

Which of the following is not a function of the autonomic nervous system?

innervation of skeletal muscle

What component of the reflex arc determines the response to a stimulus?

integration center

When neurotransmitter molecules bind to receptors in the plasma membrane of the receiving neuron,

ion channels in the plasma membrane of the receiving neuron open.

What is the major role of the Na+-K+ pump in maintaining the resting membrane potential?

maintaining the concentration gradients for Na+ and K+ across the cell membrane

Which of the following would increase the membrane permeability to K+?

more K+ leakage channels

Which of the choices below describes the ANS?

motor fibers that conduct nerve impulses from the CNS to smooth muscle, cardiac muscle, and glands

Complete the following sentence. The operation of the Na+−K+ ATPase pump __________.

moves 3 Na+ to the ECF and 2 K+ to the cytoplasm

Saltatory propagation occurs in _________ axons, in which action potentials _________.

myelinated; move from one node of Ranvier to another

A molecule that carries information across a synaptic cleft is a

neurotransmitter.

In multiple sclerosis, the cells that are the target of an autoimmune attack are the _________.

oligodendrocytes

Which of the following is NOT a type of circuit?

pre-discharge circuits

Which best represents synaptic transmission?

presynaptic axon to synapse to dendrite or postsynaptic cell body

In a synapse, neurotransmitters are stored in vesicles located in the __________.

presynaptic neuron

Which of the following is NOT one of the basic functions of the nervous system?

regulation of neurogenesis

The __________ is due to the difference in K+ and Na+ concentrations on either side of the plasma membrane, and the difference in permeability of the membrane to these ions.

resting membrane potential

In addition to diffusion, what are two other mechanisms that terminate neurotransmitter activity?

reuptake and degradation

Which neuron circuit pattern is involved in the control of rhythmic activities such as breathing?

reverberating circuit

Which of the following circuit types is involved in the control of rhythmic activities such as the sleep-wake cycle, breathing, and certain motor activities (such as arm swinging when walking)?

reverberating circuits

The node-to-node "jumping" regeneration of an action potential along a myelinated axon is called __________.

saltatory conduction

Which pattern of neural processing works in a predictable, all-or-nothing manner, where reflexes are rapid and automatic responses to stimuli in which a particular stimulus always causes the same response?

serial processing

Hyperpolarization results from __________.

slow closing of voltage-gated K+ channels

Which of the following best characterizes depolarization?

small consecutive steps of Na+ penetration into the axon along its length

The small space between the sending neuron and the receiving neuron is the

synaptic cleft.

A patient is admitted to the hospital with exacerbation of multiple sclerosis (MS). She asks the nurse "Why did this have to happen to me again? I was doing so well." Why are some forms of MS characterized by periods of remission and exacerbation?

the axons are not damaged; growing numbers of sodium channels appear spontaneously in the demyelinated fibers, allowing conduction to resume.

Imagine you changed the concentration of K+ outside a neuron such that the resting membrane potential changed to -80 mV (from the normal resting value of -70 mV). What have you changed?

the electrical gradient for K+ and the concentration gradient for K+

An action potential in one segment of axon causes adjacent sections of axon membrane to reach threshold through what mechanism?

the generation of local currents

If a motor neuron in the body were stimulated by an electrode placed about midpoint along the length of the axon ________.

the impulse would spread bidirectionally.

they increase amplitude as they move away from the stimulus point.

the membrane potential has been reestablished..

Saltatory conduction is made possible by ________.

the myelin sheath.

The repolarization phase of an action potential results from __________.

the opening of voltage-gated K+ channels

If a signal from a sending neuron makes the receiving neuron more negative inside,

the receiving neuron is less likely to generate an action potential.

Which of the following allows us to consciously control our skeletal muscles?

the somatic nervous system

What is the electrochemical gradient of an ion?

the sum of the electrical and concentration gradients for that ion

When calcium ions enter the synaptic terminal,

they cause vesicles containing neurotransmitter molecules to fuse to the plasma membrane of the sending neuron.

Which of the following is not true of graded potentials?

they increase amplitude as they move away from the stimulus point..

Opening K+ or Cl- channels in a postsynaptic membrane would produce an inhibitory postsynaptic potential (IPSP). t or f

true

An action potential releases neurotransmitter from a neuron by opening which of the following channels?

voltage-gated Ca2+ channels

The depolarization phase of an action potential results from the opening of which channels?

voltage-gated Na+ channels

Which ion channel opens in response to a change in membrane potential and participates in the generation and conduction of action potentials?

voltage-gated channel..

The generation of an action potential in a neuron requires the presence what type of membrane channels?

voltage-gated channels

When an action potential arrives at the end of the axon terminal, a series of events take place that result in the release of neurotransmitter from the presynaptic axon. Select the answer that correctly describes the primary stimulus for vesicles to move towards the cell membrane and eventually release their contents.

voltage-gated membrane channels open, and Ca+2 enters the cytoplasm, increasing intracellular calcium

Events that occur during synaptic activity are listed here, but they are arranged in an incorrect order. Choose the correct order of these events below. (a) Voltage-gated calcium channels open (b) Neurotransmitter binds to receptors (c) Action potential arrives at axon terminal (d) Neurotransmitter is removed from the synaptic cleft (e) Neurotransmitter released into synaptic cleft (f) Graded potential generated in postsynaptic cell

(C) Action potential arrives at axon terminal (a) Voltage-gated calcium channels open (e) Neurotransmitter released into synaptic cleft (b) Neurotransmitter binds to receptors (f) Graded potential generated in postsynaptic cell (D) Neurotransmitter is removed from the synaptic cleft

Assume you have a membrane with only potassium leak channels. The RMP is -90mV. Predict the RMP if we add Na+ leak channels. The most likely RMP value of Na+ is __________.

-70 mV

What is the value for the resting membrane potential for most neurons?

-70 mV

What is the magnitude (amplitude) of an action potential?

100 mV

Cl− is a common negatively charged extracellular ion. Predict the effect on the RMP if many Cl− gated channels are suddenly opened.

A more negative RMP would result.

What conditions will increase the diffusion of molecules, such as neurotransmitters?

An increase in the amount of neurotransmitter exocytized by the presynaptic axon.