In the past 2 lessons we learned the biological aspects of psychology and how the brain and our senses worked in an overall scientific way, so we dealt with Neuron structures & functions and Synapse structures & functions.

First lets look at the Neuron Structures. There are 3 types of Neuron Structures such as the Motor, Interneuron, and sensory neuron and they are a type of cell that send information through out the body. The structure of the neurons include dendrites, the cell body, myelin sheath, and the axon. Dendrites often receive information from other neurons and sensory receptors (little branches that stick out of the ends of the neurons). The cell body is the control center of the neuron. The axon carries the neurons messages to other partsof the body (it looks like a long line covered by the myelin sheath). The myelin sheath covers the axon for some neurons and it helps transmitting the messages faster.

Interneuron-

Sensory Neuron

Motor Neuron

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When Neurons work/function they use action potential to “talk to themselves”

Action Potential is the 4 step process when messages that are received from the dendrites and the cell body pass through the axon and the action potential generates when positively charged ions move in and out of channels (openings) in the axon’s membrane.

the first step is the Resting/Polarized Membrane, when the axon is resting there are more positively charged ions on the outside of the membrane and more negative charged ions in the inside

The second step is Depolarization when the action potential begins and the axon adjacent to the cell body has an incoming message. Channels (holes) allow the positive charged ions into the membrane .

The third step is when the previous positive charges ions are being pumped out because new and more positively charged ions are coming into the membrane through the channels.

The fourth step is when the action potential continues down the axon and the other sections of the axon repeat the process. The previous sections are now completely recharged and are returning to the resting state

In Psych we also learned about the synapse structure and function. The synapse is when one neuron transmits a message to another neuron. The synapse structure includes tips of terminal branches at the end of the axon (which transfer the neurotransmitters to other neurons), the synaptic gap (tiny space between neurons), neurotransmitters (molecules of a chemical substance). The synapse function is when action potentials reach the axon terminal, they stimulate the release of neurotransmitter molecules into the synaptic gap. The neurotransmitter chemicals then travel across the synaptic gap and bind to the receptor sites on the dendrites of cell body of the receiving neuron.

*the picture below is the synaptic structure and how the neurotransmitters are tranfered to the other neurons