Upgrade to remove ads
Only $2.99/month

Nervous system Vocab

Terms in this set (14)

Neuron
A nerve cell; the basic building block of the nervous system.
Axon
Long fiber that carries impulses away from the cell body of a neuron
Dendrite
Branchlike parts of a neuron that are specialized to receive information.
synaptic cleft
tiny space separating a knob of a transmitting neuron from a receiving neuron or other cell
sodium potassium pump
Process by which ATP is used to move sodium ions out of the cell and potassium ions back into the cell; completely restores the resting conditions of the neuron.
All or none
Depolarization reaches certain threshold, and voltage gated channels open. Action potential occurs and the size and amplitude always stay the same
Ganglia
collection of nerve cell bodies
Sympathetic Nervous system
Fight or flight
activates body during emergency situations (fight or flight response)
Autonomic Nervous system
The part of the nervous system responsible for control of the bodily functions that are not consciously directed, such as breathing, the heartbeat, and digestive processes.
enteric nervous system
Is the nervous system that is found in the digestive tract: it innervates smooth muscle and glands.
Myelination
the process by which axons become coated with myelin, a fatty substance that speeds the transmission of nerve impulses from neuron to neuron
neuroglia
Support cells
Neurotransmitter
Chemicals that transmit information from one neuron to another
Neurogenesis
the formation of new neurons
THIS SET IS OFTEN IN FOLDERS WITH...