ANIMAL PHYSIOLOGY BIO 3360
Objectives - 2
NEURAL FUNCTION
- Define neurons and neuroglia.
- Give three examples of neuroglial cells.
- Describe the overall functions of nervous tissue.
- Distinguish between the parts of a typical neuron - including general functions of each part.
- Define nuclei and ganglia as they pertain to neuron cell bodies.
- Explain why axon regeneration is more likely in PNS and not in the CNS.
- Define nerve and identify where one may be found.
- Define polarized, depolarized and hyperpolarized.
- Examine which cells have resting membrane potentials, graded potentials and which have action potentials.
- Analyze the subcelluar process that leads to a graded potential.
- Compare the status of Na+ and K+ channels in a resting cell.
- List three types of gated channels and the types of potentials that occur in each of the three.
- Review the factors that contribute to a resting membrane potential. What is an approximate value in millivolts?
- List the steps of a local potential - include the direct result of a response to a stimulus.
- Compare the term "local" to "graded" in regards to potentials.
- Portray three terms used to mean graded potential.
- Compare the distance that graded vs. action potentials can travel.
- Describe the steps of an action potential and graph the response in terms of time and voltage (include in your answer: resting membrane potential, depolarization, threshold, repolarization and hyperpolarization).
- Define threshold as it relates to an action potential.
- Theorize why action potentials are considered to be all or none.
- Name the cells that can have an action potential.
- Name the type of ion channels involved in the action potential.
- Explain the significance of the Na/K pump after the action potential concludes.
- Compare and contrast the absolute refractory period from the relative refractory period.
- Describe the steps of a nerve impulse in a non-myelinated axon.
- Compare the speed of nerve impulses in myelinated vs. non-myelinated axons.
- Describe the steps of a nerve impulse in a myelinated axon.
- Compare the color of myelinated vs. non-myelinated axons.
- Name the cells that produce myelin. What are nodes of Ranvier?
- Define saltatory conduction.
SYNAPTIC TRANSMISSION
- Define synapse.
- Describe an electrical synapse and provide examples of its location.
- Compare and contrast a reciprocal and rectifying synapse.
- Define presynaptic and postsynaptic neurons.
- Describe the synaptic cleft, the synaptic vesicle and the synaptic knob.
- Relate all of the steps of synaptic transmission at a chemical synapse.
- Define and give an example of a neurotransmitter.
- Describe characteristics of an acetylcholine receptor.
- Describe how acetylcholine causes changes in the motor end plate or the muscle cell.
- Define end plate potential and indicate if it is all-or-none or a graded potential.
- Describe the fate of acetylcholine and calcium following an end plate potential.
- Define and give an example of a neuromodulator.
- Describe an EPSP and an IPSP. Are they all-or-none or graded potentials?
- Compare spatial and temporal summation as they relate to neural integration. Which one is characterized by convergence?
- Compare presynaptic inhibition and presynaptic facilitation.
FUNCTIONAL ORGANIZATION of NERVOUS SYSTEM
- Classify the organs of the nervous system into central and peripheral divisions. Include in your classification, the terms afferent, efferent, somatic, visceral, and autonomic nervous system (parasympathetic/sympathetic).
- Define nuclei and ganglia as they relate to nerve cell body location.
- Contrast white and gray matter.
- Describe the arrangement of the nervous system of animals with radial symmetry.
- Describe the arrangement of the nervous system of animals with bilateral symmetry.
- Define centralization and cephalization.
- In general, which part of the nervous system functions in integration, sensory stimuli, and motor responses.
- Contrast the pathway of efferent nerve impulses traveling to skeletal muscle vs. smooth muscle, cardiac muscle and glands.
- Compare the structural and functional differences between the somatic efferent and autonomic portions of the nervous system. Which would be considered voluntary and which would be involuntary?
- Identify the principal structural features (the neurons) of the autonomic nervous system.
- Name the 2 divisions of the A.N.S. Generally, how do their functions differ?
- Define cholinergic and adrenergic. Classify autonomic nerve fibers in each division as cholinergic or adrenergic.
- Describe the various autonomic receptors.
- Explain the role of the hypothalamus and its relationship to the sympathetic and parasympathetic divisions.
- The drug atropine causes what effects to the A.N.S.?
- Describe the effects of parasympathetic and sympathetic stimulation (heart, lungs, digestion, pupil, sweat glands, adrenal medulla, cutaneous blood vessels, abdominal blood vessels, skeletal muscle blood vessels, bladder).
MUSCLE - PART ONE
- Name the muscles that are striated and those that are not.
- List four overall functions of skeletal muscle.
- Define tendon, myofiber, myofibril, sarcomere, sarcoplasmic reticulum, sarcolemma, T tubule, and myofilament.
- Compare A bands to I bands. Describe the H zone and the Z line.
- Identify the term used to describe the functional unit of muscle contraction.
- Describe the characteristics, including the binding site of actin and myosin.
- Describe the role of tropomyosin and troponin.
- Elaborate on the steps of the sliding filament mechanism. Compare this to the excitation-contraction coupling.
- Describe cross bridge and power stroke.
- List the roles that ATP plays in both contraction and relaxation.
- Explain why calcium is the main regulator of muscle contraction.
- List the sources of ATP for muscle contraction.
- Describe the cause of muscle fatigue.
- Describe restorative processes (i.e. debts) following strenuous exercise.
- Compare and contrast the three main types of muscle twitch fibers.
MUSCLE - PART TWO
- Define tension and load as they relate to muscle shortening.
- Compare and contrast isometric and isotonic contractions.
- Explain what a muscle twitch is. Identify the three characteristic phases of a muscle twitch.
- Explain the significance of the muscle fiber length in terms of maximal contraction ability.
- Compare the speed of an isotonic contraction as the load changes.
- Describe what happens to a muscle fiber if a second stimulation (AP) occurs before the effects of the first one have disappeared.
- Describe temporal summation, wave summation, incomplete tetanus and complete tetanus.
- Define multiple motor unit summation, spatial summation, treppe, asynchronous motor unit summation and muscle tone.
- Explain summation in terms of calcium and the elastic components of stretched muscle.
- Define motor unit.
- Define recruitment as it pertains to gradations you can achieve in whole muscle contraction.
MUSCLE - PART THREE - SMOOTH MUSCLE
- Contrast smooth muscle from skeletal muscle in terms of control (voluntary or involuntary), microscopic appearance, and location.
- Describe the shape of smooth muscle cells.
- Describe the arrangement of the actin and myosin in smooth muscle and indicate how this is different from the arrangement in skeletal muscle.
- Define the terms neurogenic and myogenic as they relate to the initiation of smooth muscle contraction.
- Name the ion that is the key regulator of smooth muscle contraction.
- Briefly, explain the role of calmodulin in smooth muscle contraction.
- List three factors that can change the resting membrane potential in smooth muscle.
- Explain why smooth muscle contraction can occur even without an action potential.
- Explain how depolarization occurs in smooth muscle and contrast this with skeletal muscle.
Return to BIO 3360 homepage