Neural communication || Biological Bases of Behavior || Bcis Notes

Neural communication:

Psychologists examine the process of information- how we get, organize, interpret, store and use information. It is all possible through neural communication. Neural communication system operate with basic principles in both animals and human beings. The nervous system is composed of two kinds of cell:

• Glial cell
• Nerve cell

Glial cell

A special type of cell in the nervous system is glial cell meaning ‘glue’ from the Greek word. These cells have several functions meaning waste, occupying vacant space when nervous space when neurons die, guiding the migration of neurons during brain development and insulation.  They are called the supporting units of neurons. Glial cells are the most abundant cell types in the central nervous system. The glial cells surround neurons and provide support for and insulation between them.

Nerve cell

Nerve cell is the basic unit of neuron which transmits and receives nerve impulses messages to and from one another.It is a grayish or reddish granular cell with specialized processes that is the fundamental functional unit of nervous tissue.Human brain consists of about 150 billion nerve cells and neural impuses travels at speed from 2 miles per hour to 200 or more miles per hour.There are three types of nerve cell for information to travel in nervous system. Types are listed below:

1. Sensory neurons
2. Motor neurons
3. Inter-neurons

Sensory Neurons:

Sensory neurons is also called afferent neurons. It sends information from the body’s tissue and sensory organ inward to the brain and spinal cord, which processes the information. They have short axons and long dendrites.

Motor neurons:

Motor neurons are also called efferent neurons. They carry messages going out from the CNS(Central Nervous System) to the organs and muscles. They have short dendrites and long axons as they have long distances to travel.Usually Motor nerves has to travel longer disance so they trends to be large.

Inter-neurons:

Also called association neuron. It enables internal communication within the nervous system by mediating between sensory and motor neurons. It is completely contained within the Central Nervous System(Brain and Spinal cord). Example; if you touch any hot objects, the impulses travel up to an afferent nerve to the spinal cord. Here the association neurons transmit the information to efferent neurons and that saves from heat very quickly.

Functions of Neurons:

• Receiving the information-Neurons receive the change that occurs around the environment of an organism
•  Processing the information-It circulates the changed information all over the body.
• Transmitting the information– Finally, coordinate to adapt to the changed situation.

Parts of Neurons:

Parts of Neurons	Function
Cell Membrane(It is the outer covering.)	To enclose the whole cell.
Dendrites (It is a fiber that looks like branches of the tree.)	They receive signals from the synapse and carry them towards the cell body.
Cell body (It is shaped roughly like a sphere pr pyramid. It contains the nucleus.)	It keeps nucleolus alive and determines whether to transmit impulses to other neurons or not.
Axon (It is the thin cylinder of cytoplasm which extends from the cell body and extends like a branch.)	The messages from the cell body further travel the length of a nerve fiber called Axon.
Myelin sheath (This is a fatty protein of some Axons.)	It helps in neural transmission. Covers the axon except for small, nodes of Ranvier. Speed up the transmission of the messages.
Terminal Branches	Make the impulses to travel to the synapse.
Neurotransmitters (They are endogenous chemicals that enable neurotransmission)	It is a type of chemical messenger which transmits signals across a chemical synapse, such as a neuromuscular junction.

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