INTRODUCTION TO
NEUROSCIENCE
Dr. George M. Strain
2417 Vet. Med.
578-9758
[email protected] Learner Objectives
• Provide a broad-based description of
the discipline “Neuroscience”
• Be aware of some history of current-day
neuroscience including ancient views of
the anatomy and function of the central
and peripheral nervous systems
• Detail components of the “reductionist
approach” to neuroscience study
Learner Objectives Contd.
• Discuss the “Neuron Doctrine,” Golgi’s
contribution, Cajal’s contribution
• Be familiar with the general microscopic
anatomy of the neuron, neuroglia
• What are some of the physical,
chemical and molecular properties of
neurons that allow them to conduct
electrical signals
Learner Objectives Contd.
• Distinguish between chemical and
electrical synaptic transmission
• Know gross components of the central
and peripheral nervous systems
• Outline general organization of sensory
and motor systems
Student Preparation
Neuroscience, 2nd ed., 2001
Bear et al., Ch. 1
After Completion of the Course,
Be Able To:
• Describe the mechanisms of the resting
potential, electrotonic potentials, and
action potential.
• Describe the mechanisms of transmitter
action on receptors.
• Discuss synaptic transmission and the
integration of excitatory and inhibitory
inputs.
• Explain reflex operation, and relate it to
proprioception, locomotion, etc.
After Completion of the Course,
Be Able To:
• Discuss transduction of sensory
information by receptors.
• Discuss the systems for transmitting
sensory information (touch, pain, taste,
smell, audition, balance, vision) to
higher nervous centers.
• Explain the maintenance of
homeostasis and reaction to stress by
the autonomic nervous system.
After Completion of the Course,
Be Able To:
• Discuss the mechanisms of sleep and
arousal, and how they can be monitored
by recording the electrical activity of the
brain.
• Discuss the central regulation of motor
activity by the cerebrum, cerebellum,
basal nuclei, and thalamus.
• Discuss possible mechanisms of
memory.
After Completion of the Course,
Be Able To:
• Discuss the mechanisms of the blood-
brain barrier.
• Discuss the formation and function of
the cerebrospinal fluid.
• Recognize and identify the components
identifiable in cross sections of the
spinal cord at different levels.
• Identify the major anatomic components
and pathways of the nervous system.
Definition: Neuroscience
• Any of the branches of science dealing
with the embryology, anatomy,
physiology, genetics, biochemistry,
pharmacology, etc., of the nervous
system
Neuroscientists - Experimental
• Computational Math, models
• Developmental Develop., maturation
• Molecular Genetic material
• Neuroanatomist Structure
• Neurochemist Chemistry
• Neuroethologist Animal behaviors
• Neurophysiologist Electrical activity
• Neuropharmacologist Drugs
• Physiological Biological basis of animal
psychologist behavior
Neuroscientists – Clinical
• Neurologist Diagnose and treat
diseases of the NS
• Psychiatrist Diagnose and treat
disorders of mood
and personality
• Neurosurgeon Perform surgery on
the brain and spinal
cord
• Neuropathologist Identify changes in
nervous tissue due
to disease
History
• Ancient Egyptians (3000 BC) – believed
that the heart is the seat of the soul, the
repository of memories, and
consciousness.
• Ancient Greeks (300 BC) – believed
that the brain is the organ of sensation;
Hippocrates - brain is the seat of
intelligence.
History cont.
• Romans – Galen (130-200 AD) did
animal dissections, identified major
divisions of the brain, suggested the
cerebrum received sensation and the
cerebellum controlled muscles. Thought
signals were transmitted hydraulically
from the brain ventricles through hollow
nerves to the muscles.
History cont.
• René Descartes (1660) – stated that the
human brain resembles that of animals, but
the “mind,” which animals did not have,
controlled the spirit through the pineal
gland.
• Luigi Galvani and Emil du Bois-Reymond
(early 1800's) – described nerves as
electrical wires, activated muscles when
stimulated electrically.
History cont.
• Charles Bell and François Magendie
(1800's) – showed brain localization of
function by use of ablation lesions.
• Phrenology – Franz Joseph Gall (1809)
– believed that behavioral traits are
revealed by the skull surface.
• Paul Broca (1824-1880) – localized
human speech function to the left brain.
History cont.
• Theodor Schwann – cell theory: all
tissues are made up of microscopic
units called cells (1839).
• Franz Nissl (German, late 1800's) –
invented Nissl stain, which marks nuclei
and the Nissl substance of neurons,
enabling distinguishing between
neurons and glia.
History cont.
• Camillo Golgi (Italian, 1843-1926) –
invented the Golgi stain, which only
stains a few neurons, but does so in
their entirety, enabling the identification
of soma, axon, and dendrites of the
neuron. Thought all neurons were fused
together in a reticulum.
Camillo Golgi
History cont.
• Santiago Ramón y Cajal (Spanish,
1852-1934) – histologist and artist,
argued that neurites (axon, dendrites) of
different neurons were not continuous
but communicated by contacts and not
continuity (synapse). Nobel Prize in
1906 with Golgi.
Santiago Ramón y Cajal
Reductionist Approach to
Analysis of the Nervous
System
• Molecular neuroscience
• Genetic neuroscience
• Cellular neuroscience
• Systems neuroscience
• Behavioral neuroscience
• Cognitive neuroscience
The Neuron Doctrine
• Grew from the development of the
compound microscope
• Work of Camillo Golgi
• Work of Santiago Ramón y Cajal
• Doctrine: Nervous system function, at
its fundamental level, results from the
activity of nerve cells – neurons
The basic parts
of a neuron:
Soma – cell body
Axon – output
Dendrites – inputs
Comparative Brain Morphology
Canine
Feline
Porcine
Ovine
Equine (Zebra)
Nobel Prizes in
Neuroscience
(handout)
