Neuroscience Final Exam Notes_COMPLETE

Neuroscience Final Exam Notes Molecular Signaling Within Neurons:  Electrical and chemical signaling mechanisms allow one nerve cell to receive and transmit information to another  Intracellular processing/signaling typically begins when extracellular chemical signals (e.g. neurotransmitters, hormones, trophic factors) bind to specific receptors located either on the surface or within the cytoplasm or nucleus of the target cells o Binding activates the receptors and stimulates cascades of intracellular reactions involving GRP-binding proteins, second messenger molecules, protein kinases, ion channels, and other effector proteins whose modulation temporarily changes the physiological state of the target cell  The intracellular signal transduction pathways can also cause longer lasting changes by altering the transcription of genes thus affecting the protein composition of the target cells on a more permanent basis  Large number of components involved in intracellular signaling pathways allows precise temporal and spatial control over the function of individual neurons thus allowing the coordination of electrical and chemical activity in the related populations of neurons that comprise neural circuits and systems