BIO 30 NERVOUS SYSTEM EXAM SCRIPT
FULL QUESTIONS AND CORRECT ANSWERS
DETAILED REVIEW SHEET
●● Axon
Answer: A threadlike extension of a neuron that carries nerve impulses
away from the cell body.
●● myelin sheath
Answer: Fatty tissue that covers the axon of some neurons and helps
speed neural impulses
●● Nodes of Ranvier
Answer: Gaps in the myelin sheath to which voltage-gated sodium
channels are confined.
●● axon terminal
Answer: The endpoint of a neuron where neurotransmitters are stored
●● Schwan cells
Answer: create myelin sheaths around axons and dendrites of the PNS
,●● cell body
Answer: Largest part of a typical neuron; contains the nucleus and much
of the cytoplasm
●● nucleus of neuron
Answer: control center of the neuron
●● sensory neurons (afferent)
Answer: neurons that carry incoming information from the sensory
receptors to the brain and spinal cord
●● Interneurons
Answer: neurons within the brain and spinal cord that communicate
internally and intervene between the sensory inputs and motor outputs
●● motor neurons (efferent)
Answer: neurons that carry outgoing information from the brain and
spinal cord to the muscles and glands
●● Effector
Answer: an organ or cell that acts in response to a stimulus.
●● Stimulus
,Answer: a signal to which an organism responds
●● all-or-none response
Answer: a neuron's reaction of either firing (with a full-strength
response) or not firing.
●● summation of neuron
Answer: The sum of all the inputs coming into a singular neuron, sum of
all the responses
●● excitatory neurotransmitters
Answer: chemicals released from the terminal that excite the next
neuron into firing ( increases chances of threshold being met)
●● inhibitory neurotransmitters
Answer: chemicals released from the terminal buttons of a neuron that
inhibit the next neuron from firing
●● synaptic cleft
Answer: The narrow gap that separates the presynaptic neuron from the
postsynaptic cell.
●● Polarization of neuron
, Answer: Unstimulated neuron is polarized, having more electrical
charge outside than inside
Established by maintaining excess Na+ ions on the outside and excess
K+ ions on the inside
●● Depolarization
Answer: The process during the action potential when sodium is rushing
into the cell causing the interior to become more positive.
●● Repolarization
Answer: Return of the cell to resting state, caused by reentry of
potassium into the cell while sodium exits the cell.
●● glial cells
Answer: cells in the nervous system that support, nourish, and protect
neurons
●● saltatory conduction
Answer: the jumping of action potentials from node to node
●● white matter
Answer: neurons with myelinated axons
FULL QUESTIONS AND CORRECT ANSWERS
DETAILED REVIEW SHEET
●● Axon
Answer: A threadlike extension of a neuron that carries nerve impulses
away from the cell body.
●● myelin sheath
Answer: Fatty tissue that covers the axon of some neurons and helps
speed neural impulses
●● Nodes of Ranvier
Answer: Gaps in the myelin sheath to which voltage-gated sodium
channels are confined.
●● axon terminal
Answer: The endpoint of a neuron where neurotransmitters are stored
●● Schwan cells
Answer: create myelin sheaths around axons and dendrites of the PNS
,●● cell body
Answer: Largest part of a typical neuron; contains the nucleus and much
of the cytoplasm
●● nucleus of neuron
Answer: control center of the neuron
●● sensory neurons (afferent)
Answer: neurons that carry incoming information from the sensory
receptors to the brain and spinal cord
●● Interneurons
Answer: neurons within the brain and spinal cord that communicate
internally and intervene between the sensory inputs and motor outputs
●● motor neurons (efferent)
Answer: neurons that carry outgoing information from the brain and
spinal cord to the muscles and glands
●● Effector
Answer: an organ or cell that acts in response to a stimulus.
●● Stimulus
,Answer: a signal to which an organism responds
●● all-or-none response
Answer: a neuron's reaction of either firing (with a full-strength
response) or not firing.
●● summation of neuron
Answer: The sum of all the inputs coming into a singular neuron, sum of
all the responses
●● excitatory neurotransmitters
Answer: chemicals released from the terminal that excite the next
neuron into firing ( increases chances of threshold being met)
●● inhibitory neurotransmitters
Answer: chemicals released from the terminal buttons of a neuron that
inhibit the next neuron from firing
●● synaptic cleft
Answer: The narrow gap that separates the presynaptic neuron from the
postsynaptic cell.
●● Polarization of neuron
, Answer: Unstimulated neuron is polarized, having more electrical
charge outside than inside
Established by maintaining excess Na+ ions on the outside and excess
K+ ions on the inside
●● Depolarization
Answer: The process during the action potential when sodium is rushing
into the cell causing the interior to become more positive.
●● Repolarization
Answer: Return of the cell to resting state, caused by reentry of
potassium into the cell while sodium exits the cell.
●● glial cells
Answer: cells in the nervous system that support, nourish, and protect
neurons
●● saltatory conduction
Answer: the jumping of action potentials from node to node
●● white matter
Answer: neurons with myelinated axons
