©NINJANERD 2024/2025. YEAR PUBLISHED 2024.
CDIS 421: Neuroscience of
Communication (Ch. 1-7) Exam Q&A
100% Pass
What are the fundamental activities of a neuron? - ✔✔Receiving input -
from dendrites + soma, categorizing inputs into excitatory or inhibitory
Integrating input - axon hillock generates the overall change in baseline
electrical state of neuron —> determines if action potential can be created
Form an output - signal transmitted across axon to the synapse.
What are bipolar neurons? - ✔✔one axon and one dendrite
- found in retinal ganglion cells
What are pseudounipolar neurons? - ✔✔- One axon and one single
primary dendrite that attach to the cell body at the same point
- Found in afferent system of spinal/trigeminal nerves.
What are multipolar neurons? - ✔✔1 axon and several dendrites
Most abundant
,©NINJANERD 2024/2025. YEAR PUBLISHED 2024.
Motor neurons and interneurons
What is the difference between neurons and glial cells? - ✔✔neurons:
generate and transmit nerve impulses; may be inhibitory or excitatory
glial cells: provide supportive functions to neurons
What are the two functional groups of glial cells? - ✔✔microglia, macroglia
What are microglia? - ✔✔"sanitation workers" of the brain, part of immune
sytem, recruited to sites of injury or infection and function as phagocytes to
get rid of debris and dead tissue
What are the types of macroglia? - ✔✔astrocytes, oligodendrocytes,
schwann cells
What are similarities and differences between oligodendrocytes and
Schwann cells? - ✔✔They both produce myelin for axons, but
oligodenrocytes produce them for the CNS and Schwann cells produce
them for the PNS.
What are astrocytes? - ✔✔The most numerous type of glial cells and are
most complex
- They regulate K+ concentration and glutamate in extracellular space.
- They create the blood-brain barrier (BBB)
, ©NINJANERD 2024/2025. YEAR PUBLISHED 2024.
What is the blood-brain barrier? - ✔✔a filtering mechanism of the
capillaries that carry blood to the brain and spinal cord tissue, blocking the
passage of certain substances.
- astrocytes are directly involved in this!
What are electrical synapses? - ✔✔Gap junction between 2 nerve cells that
require extremely rapid signal transmission (retina, olfactory bulb, cortex,
etc).
- Pre-synaptic and postsynaptic membranes are extremely close to each
other.
- Received ions flow trough gap junction channels
- Less vulnerable to fatigue
- Signal transmission is multi-directional
What are chemical synapses? - ✔✔Synaptic cleft where impulses are
slowly transmitted in one direction by neurotransmitters
- Neurotransmitters are received by chemical receptors on post-synaptic
membrane
- Vulnerable to fatigue
- Most abundant in the nervous system
- Flexible and adaptive in structure and function
CDIS 421: Neuroscience of
Communication (Ch. 1-7) Exam Q&A
100% Pass
What are the fundamental activities of a neuron? - ✔✔Receiving input -
from dendrites + soma, categorizing inputs into excitatory or inhibitory
Integrating input - axon hillock generates the overall change in baseline
electrical state of neuron —> determines if action potential can be created
Form an output - signal transmitted across axon to the synapse.
What are bipolar neurons? - ✔✔one axon and one dendrite
- found in retinal ganglion cells
What are pseudounipolar neurons? - ✔✔- One axon and one single
primary dendrite that attach to the cell body at the same point
- Found in afferent system of spinal/trigeminal nerves.
What are multipolar neurons? - ✔✔1 axon and several dendrites
Most abundant
,©NINJANERD 2024/2025. YEAR PUBLISHED 2024.
Motor neurons and interneurons
What is the difference between neurons and glial cells? - ✔✔neurons:
generate and transmit nerve impulses; may be inhibitory or excitatory
glial cells: provide supportive functions to neurons
What are the two functional groups of glial cells? - ✔✔microglia, macroglia
What are microglia? - ✔✔"sanitation workers" of the brain, part of immune
sytem, recruited to sites of injury or infection and function as phagocytes to
get rid of debris and dead tissue
What are the types of macroglia? - ✔✔astrocytes, oligodendrocytes,
schwann cells
What are similarities and differences between oligodendrocytes and
Schwann cells? - ✔✔They both produce myelin for axons, but
oligodenrocytes produce them for the CNS and Schwann cells produce
them for the PNS.
What are astrocytes? - ✔✔The most numerous type of glial cells and are
most complex
- They regulate K+ concentration and glutamate in extracellular space.
- They create the blood-brain barrier (BBB)
, ©NINJANERD 2024/2025. YEAR PUBLISHED 2024.
What is the blood-brain barrier? - ✔✔a filtering mechanism of the
capillaries that carry blood to the brain and spinal cord tissue, blocking the
passage of certain substances.
- astrocytes are directly involved in this!
What are electrical synapses? - ✔✔Gap junction between 2 nerve cells that
require extremely rapid signal transmission (retina, olfactory bulb, cortex,
etc).
- Pre-synaptic and postsynaptic membranes are extremely close to each
other.
- Received ions flow trough gap junction channels
- Less vulnerable to fatigue
- Signal transmission is multi-directional
What are chemical synapses? - ✔✔Synaptic cleft where impulses are
slowly transmitted in one direction by neurotransmitters
- Neurotransmitters are received by chemical receptors on post-synaptic
membrane
- Vulnerable to fatigue
- Most abundant in the nervous system
- Flexible and adaptive in structure and function
