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Questions and Answers
What is the effect of excitatory postsynaptic potentials (EPSPs) on the postsynaptic neuron?
What is the effect of excitatory postsynaptic potentials (EPSPs) on the postsynaptic neuron?
- They hyperpolarize the membrane
- They depolarize the membrane and increase the likelihood of firing (correct)
- They have no effect on the membrane
- They decrease the likelihood of firing
Where do action potentials occur?
Where do action potentials occur?
- At the soma
- At the axon terminal
- At the axon initial segment (correct)
- At the dendrites
What is spatial summation?
What is spatial summation?
- The cancellation of simultaneous EPSPs and IPSPs
- The balance between excitatory and inhibitory signals reaching a neuron's axon
- The combination of local EPSPs or IPSPs on different parts of the receptive membrane (correct)
- The passive and decremental travel of postsynaptic potentials through the neuron
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Study Notes
- Neurons release neurotransmitters when they fire, which interact with receptor molecules on the next neuron's membrane.
- The effect of neurotransmitters on the postsynaptic neuron depends on the neurotransmitter, receptor, and neuron in question.
- Excitatory postsynaptic potentials (EPSPs) depolarize the membrane and increase the likelihood of firing, while inhibitory postsynaptic potentials (IPSPs) hyperpolarize the membrane and decrease the likelihood of firing.
- EPSPs and IPSPs are graded responses, meaning their amplitude is proportional to the intensity of the signal that elicited them.
- Postsynaptic potentials travel passively and decrementally through the neuron.
- Action potentials (APs) are not graded responses and occur at the axon initial segment.
- Whether a neuron fires depends on the balance between excitatory and inhibitory signals reaching its axon.
- Neurons integrate incoming signals over space and time through spatial and temporal summation.
- Spatial summation involves the combination of local EPSPs or IPSPs on different parts of the receptive membrane.
- Simultaneous EPSPs and IPSPs can cancel each other out.
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