Functional Neuroanatomy

Mazyar Fallah
 Course Website
• www.yorku.ca/mfallah/kine3650
 Neurohistology
• Characteristics of cells of the nervous
system
• Two main types of cells:
– Neurons
– Glia, from Greek for ‘glue’.
• Support neurons.
 Three basic neuronal types

• Unipolar – round body

with a single process that
splits.
• Bipolar – two processes
• Multipolar – one axon
and many dendrites
 General Neuron Anatomy

Cell Body
Axon
Presynaptic
Membrane

Axon Hillock

Nucleus

Dendritic Tree

Bipolar Neuron
Cell Body Organelles
 Myelin
• Insulation
• Covers axons
• Nodes of Ranvier
• Schwann cell – PNS
• Oligodendrocyte -
CNS
 Dendrites
• Increase the receptive
surface area
– Spines
• Receive synaptic contact
from other neurons
• Can be quite complicated
 Glial Cells
• Astrocytes
– Protoplasmic
– Fibrous
• Oligodendrocytes
• Microglia
 Glial Cells
• Ependymal cells
– Spinal cord
– Ventricles
• Produce
cerebrospinal fluid
(CSF)
 Nerve Fibers
• Peripheral nerves
– Vary in diameter
– Myelinated or not
– Sensory, Motor, or Both
 Peripheral Nerve – Connective
Tissue
• Epineurium – surface
– Thick, protective, shock
absorber
• Perineurium –
surrounding
– Partitions groups of nerve
fibers
• Endoneurium– interior
– Covers each axon, contains
Schwann cells.
 Axonal Transport
• Anterograde
– Get materials to axon
terminal
– Slow or Fast
• Retrograde
– Return materials to cell
body
– Recycling system
• Microtubules and kinesin
– Highways and trucks
 Synapses

• Excitatory vs Inhibitory
• Electrical vs Chemical
 Neuromuscular Junction
• Axon synapses on
muscle fiber
• Acetylcholine (ACh)
neurotransmitter
• Motor end plate
 AP
Ca2+

Ca2+
ACh- esterase entry

AChE ACh release

Na+
Muscle
contraction

AChE breaks down ACh in the synaptic cleft

Poisons Acting
At NMJ
(affecting ACh)

Botulism

nerve gas
e.g. sarin

Source: Haines, Fundamental Neuroscience, Churchill-

Livingstone, 2002 curare
Neurotoxins

Krait snake
Cone shell snail
• blocks receptors at NMJ
•Block postsynaptic receptors,
postsynaptic channels,
presynaptic release of ACh
Source: Purves et al. Neuroscience, Sinauer Associates Inc: Massachusetts, 2001.
 Myasthenia Gravis
Normal Myasthenia gravis
axon
Synaptic
vesicle

Axon
terminal

Muscle
ACh
fibre
receptors

Junctional
folds

Source: Kandel et al., Principles of Neural Science, McGraw Hill, 2000

 Myasthenia Gravis – Treatments

Patient with MG

One minute after

AChE Inhib.

Source: Kandel et al., Principles of Neural Science, McGraw Hill, 2000

 Neuronal Injury
• Crushing vs Severed
• Chromatolysis –
changing from
producing NTs to
producing materials
for repair
• Retrograde vs
Anterograde
degeneration
• Wallerian
degeneration