Neurophysiology
Synapses, sensation, pain, motor control, the autonomic system, special senses and sleep.
55 pages
Exam priority: high
- Adrenergic and cholinergic receptorsTable to know · Adrenaline and acetylcholine act through different receptor types; knowing which type sits on an…
- Basal ganglia and movement controlRegulation · Deep brain nuclei work as brake and accelerator for movement, letting the wanted action through
- Cerebral blood flow, brain metabolism and intracranial pressureRegulation · The brain uses a fifth of the body's oxygen and stores no fuel, so its blood flow is tightly…
- Motor cortex and the corticospinal tractConcept · The motor cortex plans voluntary movement and sends the command down the corticospinal tract…
- Pain and temperature: pathways and modulationMechanism · Pain starts at free nerve endings, rides two fibre speeds up the spinal cord, and the body can…
- Somatosensory pathways: dorsal column and anterolateralConcept · Touch, vibration and position travel up the cord in one bundle, pain and temperature in another
- Spinal cord reflexesRegulation · A reflex is a fast, automatic loop through the spinal cord: tap the tendon and the muscle jerks…
- Synaptic transmissionMechanism · A nerve cell passes its signal to the next one by releasing a chemical messenger across a tiny…
- The autonomic nervous system: organizationConcept · The autonomic system runs the organs without conscious control: the sympathetic side prepares…
- Upper versus lower motor neuron lesionsConcept · Weakness from the brain or cord is stiff with brisk reflexes; weakness from the nerve or…
Exam priority: medium
- Aqueous humor and intraocular pressureRegulation · The eye makes and drains a clear fluid all the time; if drainage fails, pressure rises and can…
- Arousal and consciousness: the reticular activating systemRegulation · A network in the upper brainstem keeps the cortex awake; consciousness needs that network plus…
- Association cortex: space, faces, reading and executive functionConcept · Most of the cortex does not see, feel or move directly; it combines those signals to map space…
- Brain rhythms and how seizures start and spreadMechanism · The EEG records the summed signals of millions of cortical cells firing together; a seizure is…
- Brainstem motor control and abnormal posturingRegulation · The brainstem holds the body up against gravity; when the cortex can no longer restrain it, the…
- Colour vision and colour blindnessMechanism · Three kinds of cones each prefer a different part of the spectrum; the brain reads colour from…
- Control of eye movements: fixation, saccades, pursuit and gaze centresRegulation · The brain keeps both eyes pointed at the same target: it holds them still, jumps them fast to…
- CSF and the blood–brain barrierConcept · The brain floats in a clear fluid made inside its cavities, and a tight wall of vessel cells…
- Functions of the cerebellumRegulation · The cerebellum compares the movement that was planned with the one being made and corrects it…
- Functions of the hypothalamusRegulation · A small region below the thalamus that keeps the body's settings: temperature, water, hunger…
- Headache physiologyMechanism · The brain itself feels no pain; headaches come from the meninges, blood vessels, nerves and…
- Hearing: middle ear, cochlea and auditory pathwayMechanism · The ear turns sound waves into nerve signals: the middle ear boosts them, the cochlea sorts them…
- How the nervous system is organized: input, integration, output and levelsConcept · Nerves bring in information, the brain and cord sort it and decide, and nerves carry the orders…
- Learning and memoryMechanism · Memories are stored by strengthening the connections between neurons; the hippocampus files…
- Muscle spindle and Golgi tendon organMechanism · Two sensors tell the spinal cord how long a muscle is and how hard it pulls, so movement stays…
- Optics of the eye, accommodation and refractive errorsConcept · The cornea and lens bend light onto the retina; if the eye is too long or too short, the image…
- Sensory receptors, coding and neuronal circuitsConcept · Sense organs turn touch, light, sound or chemicals into nerve impulses; the brain reads which…
- Spinal shock and the isolated cordMechanism · When the spinal cord is cut, everything below goes silent for a while; later the cord's own…
- Sympathetic and parasympathetic effects on each organTable to know · The sympathetic system prepares the body for action; the parasympathetic one for rest, digestion…
- The autonomic nerve terminal: release, reuptake and drug targetsMechanism · Autonomic nerves make, store, release and recycle their transmitters; many drugs act by speeding…
- The main neurotransmittersTable to know · Neurons talk with a small set of chemicals; each one has its own jobs, its source nuclei and the…
- The retina and phototransductionMechanism · Light makes rods and cones go quiet; the retina turns that change into the signals the brain…
- The somatosensory cortex, association areas and judging stimulus intensityConcept · The strip of brain behind the central sulcus maps the body; areas behind it turn raw touch into…
- The vestibular system, tone and postureMechanism · Sensors in the inner ear detect head turns and tilts, keep the eyes steady and keep the body…
- The visual pathway, pupillary reflexes and eye movementsConcept · Signals go from the eye to the back of the brain; where the path is damaged decides which part…
- Visceral and referred painMechanism · Organs hurt in a vague, deep way, and the brain often blames the skin that shares the same…
- Visual processing in the thalamus and cortex: LGN, V1 and the two streamsConcept · The eye's signal goes through a relay in the thalamus to the back of the brain, which splits it…
- Wakefulness, sleep, the EEG and seizuresRegulation · The brain cycles between waking, deep sleep and dream sleep; the EEG shows each state as a…
For completeness
- Autonomic tone and denervation supersensitivityRegulation · Autonomic nerves fire slowly all the time; that steady tone lets them turn organs up or down…
- Binocular vision and depth perceptionConcept · Each eye sees from a slightly different spot; the brain merges the two pictures and uses their…
- Coding pitch and loudness, locating sound and the auditory cortexMechanism · Pitch is read from where the cochlea vibrates most, loudness from how many fibres fire and how…
- How the motor system works togetherConcept · Cord, brainstem and cortex give the orders; the cerebellum and basal ganglia check timing, size…
- Motor planning areas: premotor, supplementary and specialised fieldsConcept · In front of the primary motor strip, other areas plan movements, sequence them and aim the eyes…
- Neuronal integration: dendrites, presynaptic inhibition, electrical synapses and firing rateMechanism · A neuron adds up thousands of small pushes and pulls on its dendrites; if the sum at the axon…
- Neuronal pools and circuits: divergence, convergence, reverberation and stabilityConcept · Groups of neurons are wired to spread, gather, repeat or rhythm signals; built-in brakes keep…
- Position sense, itch and the kinds of somatic sensationConcept · With eyes closed you still know where your limbs are and when they move; this comes mostly from…
- Retinal processing: ganglion cells, receptive fields and adaptationMechanism · Before the signal leaves the eye, the retina compresses it: ganglion cells report edges…
- Spinal motor circuits: interneurons, posture and steppingConcept · The spinal cord is not just a cable: its own circuits can support weight, step, scratch and lock…
- Taste and smellMechanism · Taste buds detect five basic tastes; the nose adds thousands of smells
- Taste and smell coding: thresholds, adaptation, preference and aversionConcept · Bitter is detected at the tiniest amounts because it warns of poison; smells fade quickly as you…
- The cerebral cortex and languageConcept · Different areas of the cortex handle movement, sensation and language; damage to each one causes…
- The limbic system, emotion and rewardConcept · A ring of brain structures links feelings, memory and motivation, and drives the body's…
- The neurovascular unit and brain waste clearanceConcept · Active brain areas call for more blood within seconds, and fluid flowing along vessels washes…
- Thermal sensation: warm and cold receptorsMechanism · Separate nerve endings in the skin report cold and warmth; extreme cold or heat switches on pain…
- Why we sleep: functions of sleep and sleep lossConcept · Sleep restores the brain and body: it fixes memories, clears waste and resets hormones; lose it…
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Representative model, for educational purposes only.