Axon transmission

The brain is the only organ with a large volume of nerve tissue. Nerve tissue elsewhere may be regarded as cables with coupling nodes (plexus), and electrical cable theory is often applied. The naked axon diameter is of the order of 20 pm, and the length can be 1 m. 

---

Several isoforms of the sodium channel have been identified, and they have differing sensitivities to channel-blocking drugs such as tetrodotoxin. There is also evidence that some sodium channels are much more sensitive to local anesthetics than the classic channels associated with axonal transmission. 

Tetrodotoxin is believed to be synthesized by a bacterial or dinoflagellate species. Tetrodotoxin blocks axonal transmission by lowering the conductance of sodium at nodes of Ranvier. It is a selective sodium channel blocker that can block nerve and muscle conduction action potentials are blocked while resting membrane potentials and resting membrane resistance are not affected. Tetrodotoxin does not... 

Lesions of the central nervous system (CNS) or peripheral nervous system affect neuronal function or axonal transmission. They are often chronic and can be permanent. 

Impaired transport wMiin the axon itself results in slow, progressive impairment of axonal transmission. 

Pyrethroids, such as p,p -DDT, are toxic because they interact with Na+ channels of the axonal membrane, thereby disturbing the transmission of nerve action potential (Eldefrawi and Eldefrawi 1990, and Chapter 5, Section 5.2.4 of this book). In both cases, marked hydrophobicity leads to bioconcentration of the insecticides in the axonal membrane and reversible association with the Na+ channel. Consequently, both DDT and pyrethroids show negative temperature coefficients in arthropods increasing temperature brings decreasing toxicity because it favors desorption of insecticide from the site of action. 

Synaptic transmission. Transmission through the junction across which a nerve impulse passes from an axon terminal to a neuron, muscle cell, or gland cell. 

It was generally assumed that it cannot and this became known as Dale s Law. During his studies on antidromic vasodilation he wrote (1935) When we are dealing with two different endings of the same sensory neuron, the one peripheral and concerned with vasodilation and the other at a central synapse, can we suppose that the discovery and identification of a chemical transmitter at axon reflex dilation would furnish a hint as to the nature of the transmission process at a central synapse. The possibility has at least some value as a stimulus to further experiments . 

To achieve their different effects NTs are not only released from different neurons to act on different receptors but their biochemistry is different. While the mechanism of their release may be similar (Chapter 4) their turnover varies. Most NTs are synthesised from precursors in the axon terminals, stored in vesicles and released by arriving action potentials. Some are subsequently broken down extracellularly, e.g. acetylcholine by cholinesterase, but many, like the amino acids, are taken back into the nerve where they are incorporated into biochemical pathways that may modify their structure initially but ultimately ensure a maintained NT level. Such processes are ideally suited to the fast transmission effected by the amino acids and acetylcholine in some cases (nicotinic), and complements the anatomical features of their neurons and the recepter mechanisms they activate. Further, to ensure the maintenance of function in vital pathways, glutamate and GABA are stored in very high concentrations (10 pmol/mg) just as ACh is at the neuromuscular junction. 

Lamina II is also known as the substantia gelatinosa (SG) and can be divided into two layers, the outer layer (IIo) and the inner layer (Ili). This layer is densely packed with small neurons and lacks myelinated axons. Neurons with cell bodies in Hi receive inputs from low-threshold mechanoreceptive primary afferents, while those in IIo respond to inputs from high-threshold and thermoreceptive afferents. The intrinsic cells which comprise the SG are predominantly stalk and islet cells. Stalk cells are found located in lamina IIo, particularly on the border of lamina I, and most of their axons have ramifications in lamina I although some also project to deeper layers. These cells are thought to predominantly relay excitatory transmission. Islet cells, on the other hand, are located in Hi and have been demonstrated to contain the inhibitory neurotransmitters, y-aminobutyric acid (GABA), glycine and enkephalins in their dendrites. Hence these cells have been proposed to be inhibitory interneurons. 

The idea that signals are transmitted along the nerve channels as an electric current had arisen as early as the middle of the nineteenth century. Yet even the first measurements performed by H. Helmholtz showed that the transmission speed is about lOm/s (i.e., much slower than electric current flow in conductors). It is known today that the propagation of nerve impulses along the axons of nerve cells (which in humans are as long as 1.5m) is associated with an excitation of the axon s outer membrane. 

GC) axon (Jia et al, 1999). The GC are the main inhibitory intemeurones, while the peri-glomerular cells can alter the probability of transmission at the first synapse. The olfactory inputs to the M/TCs have two ways in which they may be connected, via their primary dendrites, to a particular glomerulus. First, they may supply only one functional type as in MOE input [Fig. 5.14(a)], Second, they may supply two or more functional types [Fig. 5.14(b)]. The single connectivity type is found in the MOB, as the primary OR-M/TC... 

O MS symptoms are a function of the position of lesions within the CNS. Because myelin increases the speed of nerve impulse transmission, demyelination slows the speed of transmission. No impulses can be transmitted if the axon is transected. The primary symptoms of MS are caused by this delay or cessation of impulses. Secondary symptoms of MS result from the primary symptoms. 

Figure 4.4 Saltatory conduction. Transmission of electrical impulses in a myelinated axon occurs by way of saltatory conduction. Composed primarily of lipid, the myelin sheath insulates the axon and prevents generation of membrane potentials. Membrane potentials occur only at gaps in the myelin sheath, referred to as the nodes of Ranvier. Therefore, transmission of the impulse, or generation of action potentials, occurs only at the nodes.

The function of a neuron is to communicate or relay information to another cell by way of an electrical impulse. A synapse is the site at which the impulse is transmitted from one cell to the next. A neuron may terminate on a muscle cell, glandular cell, or another neuron. The discussion in this chapter will focus on neuron-to-neuron transmission. At these types of synapses, the presynaptic neuron transmits the impulse toward the synapse and the postsyn-aptic neuron transmits the impulse away from the synapse. Specifically, it is the axon terminal of the presynaptic neuron that comes into contact with the cell body or the dendrites of the postsynaptic neuron. Most neurons, particularly in the CNS, receive thousands of inputs. As will become evident, the transmission of the impulse at the synapse is unidirectional and the presynaptic neuron influences activity of the postsynaptic neuron only. 

Morphine may be administered orally, intravenously, or epidurally. An advantage of epidural administration is that it provides effective analgesia while minimizing the central depressant effects associated with systemic administration. The mechanism of action with the epidural route of administration involves opioid receptors on the cell bodies of first-order sensory neurons in the dorsal root ganglia as well as their axon terminals in the dorsal hom. Stimulation of these receptors inhibits release of substance P and interrupts transmission of the pain signal to the second-order sensory neuron. 

Myelin affects axonal structure. The presence of a myelin sheath affects the structure of the axon that it surrounds [5], presumably optimizing its properties for transmission of action potentials by saltatory conduction. Generally, one of the effects of myelin is to increase axonal diameter by inducing biochemical changes in components of the axonal cytoskeleton such as neurofilaments (see Ch. 8). The effects of myelin on axonal structure imply... 

Neurons constitute the most striking example of membrane polarization. A single neuron typically maintains thousands of discrete, functional microdomains, each with a distinctive protein complement, location and lifetime. Synaptic terminals are highly specialized for the vesicle cycling that underlies neurotransmitter release and neurotrophin uptake. The intracellular trafficking of a specialized type of transport vesicles in the presynaptic terminal, known as synaptic vesicles, underlies the ability of neurons to receive, process and transmit information. The axonal plasma membrane is specialized for transmission of the action potential, whereas the plasma... 

---