The Nervous System, Part 3—Synapses! Crash Course A&P #10

Name: ______

  1. Synapse = the m______p______between 2n______.
  2. A neuron’s strength and purpose lies in their c______.
  3. The term “synapse” is Greek, and it translates “to c______or j______”.
  4. The human brain has ______billion neurons, and each neuron has ______to ______synapses, making a total of ______-______synapses total in our brain!
  5. True or false: synapses are able to change and adapt in response to neuron firing patterns. ______
  6. Synapses can travel 2 ways electrical or chemical.
  7. Which ones are faster? ______Why? ______
  8. Which are more abundant? ______What do they use to deliver the message? n______
  9. The cell that is sending the signal is called a ______neuron, which holds a whole bunch of synaptic vesicle sacs, each loaded with thousands of molecules of a ______.
  10. The receiving cell is called the ______neuron. It accepts the neurotransmitters in its receptor region, which is usually on the d______or the c_____ b______.
  11. These 2 neurons communicate, even though they don’t really ______.
  12. Put the following steps that occur at a synapse in the correct order:

___1___ Action potential reaches an axon terminal

______Electrical change opens calcium channels

______Ion channels open, causing the neuron to become excited or inhibited

______Neurotransmitters bind to receptor sites on the postsynaptic membrane

______Synaptic vesicles fuse with the cell membrane to release the neurotransmitters

  1. Drugs can either excite or inhibit the production, release, and reuptake of n______.And sometimes they can simply m______them, tricking a neuron into thinking it’s getting a natural c______s______when it’s not.
  2. Cocaine targets 3 neurotransmitters. Record something that these neurotransmitters do:
  3. Serotonin
  4. Dopamine
  5. Norepinephrine

Usually, the body would diffuse the neurotransmitters back into the neurons they came from, but cocaine can b______that reuptake, making the user eventually feel p______and j______.

*We’ll look at more details with the science behind drugs and the brain/nervous system in the near future!