Pre-Bötzinger Complex
The preBötzinger complex, often abbreviated as preBötC, is a functionally and anatomically specialized site in the ventral-lateral region of the lower medulla oblongata (i.e., lower brainstem). The preBötC is part of the ventral respiratory group of respiratory related interneurons. Its foremost function is to generate the inspiratory breathing rhythm in mammals. In addition, the preBötC is widely and paucisynaptically connected to higher brain centers that regulate arousal and excitability more generally such that respiratory brain function is intimately connected with many other rhythmic and cognitive functions of the brain and central nervous system. Further, the preBötC receives mechanical sensory information from the airways that encode lung volume as well as pH, oxygen, and carbon dioxide content of circulating blood and the cerebrospinal fluid. The preBötC is approximately colocated with the hypoglossal (XII) cranial motor nucleus as well as the ‘loop’ portion of the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Medulla Oblongata
The medulla oblongata or simply medulla is a long stem-like structure which makes up the lower part of the brainstem. It is anterior and partially inferior to the cerebellum. It is a cone-shaped neuronal mass responsible for autonomic (involuntary) functions, ranging from vomiting to sneezing. The medulla contains the cardiovascular center, the respiratory center, vomiting and vasomotor centers, responsible for the autonomic functions of breathing, heart rate and blood pressure as well as the sleep–wake cycle. "Medulla" is from Latin, ‘pith or marrow’. And "oblongata" is from Latin, ‘lengthened or longish or elongated'. During embryonic development, the medulla oblongata develops from the myelencephalon. The myelencephalon is a secondary brain vesicle which forms during the maturation of the rhombencephalon, also referred to as the hindbrain. The bulb is an archaic term for the medulla oblongata. In modern clinical usage, the word bulbar (as in bulbar palsy) is r ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Cerebellum
The cerebellum (: cerebella or cerebellums; Latin for 'little brain') is a major feature of the hindbrain of all vertebrates. Although usually smaller than the cerebrum, in some animals such as the mormyrid fishes it may be as large as it or even larger. In humans, the cerebellum plays an important role in motor control and cognition, cognitive functions such as attention and language as well as emotion, emotional control such as regulating fear and pleasure responses, but its movement-related functions are the most solidly established. The human cerebellum does not initiate movement, but contributes to motor coordination, coordination, precision, and accurate timing: it receives input from sensory systems of the spinal cord and from other parts of the brain, and integrates these inputs to fine-tune motor activity. Cerebellar damage produces disorders in fine motor skill, fine movement, sense of balance, equilibrium, list of human positions, posture, and motor learning in humans. ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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N-type Calcium Channel
N-type calcium channels, also called Cav2.2 channels, are voltage gated calcium channels that are localized primarily on the nerve terminals and dendrites as well as neuroendocrine cells. The calcium N-channel consists of several subunits: the primary subunit α1B and the auxiliary subunits α2δ and β. The α1B subunit forms the pore through which the calcium enters and helps to determine most of the channel's properties. These channels play an important role in the neurotransmission during development. In the adult nervous system, N-type calcium channels are critically involved in the release of neurotransmitters, and in pain pathways. N-type calcium channels are the target of ziconotide, the drug prescribed to relieve intractable pain, intractable cancer pain. There are many known N-type calcium channel blockers that function to inhibit channel activity, although the most notable blockers are Conotoxin, ω-conotoxins. Structure N-type calcium channels are categorized as high ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Synaptic Augmentation
Augmentation is one of four components of short-term synaptic plasticity that increases the probability of releasing synaptic vesicles during and after repetitive stimulation such that :A(t) = t)/ (0)- 1, when all the other components of enhancement and depression are zero, where A is augmentation at time t and 0 refers to the baseline response to a single stimulus. The increase in the number of synaptic vesicles that release their transmitter leads to enhancement of the post synaptic response. Augmentation can be differentiated from the other components of enhancement by its kinetics of decay and by pharmacology. Augmentation selectively decays with a time constant of about 7 seconds and its magnitude is enhanced in the presence of barium. All four components are thought to be associated with or triggered by increases in internal calcium ions Calcium ions (Ca2+) contribute to the physiology and biochemistry of organisms' cells. They play an important role in signal tr ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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L-type Calcium Channel
The L-type calcium channel (also known as the dihydropyridine channel, or DHP channel) is part of the high-voltage activated family of voltage-dependent calcium channel. "L" stands for long-lasting referring to the length of activation. This channel has four isoforms: Cav1.1, Cav1.2, Cav1.3, and Cav1.4. L-type calcium channels are responsible for the excitation- contraction coupling of skeletal, smooth, cardiac muscle, and for aldosterone secretion in endocrine cells of the adrenal cortex. They are also found in neurons, and with the help of L-type calcium channels in endocrine cells, they regulate neurohormones and neurotransmitters. They have also been seen to play a role in gene expression, mRNA stability, neuronal survival, ischemic-induced axonal injury, synaptic efficacy, and both activation and deactivation of other ion channels. In cardiac myocytes, the L-type calcium channel passes inward Ca2+ current (ICaL) and triggers calcium release from the sarcoplasmic ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Calcium Channels
A calcium channel is an ion channel which shows selective permeability to calcium ions. It is sometimes synonymous with voltage-gated calcium channel, which are a type of calcium channel regulated by changes in membrane potential. Some calcium channels are regulated by the binding of a ligand.Striggow F, Ehrlich BE (August 1996). "Ligand-gated calcium channels inside and out". ''Current Opinion in Cell Biology''. 8 (4): 490–495. doi: 10.1016/S0955-0674(96)80025-1. PMIDbr>8791458 Other calcium channels can also be regulated by both voltage and ligands to provide precise control over ion flow. Some cation channels allow calcium as well as other cations to pass through the membrane. Calcium channels can participate in the creation of action potentials across cell membranes. Calcium channels can also be used to release calcium ions as second messengers within the cell, affecting downstream signaling pathways. Comparison tables The following tables explain gating, gene, locatio ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Muscarinic
A muscarinic acetylcholine receptor agonist, also simply known as a muscarinic agonist or as a muscarinic agent, is an agent that activates the activity of the muscarinic acetylcholine receptor. The muscarinic receptor has different subtypes, labelled M1-M5, allowing for further differentiation. Clinical significance M1 M1-type muscarinic acetylcholine receptors play a role in cognitive processing. In Alzheimer disease (AD), amyloid formation may decrease the ability of these receptors to transmit signals, leading to decreased cholinergic activity. As these receptors themselves appear relatively unchanged in the disease process, they have become a potential therapeutic target when trying to improve cognitive function in patients with AD. A number of muscarinic agonists have been developed and are under investigation to treat AD. These agents show promise as they are neurotrophic, decrease amyloid depositions, and improve damage due to oxidative stress. Tau-phosphorylation ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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G Protein–coupled Receptor
G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), also known as seven-(pass)-transmembrane domain receptors, 7TM receptors, heptahelical receptors, serpentine receptors, and G protein-linked receptors (GPLR), form a large group of evolutionarily related proteins that are cell surface receptors that detect molecules outside the cell and activate cellular responses. They are coupled with G proteins. They pass through the cell membrane seven times in the form of six loops (three extracellular loops interacting with ligand molecules, three intracellular loops interacting with G proteins, an N-terminal extracellular region and a C-terminal intracellular region) of amino acid residues, which is why they are sometimes referred to as seven-transmembrane receptors. Text was copied from this source, which is available under Attribution 2.5 Generic (CC BY 2.5) licence/ref> Ligands can bind either to the extracellular N-terminus and loops (e.g. glutamate receptors) or to the binding site wit ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Membrane Potential
Membrane potential (also transmembrane potential or membrane voltage) is the difference in electric potential between the interior and the exterior of a biological cell. It equals the interior potential minus the exterior potential. This is the energy (i.e. work) per charge which is required to move a (very small) positive charge at constant velocity across the cell membrane from the exterior to the interior. (If the charge is allowed to change velocity, the change of kinetic energy and production of radiation must be taken into account.) Typical values of membrane potential, normally given in units of milli volts and denoted as mV, range from −80 mV to −40 mV. For such typical negative membrane potentials, positive work is required to move a positive charge from the interior to the exterior. However, thermal kinetic energy allows ions to overcome the potential difference. For a selectively permeable membrane, this permits a net flow against the gradient. This is a kind ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Sodium
Sodium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Na (from Neo-Latin ) and atomic number 11. It is a soft, silvery-white, highly reactive metal. Sodium is an alkali metal, being in group 1 element, group 1 of the periodic table. Its only stable isotope is 23Na. The free metal does not occur in nature and must be prepared from compounds. Sodium is the Abundance of elements in Earth's crust, sixth most abundant element in the Earth's crust and exists in numerous minerals such as feldspars, sodalite, and halite (NaCl). Many salts of sodium are highly water-soluble: sodium ions have been Leaching (chemistry), leached by the action of water from the Earth, Earth's minerals over eons, and thus sodium and chlorine are the most common dissolved elements by weight in the oceans. Sodium was first isolated by Humphry Davy in 1807 by the electrolysis of sodium hydroxide. Among many other useful sodium compounds, sodium hydroxide (lye) is used in Soap, soap manufac ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Bursting
Bursting, or burst firing, is an extremely diverse general phenomenon of the activation patterns of neurons in the central nervous system where periods of rapid action potential spiking are followed by quiescent periods much longer than typical inter-spike intervals. Bursting is thought to be important in the operation of robust central pattern generators, the transmission of neural codes, and some neuropathologies such as epilepsy. The study of bursting both directly and in how it takes part in other neural phenomena has been very popular since the beginnings of cellular neuroscience and is closely tied to the fields of neural synchronization, neural coding, plasticity, and attention. Observed bursts are named by the number of discrete action potentials they are composed of: a ''doublet'' is a two-spike burst, a ''triplet'' three and a ''quadruplet'' four. Neurons that are intrinsically prone to bursting behavior are referred to as ''bursters'' and this tendency to burst may ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Action Potential
An action potential (also known as a nerve impulse or "spike" when in a neuron) is a series of quick changes in voltage across a cell membrane. An action potential occurs when the membrane potential of a specific Cell (biology), cell rapidly rises and falls. This depolarization then causes adjacent locations to similarly depolarize. Action potentials occur in several types of Membrane potential#Cell excitability, excitable cells, which include animal cells like neurons and myocyte, muscle cells, as well as some plant cells. Certain endocrine cells such as pancreatic beta cells, and certain cells of the anterior pituitary gland are also excitable cells. In neurons, action potentials play a central role in cell–cell interaction, cell–cell communication by providing for—or with regard to saltatory conduction, assisting—the propagation of signals along the neuron's axon toward axon terminal, synaptic boutons situated at the ends of an axon; these signals can then connect wit ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |