Neurons in Action 2

by Moore, John W.; Stuart, Ann E.

• ISBN13: 9781605353913
• ISBN10: 1605353914
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Access Card
• Copyright: 2011-01-26
• Publisher: Sinauer Associates is an imprint of Oxford University Press

Summary

Neurons in Action 2 is the second version of a unique software learning tool that combines hyperlinked text with NEURON simulations of laboratory experiments in neurophysiology. Version 2 features nine new tutorials introducing new channel types, single-channel simulations, and a redesigned interface. Neurons in Action's moving graphs provide insight into nerve function that is simply not possible with conventional, static text and figure presentations. Students discover how changing parameters such as neuronal geometry, ion concentrations, ion channel densities, and degree of myelination affect the generation of action potentials, synaptic potentials, and the spread or propagation of voltages within a neuron. For instructors, minimovies of NEURON simulations are provided for use in lectures.

Author Biography

John W. Moore is a Professor Emeritus in the Department of Neurobiology at Duke University Medical Center. He earned a B.S. in Physics at Davidson College, and a Ph.D. in Physics at the University of Virginia. His work, spanning some four decades, has encompassed characterizing the ionic channels in squid axons under a variety of experimental conditions (e.g., treatment with ions, drugs, toxins, etc.), propagation of impulses in normal axons under a variety of experimental conditions, and synaptic transmission at neuromuscular junctions.

Ann E. Stuart is a Professor in the Department of Cell and Molecular Physiology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She earned a B.A. in Biology at Swarthmore College and a Ph.D. in Physiology at Yale University with John G. Nicholls, and has done postdoctoral work with Zach Hall and Susumu Hagiwara. The aim of Dr. Stuart's laboratory has been to understand the first stages of processing in an invertebrate visual system.

The authors wish to acknowledge the participation in this endeavor of their son, Jonathan Stuart-Moore, who contributed his skills in computer graphics and also made it possible for Neurons in Action to run on the Macintosh platform.

Table of Contents

Installation Instructions

Interface Layout

Panels and Graphs Layout

BASIC TUTORIALS

Patch: Stationary Signals

*Introduction to Neurons in Action
*The Membrane Tutorial
*Equilibrium Potentials
*The Na Action Potential
*Threshold: To Fire or Not To Fire
*Voltage Clamping a Patch
*Chattering Ion Channels
*The Ca Action Potential
*The Neuromuscular Junction
*Postsynaptic Inhibition
*Interactions of Synaptic Potentials

Axons: Signals that Move

*The Passive Axon
*The Unmyelinated Axon
*The Myelinated Axon
*Partial Demyelination

ADVANCED TUTORIALS

Patch: Stationary Signals

*Extracellular Ca Sensitivity of the Na Channel
*A Dynamical View of Threshold
*Na and K Channel Kinetics

Axons: Signals that Navigate

*Axon Diameter Change
*Non-Uniform Channel Density

Cells

*Site of Impulse Initiation
*Synaptic Integration
*Impulse Invasion of the Presynaptic Terminal
*Coincidence Detection
*"Voltage Clamping" Intact Cells