General Interview Questions - Physiology What is meant by homeostasis? What is meant by metabolism?

Concept statements Emphasis in your teaching General importance 1. All animal cells have an electrical potential across their plasma membrane; this is known as the resting potential.  It arises from the concentration gradients of Na+ and K+ across the membrane, established and maintained by the action of the Na+, K+ ATPase, and the plasma membrane's differential permeability for Na+ and K+ Emphasized Mentioned Not Covered Critical Important Marginal 2. Excitable cells, such as neurons and muscle cells, have voltage-gated ion channel proteins in their plasma membrane.  Activation and inactivation of these channels gives rise to a traveling wave of potential change across the plasma membrane called the action potential . Emphasized Mentioned Not Covered Critical Important Marginal 3. Action potentials have a constant amplitude.  The cells of the nervous system (neurons) encode and transmit information primarily through the frequency and patterns of action potentials, not in terms of action potential size . Emphasized Mentioned Not Covered Critical Important Marginal 4. Action potentials move along neurons with a distinct directionality.  They generally arise in the region adjacent to the neuronal cell body (the soma) known as the axonal hillock.  They pass down the axon . Emphasized Mentioned Not Covered Critical Important Marginal 5. Neurons interact with one another, or with muscle or gland cells, through structures known as synapses.  At a chemical synapse a chemical neurotransmitter is released by the presynaptic cell and binds to neurotransmitter receptor proteins on the surface of the post-synaptic cell.  At an electrical synapse, the electrical wave in the presynaptic cell is directly passed to the post-synaptic cell through gap junction-like membrane proteins . Emphasized Mentioned Not Covered Critical Important Marginal 6. The binding of the neurotransmitter to neurotransmitter receptor can either induce (excite/depolarize) or inhibit (hyperpolarize) the generation of action potentials or other response (contraction of muscle cells, release of hormones by exocrine cells) in the post-synaptic cell . Emphasized Mentioned Not Covered Critical Important Marginal 7. The activity of a synpase is determined by the rate of transmitter release and removal, by either uptake or destruction. Emphasized Mentioned Not Covered Critical Important Marginal 8. Typically, synapses are made on the non-axonal parts of a neuron, known as the dendrites and soma.   Generally these regions cannot generate action potentials.  The activity of the synaptic neuron will be determined by whether the net synaptic inputs lead the depolarization of the hillock region above a 'threshold'.  In this way, a neuron acts to integrate the incoming signals that impinge upon it . Emphasized Mentioned Not Covered Critical Important Marginal 9. Complex behaviors, including memory and consciousness, are generated through the electrical and chemical activities of networks of neuronal interactions . Emphasized Mentioned Not Covered Critical Important Marginal your email for tracking & responding only   Where do you teach? Outside of the USA Alabama Alaska American Samoa Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Dist. Columbia Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Puerto Rico Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virgin Islands Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming I do not teach I teach, but not biology I am researcher in the private sector I teach elementary secondary college level biology     I would add the following statement to the list:   jump to top | modified - MK - 14 June 2003 |