1.The central nervous system (CNS) is composed of billions of discrete cells that are not directly...

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Medical Sciences

1.The central nervous system (CNS) is composed of billions ofdiscrete cells that are not directly connected but are insteadconnected by synapses, which require neurotransmitters to pass asignal between cells. Why is this an advantage over a CNS in whichall the cells are directly connected? That is, what do we gain byhaving our brains made up of individual cells that donâ€™tautomatically fire an action potential when they are stimulated?What are the drawbacks of the chemical synaptic nervous system? Canyou think of an idea of how to organize a nervous system that mightimprove upon the one we already have?
2. What are the consequences of a spinal injury in the thoracicregion of the spinal cord if the damage is to the gray matter? Whatabout a complete transection of the white matter in the thoracicregion? What body regions and functions that would be disrupted?Why is a white matter injury in the upper cervical region worsethan one lower down in the cord? Is the same true of gray matterinjuries? How do white matter injuries affect reflexes? How do graymatter injuries affect reflexes? Finally, what is your idea of whythe spinal cord is organized in the way it is (white mattersurrounding gray matter)?

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The term synapse means coming together Where two structures or entities come together they form a synapse Although one can use the word synapse to mean any cellular junction in physiology we traditionally limit its usage to the junction of two neurons the junction between a neuron and a target cell ex the neuromuscular junction or the interface between adjacent cardiac muscle cells or adjacent smooth muscle cells In the nervous system a synapse is the structure that allows a neuron to pass an electrical or chemical signal to another cell Synapse Cells The cell that delivers the signal to the synapse is the presynaptic cell The cell that will receive the signal once it crosses the synapse is the postsynaptic cell Since most neural pathways contain several neurons a postsynaptic neuron at one synapse may become the presynaptic neuron for another cell downstream A presynaptic neuron can form one of three types of synapses with a postsynaptic neuron The most common type of synapse is an axodendritic synapse where the axon of the presynaptic neuron See Answer

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