As a psychiatric nurse practitioner, before you can recommend potential pharmacotherapeutics to address a patient’s condition or disorder, you must understand the basic function and structure of the neuron and central nervous system. For this Assignment, you will review and apply your understanding of neuroanatomy by addressing a set of short answer prompts.

To complete:

Address the following Short Answer prompts for your Assignment. Be sure to include references to the Learning Resources for this week.

1. In 4 or 5 sentences, describe the anatomy of the basic unit of the nervous system, the neuron. Include each part of the neuron and a general overview of electrical impulse conduction, the pathway it travels, and the net result at the termination of the impulse. Be specific and provide examples.
2. Answer the following (listing is acceptable for these questions):
   • What are the major components that make up the subcortical structures?
   • Which component plays a role in learning, memory, and addiction?
   • What are the two key neurotransmitters located in the nigra striatal region of the brain that play a major role in motor control?
3. In 3 or 4 sentences, explain how glia cells function in the central nervous system. Be specific and provide examples.
4. The synapse is an area between two neurons that allows for chemical communication. In 3 or 4 sentences, explain what part of the neurons are communicating with each other and in which direction does this communication occur? Be specific.
5. In 3–5 sentences, explain the concept of “neuroplasticity.” Be specific and provide examples.

By Day 7

Submit your Assignment.

Solution:

Basic Function And Structure of the Neuron and Central Nervous System

1. Neuron and its parts

The neuron is the fundamental unit of the brain and the nervous system. It has a total of three parts including the dendrites, axons, and the cell body or soma.The Dendrites is the section where a neuron receives input from other cells. Like tree branches, dendrites moves towards the direction of their tips.

Axons are the structural outputs of the neuron system. A neuron tends to send an electrical message to signal another neuron through the axions via action potential.

The soma is a structure that incorporates the nucleus and provides the proteins needed by axons and dendrites are manufactured.

The Conduction of Electrical Impulse

The neurons send messages to other neurons through electrical impulses known as chemical neurotransmitters or action potentials.  At the edge of two neurons(SYNAPSES), the action potential triggers neuron A to produce a chemical neurotransmitter. The released neurotransmitter tends to trigger or inhibit neuron B from causing its action potential.

In a constant state of the brain, hundreds of balanced excitatory and inhibitory inputs to a neuron confirm whether an action potential should occur.For example, during the dispatch of an action potential, the passive spread of depolarization to the adjacent distal region of the membrane slightly depolarizes the new region, causing the opening of a few voltage-gated Na+ channels and an increase in Na+ influx. A series of two forces acting towards a similar direction compels the Na+ ions within the cell. This is the concentration gradient of Na+ ions in the combination resting membrane potential  (inside negative) that attracts the Na+ ions into the cell(Chen, & Lui, 2019). The interior of the cell membrane turns positive as the Na+  ions continue to flow into the cells. As a result, the membrane becomes more depolarized. The depolarization process triggers the opening of high voltage Na+ channels causing unsettling motion an explosive release of  Na+ ions that happen within a flush of a millisecond. Within a….Please click the icon below to purchase full answer at only $10