Book contents
- Keynes & Aidley’s Nerve and Muscle
- Keynes & Aidley’s Nerve and Muscle
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations used in the text
- 1 Structural Organisation of the Nervous System
- 2 Resting and Action Potentials
- 3 Background Ionic Homeostasis of Excitable Cells
- 4 Membrane Permeability Changes During Excitation
- 5 Voltage-Gated Ion Channels
- 6 Cable Theory and Saltatory Conduction
- 7 Neuromuscular Transmission
- 8 Synaptic Transmission in the Nervous System
- 9 The Mechanism of Contraction in Skeletal Muscle
- 10 The Activation of Skeletal Muscle
- 11 Excitation–Contraction Coupling in Skeletal Muscle
- 12 Contractile Function in Skeletal Muscle
- 13 Cardiac Muscle
- 14 Ion Channel Function and Cardiac Arrhythmogenesis
- 15 Smooth Muscle
- Further Reading
- References
- Index
1 - Structural Organisation of the Nervous System
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 November 2020
- Keynes & Aidley’s Nerve and Muscle
- Keynes & Aidley’s Nerve and Muscle
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations used in the text
- 1 Structural Organisation of the Nervous System
- 2 Resting and Action Potentials
- 3 Background Ionic Homeostasis of Excitable Cells
- 4 Membrane Permeability Changes During Excitation
- 5 Voltage-Gated Ion Channels
- 6 Cable Theory and Saltatory Conduction
- 7 Neuromuscular Transmission
- 8 Synaptic Transmission in the Nervous System
- 9 The Mechanism of Contraction in Skeletal Muscle
- 10 The Activation of Skeletal Muscle
- 11 Excitation–Contraction Coupling in Skeletal Muscle
- 12 Contractile Function in Skeletal Muscle
- 13 Cardiac Muscle
- 14 Ion Channel Function and Cardiac Arrhythmogenesis
- 15 Smooth Muscle
- Further Reading
- References
- Index
Summary
Nervous systems are a characteristic feature of higher animals. Their sensory components convey incoming information from the internal and external environment; their motor components convey instructions for reactions to such stimuli to their effector organs. Vertebrates possess both central and peripheral nervous systems, including an autonomic division concerned with homeostasis of the internal environment. The nerve cell is the anatomical, functional and trophic unit of nervous system function. Its cell body radiates dendritic and axonal nerve fibres that respectively transmit incoming information and the departing results of its processing. In contrast to non-myelinated nerve fibres, myelinated nerve fibres are ensheathed by glial cells in the central and Schwann cells in the peripheral nervous systems. Peripheral but not central nerves show a capacity for regeneration along their basement membranes thereby regaining their peripheral attachments. This property has attracted significant interest in connection with clinical repair following nerve injury.
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- Keynes & Aidley's Nerve and Muscle , pp. 1 - 9Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2020