Anatomy & Physiology OER

Link to chapter twelve in the OpenStax Anatomy & Physiology 2e book.

Chapter twelve PowerPoint slideshow with close-captioned recorded lecture.

Neurophysiology PowerPoint slideshow with close-captioned recorded lecture.

Link to a video about the nervous system.

Link to a video about the structure of the nervous system.

Link to a video that looks at the basic divisions of the nervous system.

Link to a webpage with the MRI the Magnetic Miracle Game.

Link to an article about a girl who has an odd way of climbing stairs which leads to the discovery of an illness.

Link to a video tutorial on the types of neurons by structure.

Link to a webpage that covers the parts of a neuron.

Link to a video that looks at the different types of glial cells in the central and peripheral nervous systems.

Link to a tissue sample of the cross section of a peripheral nerve.

Link to a video covering action potentials electrical characteristics.

Link to a video where you can learn more about this process. What happens across the membrane of an electrically active cell is a dynamic process that is hard to visualize with static images or through text descriptions.

Link to a video covering the voltage gated channels and the actions potential, including a quiz.

Link to a video covering the nerve impulse, including quiz.

Link to a video covering action potential propagation in an unmyelinated axon, including quiz.

Link to a video tutorial on the basic structure of the synapse.

Link to a webpage with a neurophysiology virtual lab, part of Senses and Sensitivity: Neuronal Alliances for Sight and Sound, where you can visualize neuron morphology.

Link to a video where you can learn about summation. The process of converting electrical signals to chemical signals and back requires subtle changes that can result in transient increases or decreases in membrane voltage. To cause a lasting change in the target cell, multiple signals are usually added together, or summated.

Link to a video where you can learn about the release of a neurotransmitter. The action potential reaches the end of the axon, called the axon terminal, and a chemical signal is released to tell the target cell to do something—either to initiate a new action potential, or to suppress that activity. In a very short space, the electrical signal of the action potential is changed into the chemical signal of a neurotransmitter and then back to electrical changes in the target cell membrane.