Curriculum links for ‘Big Picture: Inside the Brain’

AS/A2 level biology

Edexcel

Topic 8: Grey Matter

Describe the structure and function of sensory, relay and motor neurones including the role of Schwann cells and myelination.

Describe how a nerve impulse (action potential) is conducted along an axon including changes in membrane permeability to sodium and potassium ions and the role of the nodes of Ranvier.

Locate and state the functions of the regions of the human brain's cerebral hemispheres (ability to see, think, learn and feel emotions), hypothalamus (thermoregulate), cerebellum (coordinate movement) and medulla oblongata (control the heartbeat).

Describe the use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and computed tomography (CT) scans in medical diagnosis and investigating brain structure and function.

Consider the methods used to compare the contributions of nature and nurture to brain development, including evidence from the abilities of newborn babies, animal experiments, studies of individuals with damaged brain areas, twin studies and cross-cultural studies.

Explain how imbalances in certain, naturally occurring, brain chemicals can contribute to ill health (eg dopamine in Parkinson's disease and serotonin in depression) and to the development of new drugs.

AQA

Nerve cells pass electrical impulses along their length. They stimulate their target cells by secreting chemical neurotransmitters directly on to them. This results in rapid, short-lived and localised responses.

The structure of a myelinated motor neurone.

The establishment of a resting potential in terms of differential membrane permeability, electrochemical gradients and the movement of sodium and potassium ions.

Changes in membrane permeability lead to depolarisation and the generation of an action potential.

The all-or-nothing principle.

The passage of an action potential along non-myelinated and myelinated axons, resulting in nerve impulses.

The nature and importance of the refractory period in producing discrete impulses.

Factors affecting the speed of conductance: myelination and saltatory conduction; axon diameter; temperature.

The detailed structure of a synapse and of a neuromuscular junction.

Candidates should be able to explain

unidirectionality
temporal and spatial summation
inhibition.

The sequence of events involved in transmission across a cholinergic synapse and across a neuromuscular junction.

When provided with information, candidates should be able to predict and explain the effects of specific drugs on a synapse. The detailed structure of a synapse and of a neuromuscular junction.

OCR

(a) outline the roles of sensory receptors in mammals in converting different forms of energy into nerve impulses

(b) describe, with the aid of diagrams, the structure and functions of sensory and motor neurones

(d) describe and explain how an action potential is generated

(e) describe and explain how an action potential is transmitted in a myelinated neurone, with reference to the roles of voltage-gated sodium ion and potassium ion channels

(f) interpret graphs of the voltage changes taking place during the generation and transmission of an action potential

(g) outline the significance of the frequency of impulse transmission

(h) compare and contrast the structure and function of myelinated and non-myelinated neurones

(i) describe, with the aid of diagrams, the structure of a cholinergic synapse

(j) outline the role of neurotransmitters in the transmission of action potentials

(k) outline the roles of synapses in the nervous system.

WJEC

(a) Responding to a stimulus requires information from a receptor to be relayed to an effector. Effectors are either muscles or glands.

(b) The main areas of the spinal cord. The basic pattern of spinal nerves in relation to the spinal cord. Dorsal root and ventral root. The simple reflex arc as the basis for protective, involuntary actions. Comparison with nerve nets.

(c) The structure of the motor neurone, to include drawing and labelling of diagram. The nature and transmission of the nerve impulse. Analysis of oscilloscope traces. Factors affecting speed of conduction in other organisms.

(d) The structure and role of the synapse and synaptic transmission. The effect of chemicals such as organophosphates and psychoactive drugs (in brief) on transmission.

AQA Science in Society

Watching the brain working: Understand how activity in different parts of the brain relates to brain function.

Scottish Advanced Higher in Biology

Nerve transmission is a wave of depolarisation of the resting potential of a neuron. This can be stimulated when an appropriate signal molecule, such as a neurotransmitter, triggers the opening of ligand-gated ion channels. If sufficient ion movement occurs, then voltage-gated ion channels will open and the effect travels along the length of the nerve. Once the wave of depolarisation has passed, these channel proteins close and others open to allow the movement of ions in the opposite direction to restore the resting potential.