Lab 8 The Nervous System BIO201L
Student Name:
Access Code (located on the lid of your lab kit):
Lab Report Format Expectations
Utilize college level grammar and professional formaṄng when completing this worksheet.
Submissions without proper formaṄng, all required photos or sufficient responses will be rejected. Pre-
lab Questions
1. What is the primary function of the nervous system?
The nervous system acts as the body's control center. messages between the brain and
the rest of the body to facilitate actions like breathing, heartbeat, movement, and
thinking. Furthermore, helps the body sense and respond to changes inside and outside.
2. Why does the cerebral cortex contain so many folds?
The cerebral cortex is the brain’s outer layer, folded into raised ridges (gyri) and grooves
(sulci). These folds are like wrinkles that dramatically increase the cortex’s surface area
within the skull. with increased surface area more neurons increases the amount of
information the brain can handle and the process of thinking.
3. What is a nerve impulse?
A nerve impulse is a electrical signal that travels along a nerve cell, carrying
information from one part of the body to another.
4. What are Schwann cells and what do they form?
Schwann cells are found in the peripheral nervous system, and they form a myelin
sheath, insulates nerve fibers and speeds up the transmission of nerve impulses.
Without it (sheath), messages would move very slowly decreasing your responsce.
5. What is an all-or-none response?
An all-or-none response occurs when a nerve or muscle fiber either fully activates or
does not activate at all. For example, a light switch will only engage if it has been
completed switched to the on position. If you stop at the halfway mark the light will not
turn on.
6. What two effects might neurotransmitters have?
Neurotransmitters can have an excitatory effect, increasing the change of the receiving
nerve cell firing, or an inhibitory effect, decreasing the chance of the receiving nerve cell
firing.
,Lab 8 The Nervous System BIO201L
EXPERIMENT 1: MICROSCOPIC ANATOMY OF NERVOUS SYSTEM
Introduction Questions
1. What is the major function of the neuron?
The major function of a neuron is to transmit and process information through electrical
signals, serving as the basic unit of the nervous system.
2. Define depolarization.
Depolarization is the condition where the inside of a neuron becomes less negative,
increasing the change of the neuron firing an action potential.
3. What determines whether a neuron is unipolar, bipolar, or multipolar?
Neurons are classified as unipolar (with one process), bipolar (with two processes), or
multipolar (with multiple processes) based on the number of processes extending from the
cell's body.
Data and Observations
1. Label the arrows in the slide images below based on your observations from the
experiment.
A. Axon
B. Cell Body
C. Myelinated axons
D. Myelin sheath
, Lab 8 The Nervous System BIO201L
Student Name:
Access Code (located on the lid of your lab kit):
Lab Report Format Expectations
Utilize college level grammar and professional formaṄng when completing this worksheet.
Submissions without proper formaṄng, all required photos or sufficient responses will be rejected. Pre-
lab Questions
1. What is the primary function of the nervous system?
The nervous system acts as the body's control center. messages between the brain and
the rest of the body to facilitate actions like breathing, heartbeat, movement, and
thinking. Furthermore, helps the body sense and respond to changes inside and outside.
2. Why does the cerebral cortex contain so many folds?
The cerebral cortex is the brain’s outer layer, folded into raised ridges (gyri) and grooves
(sulci). These folds are like wrinkles that dramatically increase the cortex’s surface area
within the skull. with increased surface area more neurons increases the amount of
information the brain can handle and the process of thinking.
3. What is a nerve impulse?
A nerve impulse is a electrical signal that travels along a nerve cell, carrying
information from one part of the body to another.
4. What are Schwann cells and what do they form?
Schwann cells are found in the peripheral nervous system, and they form a myelin
sheath, insulates nerve fibers and speeds up the transmission of nerve impulses.
Without it (sheath), messages would move very slowly decreasing your responsce.
5. What is an all-or-none response?
An all-or-none response occurs when a nerve or muscle fiber either fully activates or
does not activate at all. For example, a light switch will only engage if it has been
completed switched to the on position. If you stop at the halfway mark the light will not
turn on.
6. What two effects might neurotransmitters have?
Neurotransmitters can have an excitatory effect, increasing the change of the receiving
nerve cell firing, or an inhibitory effect, decreasing the chance of the receiving nerve cell
firing.
,Lab 8 The Nervous System BIO201L
EXPERIMENT 1: MICROSCOPIC ANATOMY OF NERVOUS SYSTEM
Introduction Questions
1. What is the major function of the neuron?
The major function of a neuron is to transmit and process information through electrical
signals, serving as the basic unit of the nervous system.
2. Define depolarization.
Depolarization is the condition where the inside of a neuron becomes less negative,
increasing the change of the neuron firing an action potential.
3. What determines whether a neuron is unipolar, bipolar, or multipolar?
Neurons are classified as unipolar (with one process), bipolar (with two processes), or
multipolar (with multiple processes) based on the number of processes extending from the
cell's body.
Data and Observations
1. Label the arrows in the slide images below based on your observations from the
experiment.
A. Axon
B. Cell Body
C. Myelinated axons
D. Myelin sheath
, Lab 8 The Nervous System BIO201L
