Discussion: Neurons and the central nervous system

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 Prepare:

· Review the Learning Resources for this week in preparation to complete this Assignment.

· Reflect on the basic function and structure of the neuron in relation to the central nervous system.

· Reflect on the inter-connectedness between neurons and the central nervous system, including the pathway and distribution of electrical impulses.

· Reflect on how neurons communicate with each other and review the concept of neuroplasticity.

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):

o What are the major components that make up the subcortical structures?

o Which component plays a role in learning, memory, and addiction?

o 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 occurs? Be specific.

5. In 3–5 sentences, explain the concept of “neuroplasticity.” Be specific and provide examples.

You must proofread your paper. But do not strictly rely on your computer’s spell-checker and grammar-checker; failure to do so indicates a lack of effort on your part and you can expect your grade to suffer accordingly. Papers with numerous misspelled words and grammatical mistakes will be penalized. Read over your paper – in silence and then aloud – before handing it in and make corrections as necessary. Often it is advantageous to have a friend proofread your paper for obvious errors. Handwritten corrections are preferable to uncorrected mistakes.

Use a standard 10 to 12 point (10 to 12 characters per inch) typeface. Smaller or compressed type and papers with small margins or single-spacing are hard to read. It is better to let your essay run over the recommended number of pages than to try to compress it into fewer pages.

Likewise, large type, large margins, large indentations, triple-spacing, increased leading (space between lines), increased kerning (space between letters), and any other such attempts at “padding” to increase the length of a paper are unacceptable, wasteful of trees, and will not fool your professor.

The paper must be neatly formatted, double-spaced with a one-inch margin on the top, bottom, and sides of each page. When submitting hard copy, be sure to use white paper and print out using dark ink. If it is hard to read your essay, it will also be hard to follow your argument.