The Nervous System
MCAT Basics (from MedSchoolCoach)
MedSchoolCoach
4.6 • 612 Ratings
🗓️ 24 October 2024
⏱️ 53 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
A foundational topic for the MCAT is the nervous system, appearing in several exam sections and impacting everything from neurotransmission to brain structure.
In this episode, Sam Smith walks us through the nervous system, covering its major components and functions. From the organization of the central and peripheral nervous systems to neurotransmitters and brain structures, Sam provides clear explanations to help you understand key topics like the autonomic nervous system's fight-or-flight response, brain imaging techniques, and more.
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Jump into the conversation:
(00:00) Intro
(01:03) How the central and peripheral nervous systems are organized
(02:33) Autonomic and somatic systems
(03:22) Sympathetic and parasympathetic branches
(04:12) How the brain is structured: forebrain, midbrain, and hindbrain
(11:44) How brain imaging techniques (CT, MRI, EEG, fMRI, PET) are used
(14:06) How neurons are structured and how they transmit signals
(16:00) How action potentials work and how ion channels play a role
(20:30) How myelin sheaths speed up signals
(25:00) How language processing happens in Broca's and Wernicke's areas
(28:00) Neurological disorders
(43:45) The structures of the limbic system
(47:25) The structures of the brain related to addiction
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to MCAT Basics, your ultimate guide to the essential topics you need to master for the MCAT, |
| 0:07.0 | brought to you by the physicians at Med School Coach. Every week, Sam Smith breaks down high-yield MCAT topics, ensuring you're primed for success on test day. |
| 0:16.0 | Join Sam as we explore the most crucial subjects outlined by the AAMC pulled from official practice materials and third-party resources. |
| 0:23.6 | Get ready to elevate your MCAT game with topics tailored to maximize your score potential. |
| 0:29.6 | Hello, I'm Sam Smith. |
| 0:31.6 | This podcast covers the most important topics put out on the AAMC MCAT each year. |
| 0:38.4 | And I determined this list by going through all the official practice materials that the |
| 0:42.3 | AAMC puts out and also some third-party practice material. |
| 0:46.8 | And just put together this big list of topics that consistently kept on showing up and |
| 0:52.4 | ranked those topics and made podcasts out of it. |
| 0:55.0 | And so this podcast covers the nervous system. And the nervous system will show up in three of the |
| 1:03.0 | four MCAT sections. It will show up in the chemical and physical foundations of biological systems, |
| 1:09.0 | biological and biochemical foundations of living systems. |
| 1:12.9 | And lastly, it'll be found in the psychological, social, and biological foundations of behavior |
| 1:19.4 | section. |
| 1:20.7 | And this podcast will cover quite a few different topics related to the nervous system. |
| 1:25.4 | Go through the structure of the brain. |
| 1:27.8 | I'll talk about neurotransmitters and imaging techniques to look at brain structure and function. |
| 1:33.5 | And I'll go into how the brain functions in terms of the cells it uses as well as action potentials. |
| 1:41.9 | And eventually I'll get into brain disorders, drug dependence, |
| 1:45.0 | and talk a little bit about autonomic nervous system |
| 1:49.0 | and the sympathetic nervous system. |
... |
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