8.0 Module Overview

ANATOMY & PHYSIOLOGY I · MODULE 8

Numbness that pre-dated the crash

A car accident gave everyone a reason for her leg pain. But the numbness had been creeping in for a year before it, explained away as bad shoes. This module builds nervous tissue and reads a symmetric sensory neuropathy hiding in plain sight.

ER imaging after the crash was clear and she was discharged as lucky, with a muscle strain. Examination later showed intact strength but reduced light touch and vibration; nerve conduction found signals present but slowed, worst in the sensory fibers.

The crash is a satisfying story because it has a date. The numbness does not — it had been arriving quietly for a year. Read the exam and the conduction study together and the pattern is a symmetric, sensory-predominant neuropathy that the accident did not cause and could not explain.

PATIENT CHART · STINA · CHART CLUE #8

  • Pre-crash — A year of creeping foot numbness
  • Post-crash — Imaging clear, ‘muscle strain’
  • Exam — Reduced light touch and vibration
  • NCS — Slowed sensory conduction

Each part opens with a finding from Stina’s chart and asks you to commit to a prediction before any video plays, then alternates short videos with H5P activities. Work them in order.

8.1

The Crash

The event that explained everything, and the year before it.

NEURON ANATOMY

OPEN →

8.2

Wires and Insulation

Neurons, glia, and the myelin that makes signals fast.

GLIA AND MYELIN

OPEN →

8.3

The Spark

How an action potential is generated and propagated.

ACTION POTENTIAL

OPEN →

8.4

Crossing the Gap

The synapse, its chemistry, and where it can fail.

SYNAPTIC TRANSMISSION

OPEN →

8.5

When the Insulation Frays

Demyelination, and why sensation goes before strength.

DEMYELINATION

OPEN →

8.6

Mapping the Numbness

Dermatomes place the numbness at L4/L5 from the skin alone.

DERMATOMES

OPEN →

8.7

Antibody-Associated Neuropathy

The neuro problem list, finally read together.

CHART CLUE #8

OPEN →

The Evidence Behind the Case

Every step of this module’s reasoning, paired with the peer-reviewed literature behind it.

REFERENCES

OPEN →

By the end of Module 8 you will be able to:

1

Identify the parts of a neuron and classify neurons by structure and function.

2

Describe the neuroglia of the central and peripheral nervous systems.

3

Explain resting membrane potential and the phases of the action potential.

4

Describe synaptic transmission and the major neurotransmitters.

5

Explain how myelin speeds conduction and what demyelination does to sensation.

6

Use a dermatome map to localize a sensory deficit to a spinal level.

List of terms