History of Synaptic Transmission

Question 1

what determines behavior

Answer 1

-endogenous activity of the nervous system influenced by situational environment and organism needs

Question 2

Ramon y Cajal, Dynamic Polarization

Question 3

what’s a synapse

Answer 3

-when two neurons come in close proximity with one another to communicate (they do not touch)

Question 4

chemical synapse

Answer 4

-One neuron secretes neurotransmitter that activates receptors on
another neuron

Question 5

electrical synapse

Answer 5

-Neurons are in electrical continuity with one another via interlocking
proteins with ion channels
-ex. connexon channels

Question 6

Galvani’s experiment

Answer 6

-Galvani discovered “animal electricity” by connecting the skeletal muscle of a dead frog leg to the spinal nerve causing the leg muscles to contract

-what was the actual cause of this

Question 7

DuBois/Bernstein

Answer 7

-used a differential rheotome to record the first action potential waveform

Question 8

Bernstein’s Breakdown Theory

Answer 8

-stated that depolarization beyond a certain threshold leads to a transient breakdown of the ionic barrier between inside and outside of the cell
-thought this results in the membrane being permeable to all ions equally

Question 9

why was Bernstein’s Breakdown Theory found to be untrue

Answer 9

-equal permeability indicates that Ecell would equal 0mv at its peak value

Question 10

Han’s Berger

Answer 10

-developed the first human EEG

Question 11

Loewi’s experiment

Answer 11

-innervated one heart with the vagus nerve and connected fluid surrounding heart 1 with the fluid surrounding heart 2
-recorded that stimulation of the vagus nerve decreases firing rate of heart 1 and heart 2

Question 12

Vagustoff

Answer 12

-the stuff which traveled through the continuous extracellular fluid between heart 1 and 2 through which acted as the chemical signaling compound

Question 13

what evidence was there to support that chemical synaptic transmission could not be the mode of communication in the central nervous system?

Answer 13

time vs. inter-heartbeat period graph after stimulus of the vagus nerve shows too long of time lag between vagus nerve stimulation and slowing of heartbeat was too long

Question 14

required process for chemical synaptic transmission

Answer 14

1. neurotransmitter synthesis
2. neurotransmitter release
3. recognition of neurotransmitter message
4. conversion of chemical signal to electrical signal
5. clearing of neurotransmitter to stop the message

Question 15

What did Eccles, Katz, and Kuffler discover

Answer 15

-the response latency at the neuromuscular junction is 100x smaller than the cns response to vagal stimulation
-this response latency is suitable for neuronal transmission