Week 3 Flashcards

1
Q

What is learning?

A

A changed behavioural response to a repeated stimulus

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2
Q

What is an example of behavioural response?

A

Rat doing water-maze

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3
Q

What has working with bees have shown?

A

Learning in in-vertebrates

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4
Q

Why can bees learn?

A
  1. Excess of a million neurons
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5
Q

What are the types of “simple” learning?

A
  1. Habituation
  2. Sensitisation
  3. Associative learning
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6
Q

What are simple learning?

A

Implicit or declarative types of learning

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7
Q

What has Eric Kandel pioneered the use of?

A

Aplysia

Model system for studying molecular and cellular mechanisms of learning and memory

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8
Q

What was Eric Kandel awarded?

A
  1. Nobel prize for Physiology or medicine in 2000

2. Mechanism of synaptic plasticity

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9
Q

What has been used as an experimental system?

A

Common snail

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10
Q

Why are invertebrates useful as model systems in neurobiology?

A
  1. Simple nervous system comprised of several thousand neurons
  2. Neuronal stomata are often large and can be repeatedly identified
  3. Can link physiology of individual neurons to whole-animal behaviour
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11
Q

What is neuronal somata?

A

Have neurons with large cell bodies

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12
Q

What does leech neuron have?

A

Large dendritic branch

Processes extending into nerves

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13
Q

What will individual ganglion contain?

A

Several hundred neurons

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14
Q

What is possible to identify?

A

Same neuron from individual-individual in same location

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15
Q

How can you confirm the same neuron?

A

Characterising it’s properties

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16
Q

What can you achieve in simpler nervous system?

A

Link individual neurons to individual physiological processes

How does it lead to changes in behaviour

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17
Q

Why is aplysia good?

A
  1. Learn about its anatomy and its nervous system
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18
Q

What does nervous system have?

A

Cluster of Ganglia around the esophagus

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19
Q

What is the size in diameter of cell body in brain

A

10 microns in diameter

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20
Q

How can you identify cells from individuals to individuals?

A

Based on relative size, coloration and positions

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21
Q

How can you differentiate smaller cell bodies?

A

Do some injections with electrodes into multiple cells

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22
Q

What was Kendal able to map out?

A
  1. Abnormal ganglion in some detail

2. Started to give names/numbers to individual neurons

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23
Q

How can you achieve individual identity?

A
  1. Recording from neurons

2. Characterising them

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24
Q

Experiment - sensory neurons in Aplysia

A
  1. The experimenter would place electrode in different cells of ganglion and touching body surface with mechanical stimulus to see whether any neurons would respond to touch
25
Q

How can AP be fired in the neuron

A
  1. Record neuron in abdominal ganglion

2. Mechanical stimulus delivered to gill/skin under mantle

26
Q

What is the correlation?

A

As the strength of stimulus increases, the number of AP also increases

27
Q

What did functional maps of animals reveal ?

A

Sensory neurons responsive to touch in part of animal

28
Q

What has been determined using electrophysiology?

A

Connection between neuron and 2 post-synaptic targets

29
Q

What does stimulus to L10 neuron give?

A

Rise to both r15 neuron and L3 neuron

30
Q

What do you see in R15?

A

Depolarisation

EPSP

31
Q

What do you see in L3 neuron?

A

Hyperpolarisation

32
Q

How can one neuron lead to depolarisation and hyperpolarisation ?

A

Receptors activated by ACH that can either be Na+ channels or Cl- channels

33
Q

Nicotinic receptors

A
  1. Cartoon channels

2. Responsible for depolarisation

34
Q

What has been discovered in C.elegans drosophila?

A
  1. There are ACH cl- channels
35
Q

What is learning?

A
  1. Change in behaviour in response to environmental stimulus
36
Q

What is the full-withdrawal reflex in Aplysia?

A
  1. Involuntary, defensive reflex

2. The reflex causes the delicate siphon and gill to be retracted when the animal is disturbed

37
Q

Why did Eric Kandel exploit the gill-withdrawal reflex of Aplysia?

A
  1. Study the molecular and cellular mechanism of three types of learning
    - Habituation
    - Sensitisation
    - Associative learning
38
Q

What is Habituation?

A
  1. Decrease in behavioural response that occurs during repeated presentation of a stimulus
  2. Lessening of a response due to repeated stimulus
39
Q

In the context of gill-withdrawal reflex what did Kandal observe?

A
  1. Large contraction of the gill

2. Able to record this with a device (photo-cell) the size of the contraction observed

40
Q

Why is the marine snail Aplysia californica well suited for investigations?

A
  1. Investigations of cellular and molecular basis of behaviour
  2. Neuronal circuitry underlying a specific behaviour could be easily determined
  3. Individual components of the circuitry could be easily manipulated
41
Q

What does the Aplysia nervous system contain?

A

Approx 20,000 neurons

Organised into 9 different Ganglia

42
Q

What can the large neurons of Aplysia be easily identified based on?

A
  1. Size
  2. Electrical properties
  3. Position in the Ganglia
43
Q

What does Aplysia have?

A
  1. Rich repertoire of behaviours that can be studied
44
Q

What is one of the well-studied behaviours of Aplysia?

A
  1. Gill-withdrawal reflex
45
Q

What are the central component of this reflex situated in?

A
  1. Abdominal Ganglia
46
Q

What has components of the GWR circuitry being mapped able to show?

A
  1. Contribution of various components determined
47
Q

What does GWR circuitry undergo?

A
  1. Associative and non-associative learning
48
Q

What was the several different preparation of Apylasia?

A
  1. Intact animal
  2. Semi-intact preparation
  3. Reconstitution of major components of neural circuitry
49
Q

What can changes in behaviour be?

A
  1. Long term

2. Short term

50
Q

Long term changes in habituation

A

Involved structural changes in the nervous system

51
Q

LTP

A

Increase in number of dendritic spine

52
Q

LTD

A

Decrease in number of dendritic spine

53
Q

Experiment done on individual animals

A
  1. Ganglia recorded from
  2. Changes are observed
  3. Ganglia taken out and fixed
  4. Sectioned and looked down at microscope
54
Q

What does more recent research indicate?

A
  1. Long term habituation also involves post-synaptic mechanism
55
Q

What are the changes that occur in short term habituation due to?

A

Metabolic nature

56
Q

Hebbs postulate - metabolic changes

A

Change in activity of proteins at the synapse

57
Q

What is sensitisation?

A
  1. Enhancement of a reflex response by the introduction of a strong or noxious stimuli
58
Q

Sensitisation can be short term or long term depending on what?

A
  1. Duration/magnitude of sensitising stimulus