8.13

Question 1

Give a definition for habituation

Answer 1

Form of learning where an animal stops responding to a stimulus after repeated exposure

Question 2

A student lives next to a train station, when they first move in to the flat they are frequently woken by the sound of trains early in the morning. After 3 weeks they no longer wake. Explain how the student has become habituated to the sound (reference synapses)

Answer 2

With repeated exposure, the pre-synaptic neurone membrane becomes less permeable to Ca ions, meaning less vesicles release neurotransmitters into the synaptic cleft, less neurotransmitters bind to receptors and less likely to trigger an action potential in the post-synaptic neurone