agonist / antagonist Flashcards
introduction of antagonist and agonist
- a neurotransmission is the communication betweene neurons, this is done by releasing a neurotranmitter across two neurons in a synapse
- These neurotransmitters then bind to specific receptor sites on the postsynaptic neuron creating an electrical signal called the action potential. If these receptor sites are blocked by another chemical the postsynaptic neuron will not be able to create an action potential, inhibiting the process of neurotransmission.
An agonist is a factor which supports the transmission of a neurotransmitter.
An antagonist is something that inhibits the transmission of a neurotransmitter.
One example of an antagonist is scopolamine which inhibits the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. Acetylcholine is related to memory and emotion, and therefore is used in formation of spatial memory.
rogers and kesner
Rogers and Kesner experimented with acetylcholine and the antagonist scopolamine in a group of rats.
The rats were given time to remember the maze.
They were then given some time before being prescribed an injection. Half of the rats were injected with a placebo and the other half were injected with scopolamine, to ensure the injection wasn’t an influencing factor of memory due to stress.
Over 2 days, the rats were tested on their memory 4 times. The 5 tests during the morning and evening of day 1 experimented with the encoding of memory. The 5 tests during morning and evening of day 2 experimented the retrieval of memory.
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This shows the influence of the antagonist scopolamine on the ability to encode new information due to the longer time it took them.
This suggests the neurotransmitter acetylcholine is responsible for forming new memory, however there was little difference between the times on day 2 - retrieval.
This shows that scopolamine does not inhibit the processes used in retrieving long term memory, therefore showing a different neurotransmitter to acetylcholine is responsible for this process.
Scopolamine inhibited the transmission of acetylcholine and therefore impacted the formation of memory in the rats. Therefore, Rogers and kesners study is helpful to conclude the effects of the ant on agonisy scopolamine on hindering memory through the comparison of inhibiting them with antagonists and their normal functions.
The behavior tested in this experiment was special and retrieval memory, whereby scopolamine further inhibited spatial memory.
