bio approach: agonist & antagonist Flashcards
how neurotransmitters are agonists -
neurotransmitters are endogenous agonists – the brain’s natural chemicals that bind to receptor sites, leading to an action potential. all neurotransmitters are agonists for their respective receptor sites. they are referred to as endogenous agonists since they are biologically already part of our nervous system.
agonist definition
an agonist is any chemical that binds to a receptor site on a postsynaptic neuron, causing the neuron to fire.
eg of an agonist -
an endogenous agonist is acetylcholine. when acetylcholine binds to the ACh receptor in the post-synaptic neuron it improves spatial memory.
one indirect way in which the effect of endogenous agonists on human cognition can be studied is by blocking its receptor sites at the post-synaptic neuron.
agonists studied by?
Antonova et. al. (2011) which demonstrates how blocking the acetylcholine receptors affects spatial memory.
agonist conclusion -
it appears that acetylcholine could play a key role in the encoding of spatial memories in humans, as well as in rats.
utilizing the acetylcholine receptor blocker scopolamine, provides valuable insights into the impact of inhibiting the endogenous agonist acetylcholine on spatial memory encoding.
these findings contribute to our understanding of the intricate role played by acetylcholine in memory functions, emphasizing its significance as an endogenous agonist in facilitating efficient spatial memory encoding processes in the human brain.
antagonist definition
an antagonist is any substance that fits into a receptor site on the postsynaptic neuron, inhibiting the neuron from firing and much reducing or completely eliminating a behavior.
this means that the neuron will not fire and therefore a behavior will not happen.
how antagonists help to observe the role of neurotransmitters
acetylcholine is a neurotransmitter that plays a role in the formation of memories. it is not possible for researchers to directly observe the role of neurotransmitters, so one of the ways that they attempt to understand the role of different neurotransmitters is by giving animals or human participants an antagonist.
eg of an antagonist
an example of antagonist is scopolamine which blocks the ACh receptor site and not allowing the neurons to fire.
antagonists studied by?
a research study conducted by Antonova et. al. (2011) demonstrates how scopolamine blocks the ACh receptors which in turn affects spatial memory.
antagonist conclusion
it appears that acetylcholine could play a key role in the encoding of spatial memories in humans, as well as in rats.
the study utilized antagonist scopolamine, which provides significant insights into the impact of blocking acetylcholine receptors on spatial memory encoding which reduced hippocampal activity in the scopolamine-administered group.
these findings deepen our understanding of scopolamine’s function as an antagonist, highlighting its significance in inhibiting spatial memory encoding in the human brain and disrupting acetylcholine’s normal functioning.
