BMS11004 WEEK 9 - THURSDAY

Question 1

what must be different about ion concentrations in olfactory cell

Answer 1

intracellular Cl- conc is higher than normal inside olfactory receptor cells, causing Cl- to move out of cell causing depolarisations

Question 2

what does convergence on glomerulus enable

Answer 2

increased likelihood of sensing low conc of odorant
continued sensation of odorants when olfactory receptor neurons being replaced

doesnt lower sensation of threshold of odorant via olfactory receptor neuron via glomerulus
means if one olfactory receptor cell is lost, will still be input about activation of given olfactory receptor protein
increase sensitivity

Question 3

why do things look blurry underwater

Answer 3

little difference in refractive index between water and cornea so drastically reduces refractive power of cornea

Question 4

light that passes all way through retina is absorbed by pigmented epithelium, what does it achieve

Answer 4

increased visual acuity - prevent photon being reflected back onto photoreceptors, so image formation is not distorted

Question 5

what would we need to place in photoreceptor membrane to maintain process of phototransduction

Answer 5

Na+K+ATPase
if moving things into cell, need to actively move against conc gradient
to maintain it, need to remove Na+ using ATPase