General Central Nervous System

Question 1

Does an excitatory postsynaptic potential make the inside of the receiving neuron more or less negative?

Answer 1

Less negative

Question 2

What is NOT an amine neurotransmitter?

a) Dopamine
b) Norepinephrine
c) Acetylcholine
d) Serotonin
e) Histamine

Answer 2

ACh

Question 3

•What best describes the dopamine D2 receptor?

Answer 3

Metabotrophic, G alpha I coupled inhibitory

Question 4

What part of the brain contains the most neurons?

a) Basal ganglia
b) Brainstem
c) Limbic system
d) Cerebral cortex

Answer 4

Cerebral cortex (90%)

Question 5

In the basal ganglia, which structure has the excitatory and inhibitory dopaminergic pathways projecting into the striatum?

Answer 5

Substantia nigra pers compacta

Question 6

• What part of the brain co-ordinates voluntary motor activity / maintenance of posture and tone?

Answer 6

Basal ganglia

Question 7

• What part of the brain is implicated in parkinsons disease?

Answer 7

substantia nigra

Question 8

• What part of the CNS controls respiration, cardiovascular control, pain sensitivity, alertness and consciousness?

Answer 8

Brainstem

Question 9

• What brain structures are involved in the limbic system?

Answer 9

thalamus, hypothalamus, hippocampus, amygdala

Question 10

• What is the role of the thalamus?

Answer 10

Precursor to sensory information

Question 11

• What is the role of the hypothalamus?

Answer 11

Co-ordinates the nervous system with the endocrine system via the pituitary and sympathetic NS

Question 12

• What is the role of the hippocampus?

Answer 12

Learning and memory

Question 13

• What is the role of the amygdala?

Answer 13

Fear and memory processing

Question 14

• What is the limbic system?

Answer 14

Application of emotion to mental and cognitive function

Question 15

• What does the cerebral cortex do?

Answer 15

Processing - integration of new data and association with existing information

Question 16

• What do the microglia do?

Answer 16

The CNS immunity - macrophage like cells that respond to CNS inflammation and injury, phagocytose foreign bodies

Question 17

• What is the pre-requisite for neuronal function?

Answer 17

An electrochemical gradient

Question 18

What determines whether an action. potential will fire

Answer 18

Overall contribution of. excitatory post synaptic potentials and inhibitory PSPS

• termporal summation
• spatial summation

Question 19

What are ionotropic receptors

Answer 19

Fast, IPSPs and EPSPs, = change shape when ligand binds - ligand. gated ion channels

Question 20

What are metabotropic. receptors?

Answer 20

Slower, receptor activates intracellular signals.

e.g. GPCRs that activate G protein and 2nd messenger

Question 21

What triggers an AP to fire?

Answer 21

Depolarisation - excitatory post synaptic potentials - all or nothing principle (no partial response) = +30 mV trigger an AP - sodium enters the cell along a concentration gradient

Question 22

What is temporal summation?

Answer 22

2 or more APs coincide at one time e.g. 2 excitatory ones have a greater effect. (one neuron firing many neurotransmitters gives an AP)
(inhibitory potentials have the opposite effect)

Question 23

What is spatial summation?

Answer 23

lots of pre-synaptic neurones - together they release enough to trigger an AP

Question 24

What type of receptors are NMDA, AMPA, kainate gluatamate receptors?

Answer 24

Ionotropic

Question 25

What are mGlu receptors?

Answer 25

Metabotropic

Question 26

What type of receptor is the 5-HT3?

Answer 26

Ionotropic

Question 27

What type of receptors are dopamine receptors

Answer 27

Metabotropic