topic 6 Flashcards
what is a stimulus
a detectable change in the internal or external environment of an organism that produces a response in the organism
how does the ability to respond to stimuli increase chance of survival
organisms can detect and move away from predators/extreme temperatures; grow towards light
what is a tropism
the movement of part of a plant in response to an external stimulus. the movement is by growth and therefore slow.
what is the tropism for light and gravity
phototropism and geotropism
how do plants respond to the environment
plant growth factors- they may be used where they are made or transported within the plant by diffusion/active transport (short distances) or through the phloem (long distances)
where are auxins made
in the shoot apex and in young leaves
what is the primary auxin and what is it used for
IAA- involved in cell elongation and phototropism.
-makes cell walls loose and stretchy so they can elongate
-diffuses down the conc. gradient towards the shaded side of the shoot resulting in a higher concentration of IAA there
-this elongates cells on the shaded side, causing the shoot to bend towards the light. (+ve phototropism -ve geotropism)
-in roots, a high conc of IAA inhibits cell elongation on the shaded side, so causes roots to bend away from the light.(-ve phototropism +ve geotropism)
components of a motor neuron
cell body- contains organelles such as nucleus
dendrites- carry action potentials to surrounding cells
axon- conductive long fibre that carries the nervous impulse along the motor neurone
schwann cells- wrap around the axon to form the myelin sheath. the gaps between the myelin sheath are called the nodes of ranvier
what is a resting potential
when a neurone is not conducting an impulse, there is a difference between the electrical charge inside and outside of the neurone.
there are more positive Na+ and K+ outside so the inside is more negative at -70mV
how is a resting potential established
maintained by a sodium potassium pump involving active transport and therefore ATP
the pump moves 2K+ in and 3Na+ out
this creates an electrochemical gradient and results in K+ diffusing out and Na+ diffusing in.
the membrane is more permeable to K+ so more moves out resulting in -70mV inside the cell
what is the all-or-nothing principle
any stimulus that does trigger depolarisation to -55mV will always peak at the same maximum voltage. bigger stimuli just increase the frequency of action potentials
why is the all-or-nothing principle so important
to ensure that organisms only respond to large enough stimuli rather than every slight change in the environment
how do stimuli affect neurones
causes sodium channels to open
the membrane becomes more permeable to sodium so Na+ diffuses into the neuron down the electrochemical gradient
this makes the inside of the neuron less negative
describe depolarisation
if the potential difference reaches the threshold of -55mV, more sodium channels open causing more Na+ to diffuse rapidly into the neurone
describe repolarisation
at an action potential of around +30mV, the sodium ion channels close and the potassium ion channels open
the membrane is more permeable to potassium so K+ diffuses out of the neurone down the concentration gradient
describe hyperpolarisation
potassium ion channels are slow to close so there is a slight overshoot where too many K+ ions diffuse out of the neurone
the potential difference becomes more negative than the resting potential
resting potential
the ion channels are reset
the sodium potassium pump returns the membrane to its resting potential and maintains it until another stimulus is detected
what is the refractory period
after an action potential has been generated the membrane enters a refractory period when it cant be stimulated as Na sodium channels are recovering and cant be opened
why is the refractory period important
ensures that discrete impulses are produced so action potentials are separate from each other
ensures that action potentials travel in one direction
limits the numbers of impulses transmitted which is important to prevent overreaction to a stimulus
what factors affect the speed of an action potential
-myelination and saltatory conduction
-axon diameter
-temperature
explain how myelination and saltatory conduction affects speed of an action potential
the action potential jumps from node to node (saltatory conduction) which means the action potential travels along the axon faster as an action potential doesn’t have to be generated along the entire length, just at the nodes of ranvier
explain how axon diameter affects speed of an action potential
with a wider diameter, the speed of conductance increases
a wider diameter means there is less leakage of ions and therefore action potentials travel faster
explain how temperature affects speed of an action potential
high temperature increases speed of conductance as:
ions diffuse faster
the enzymes involved in respiration work faster so there is more ATP for active transport by the Na+/K+ pump
what is a synapse
synapses are the gaps between the end of the axon of one neuron and the dendrite of another one
here, the action potential is transmitted as neurotransmitters that diffuse across the synapse
how does a synapse work
-an action potential arrives at the synaptic knob causes it to become depolarised
-this leads to the opening of Ca2+ channels so Ca2+ diffuses into synaptic knob
-vesicles containing neurotransmitter move towards and fuse with the presynaptic membrane. NT is released into the synaptic cleft
-NT diffuses down concentration gradient across synaptic cleft to post synaptic membrane
-it bind complementarily to receptors on the surface of the post SM
-Na+ ion channels on the post SM open and Na+ diffuses in. if enough neurotransmitter, then enough Na+ diffuse in above threshold and post SM becomes depolarised
-neurotransmitter is released from the receptor; the Na+ channels close and the post synaptic neuron can re-establish resting potential; the neurotransmitter is transported back into the pre synaptic neuron where it is recycled
what is spatial summation
many different neurons collectively trigger a new action potential by combining the neurotransmitter they release to exceed the threshold value
what is temporal summation
one neuron releases neurotransmitter repeatedly over a short period of time to add up to enough to exceed the threshold value
why is summation important
some action potentials do not result in sufficient concentrations of neurotransmitter being released to generate a new action potential
what is an inhibitory synapse
they cause chloride ions to move into the postsynaptic neuron and potassium ions to move out
this makes the membrane potential -80mV, hyperpolarisation
therefore an action potential is high unlikely
what is a neuromuscular junction
a synapse that occurs between a motor neurone and a muscle
similarity between neuromuscular junction and cholinergic synapse
unidirectional due to the neurotransmission receptors only being on the post SM
differences between neuromuscular junction and cholinergic synapse
neuromuscular junction:
-only excitatory
-connects motor neurone to muscles
-this is the end point for the action potential
-acetylcholine binds to receptors on muscle fibre membranes
cholinergic synapse:
-could be excitatory or inhibitory
-connects two neurones which could be sensory, relay or motor
-a new action potential is generated in the next neurone
-acetylcholine binds to receptors on post synaptic membranes of neurones
what are antagonistic muscle pairs
pairs of muscles that pull in opposite directions. as one muscle contracts, the other relaxes