Neuroscience Module 2 - 2005

Stefano Vicini/Jian-Young Wu

Learning Objectives

1. What is Ohm's law? How do you calculate voltage, current and resistance in a simple circuit?

2. How does the patch-clamp technique work? What can you learn by using it?
What are the: differences between voltage-clamp and current clamp? What are resting potential, passive membrane properties (space & time constants), and conduction velocity?

3. How is the action potential generated? What are the roles of voltage-gated sodium and potassium channels in the generation of the action potential? What are their basic structures, and how are they activated, inactivated?

4. What is the structure and function of synapses? At the neuromuscular junction? At excitatory and inhibitory synapses?

5. What is typically the molecular structure of ligand-gated ion channels? How do they function? What pharmacology do you know for them?

6. What are the roles and the functions of AMPA and NMDA receptors in excitatory synapses?

7. How does the chloride flux through GABAa and glycine receptors determine inhibitory synaptic fucntion?

8. What are the major presynaptic and postsynaptic mechanisms in synaptic transmission?

9. What is the structure of a GAP Junction and how does a GAP junctions function?

10. What are LTP & LTD? What is the current theory of how these processes occur in terms of molecular trafficking and post-translational alterations?