Copyright ©Mark Nelson, 2002. All rights reserved.
Chapter 6: Synaptic Transmission
What you need to know

(exam questions will be a drawn from this subset of material)

What's the difference between electrical and chemical synaptic transmission?  (p. 133-139, Table 6-1)

What's the difference between excitatory and inhibitory synaptic transmission?  (p. 133-139, Table 6-1)

What's the difference between classical and neuromodulatory chemical transmission?  (p. 133-139, Table 6-1; p 149, Table 6-2)

What are the five main steps in chemical synaptic transmission?  (p. 139-141; Figure 6-3)

What is a ligand-gated channel?  (p. 140)

What is nAChR?  (p. 140-141)

What molecule(s) normally activate nAChR?  (p. 140)

What molecule(s) normally pass through the pore of the nAChR?  (p. 140)

How many subunits does the nAChR contain?  (p. 140)

About how large is a single nAChR?  (p. 140, Fig. 6-4)

Why is the nAChR called "nicotinic"?  [not in text]

What's the difference between an EPSP and an EPP?  (p. 141-142, Figure 6-5)

What is the reversal potential(p.142-143, Figure 6-6)

Where are action potentials initiated?  (p. 144-145, Fig. 6-7)

What is an IPSP?  (p. 145)

What's the difference between presynaptic and postsynaptic inhibition?  (p. 145-147; Fig. 6-10)

What is GABA?  (p. 148)

What is a second messenger?  (p. 148)

What type of receptor is the muscarinic AChR?  (p. 149)

What is a G protein?  (p. 149-151)

What is a protein kinase?  (p. 152)

What are the three main mechanisms of neurotransmitter inactivation?  (p. 154-155, Fig. 6-13)

What enzyme breaks down the ACh?  where is it found in the CNS? (p. 154-155)