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Neuron Bathed in Muscimol & Baclofen

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Please see the attached figure. This is from the cerebellum of a rat.

Plate 1 shows the normal activity of a neuron. Plate 2 shows the activity of a neuron after being bathed in muscimol (a GABAa agonist). Plate 3 shows the activity of a neuron after being bathed in balcofen (a GABAb agonist). Plate 4 shows the wash out of drugs. Explain this figure (i.e. what is happening at the synapse? Why is one type of GABA agonist more effective than the other? Explain how each receptor functions to affect synaptic activity.

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This solution helps with a problem about neurons bathed in Muscimol and Baclofen.

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Attached are the simplified explanations of what is going on above. If you can follow the logic, the details that I have provided below them in the "GABA Background" should allow you to produce explanations of the plates above in your own words that make the most sense to you. If you need further help, please do not hesitate to ask. I took some extra time to search for illustrations of the synaptic anatomy end of what is going on here, but I was unable to find anything very helpful. Perhaps your own sketches of this will help you to understand and explain the occurrences of the above plates. I would be happy to critique your illustrations if you go this way, but my own efforts at drawing these illustrations would not be very fruitful.
Good luck,
Martin Burnett (OTA 104647)

Brainmass Posting Response:

The figure below is taken from the cerebellum of a rat. Plate 1 shows the normal activity of a neuron. Plate 2 shows the activity of a neuron after being bathed in muscimol (a GABAa agonist). Plate 3 shows the activity of a neuron after being bathed in baclofen (a GABAb agonist). Plate 4 shows the wash-out of drugs. Explain this figure (i.e., what is happening at the synapse? Why is one type of GABA agonist more effective than the other?) Explain how each receptor functions to affect synaptic activity.

Plate 2- GABAa ligand-gated chloride (Cl-) channel results in fast-inhibitory effects;
Plate 3- GABAb reduces presynaptic release of neurotransmitter & mediates the late
inhibitory response (K+ channel).
Plate 2&3- GABA agonists: Drugs or biochemicals that bind to & activate GABA receptors.
Plate 4- When the drugs are washed out, their apparent effects linger. Why? You are ultimately considering action potentials quantified by mV's. The charges of the ions that are quantified by mV's and where they are happen to be the symptoms of the presence of the drugs. For a short time after washing away the drug(s), the ion channels and flow of ions will still show some residual effects of the drug until they ...

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