Reference no: EM132520892

A new drug called Xaelenfal is on the market. Xaelenfal is an AMPA receptor antagonist, meaning that it binds onto AMPA receptors without activating them and prevents glutamate from binding.

i. If I take the drug Xaelenfal, how will this effect EPSPs recorded in the postsynaptic neuron when an excitatory presynaptic neuron fires an action potential?

ii. How will the drug Xaelenfal effect IPSPs in the postsynaptic neuron when an inhibitory presynaptic neuron fires an action potential?

iii. In a normal brain, synapses can get stronger when a presynaptic cell repeatedly causes a postsynaptic cell to depolarize (we call this long-term potentiation, or LTP). Explain how long term potentiation works including the following details.

- Name the neurotransmitter that is released by the presynaptic cell.

- Name the receptor that this neurotransmitter binds to on the postsynaptic cell to mediate normal excitatory transmission.

- What other receptors are involved and how do they get recruited?

- List one way in which the presynaptic neuron changes and one way in which the postsynaptic neuron changes during LTP.

iv. Given what you know about plasticity, could Xaelenfal effect the ability of synapses to potentiate. Explain your answer.