G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are the largest class of transmembrane receptors, and collectively they respond to diverse stimuli to regulate nearly all physiological processes. Consequently, GPCRs are considered attractive drug targets, and drugs with agonistic, antagonistic, and modulating properties at GPCRs have been developed to prevent or treat numerous diseases and disease symptoms. Over the past decade, technical advances in the fields of pharmacology, physiology, and structural biology
release of neurotransmitters from the presynaptic neuron. After its release from the presynaptic cell, the neurotransmitter diffuses across the synaptic cleft to the postsynaptic membrane, where it attaches to the receptor. 6. What are the differences between ionotropic and metabotropic
ganglion cells or amacrine cells. The transduction pathway in the bipolar cell is different from the photoreceptor transduction pathway in that there are two distinct bipolar cells that do not use photons as the trigger but instead the neurotransmitter glutamate that is activated by hyperpolarization of the photoreceptors. ON-bipolar cells are depolarized by a central stimuli to the receptive field that is position in the center while OFF-bipolar cells are hyperpolarized by
Learning refers to a process by which new information about the world is acquired, while memory describes how knowledge is retained. Memory can be explicit or implicit. In explicit form, there is conscious recall of information about things, people and places, while in implicit type, there is non-conscious recall of tasks such as motor skills(Broadbent et al., 2004). Explicit memory depends on the integrity of structures such as the hippocampus, subiculum, and entorhinal cortex. Implicit memory
Lou Gehrig's disease is often referred to as Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), this is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. Motor neurons come from the brain to the spinal cord and from the spinal cord to the muscles throughout the entire body. The progressive degeneration of the motor neurons in ALS would eventually leads to their death. When the motor neurons die, the ability of the brain to initiate and control muscle movement is
Glutamate – An Excitatory Neurotransmitter Neurotransmitters are essential for transferring information between neurons and are released from a presynaptic terminal into a synaptic cleft. When the neurotransmitters bind to the postsynaptic receptors (specialized protein molecules that capture and react to molecules of the neurotransmitter), it induces an ionic flux which depolarizes the neuron. Neurotransmitter binding may also cause metabolic changes such as the activation of secondary messenger
Nociceptors are cutaneous and subcutaneous receptors specialized for the detection of noxious stimuli (Latremoliere & Woolf, 2009). Nociception is considered a protective process designed to help prevent injury by producing a withdrawal reflex from the stimulus and by generating an unpleasant sensation resulting in behavioral strategies to avoid further contact with the stimuli (Latremoliere & Woolf, 2009). Pain can be divided into nociceptive pain or neuropathic pain since each type of pain has
EPILEPSY INTRODUCTION Epilepsy is a neurological disorder characterized by recurrent and uncertain intrusions of normal brain function, called epileptic seizure (Fisher et al., 2005). The word epilepsy was derived from the Greek word “attack”. The primitive Greeks thought epilepsy was contagious, and hence people with epilepsy used to live alone (Dam, 2003). It is one of the oldest conditions known to humankind (WHO, 2001a) and still the most common neurological condition affecting individuals of
an extracellular binding site causing the receptor to undergo a conformational change, resulting in the opening of the pore, thus ion flow through, down the electrochemical gradient. The term ligand gated ion channel (LGIC) is a general term used to describe 3 ‘superfamilies’ of ion channels; Cysteine-loop receptors, Ionotropic Glutamate receptors (IGluR) and ATP-gated ion channels. All these superfamiles can be further split into families of receptors. Members of a superfamily differ from member
While there has been much research about Lewy Bodies dementia and It’s possible causes, there are as yet no definitive cause or risk factors, and no cure. Current information available does little to clarify understanding of the condition which makes up approx. 15% of all dementias (Canadian nursing home 2014(ASC2011)) . Lewy Bodies is named after the neurologist Frederick H Lewy (Alzheimer’s association UK) who discovered the protein Alpha-synuclein within the brain. Alpha-synuclein is a normally