Effectul Nicotinei si Alcoolului asupra Neuronilor

Nicotine

Nicotine comes from the tobacco plant. Tobacco evolved nicotine to prevent insects from eating its leaves. Nicotine is a powerful
acetylcholine receptor agonist. An agonist is not a neurotransmitter, it is a chemical that amplifies the effect of other
neurotransmitters by binding to synapses. Nicotine amplifies the effect of acetylcholine (ACh) binding to its receptors in synapses,
causing a neuron to fire more (due to increased sodium ion influx).
1a. Use the diagram below to illustrate how nicotine affects the neuron
Make sure your diagram includes:
1
 Acetylcholine Receptors
 Acetocholine molecules
 Nicotine molecues
 Changes in neuron firing

2
 

3
1b. Based on the information on nicotine and how it affects neurons in humans, describe how you think it will affect neuron firing.
Nicotine is an agonist for acetylcholine, so it should amplify the effect of acetylcholine, causing neurons to fire more rapidly.
1c. Draw what you think the spiking activity will look like when nicotine is introduced. Show what the signal will look like before and
after the introduction. 

4
 Ethanol
Ethanol (alcohol) is a drug that also is an agonist to neurotransmission (like nicotine it binds to receptors and increases the activity of
other neurotransmitters). Ethanol increases the effect of GABA binding channels. Unlike ACh receptors, stimulation of GABA
channels often leads to inhibition of action potentials. In other words, GABA channel stimulation will slow down the firing of a
neuron.
2a. Make sure your diagram includes:
 Ethanol
 GABA receptors
 GABA molecules
 Changes in neuron activity

5
 

6
2b. Based on the information you have on ethanol and how it affects neuron firing in humans, describe how you think it will affect
neuron firing in an insect:
Ethanol is an agonist for GABA, which reduces neuron firing. Therefore it will probably reduce neuron firing in insects as well.

7
2c. Draw what you think the spiking activity will look like when ethanol is introduced. Draw what you think the signal will look like

before and after introducing ethanol. 

(Note: Ethanol actually does not have a detectable effect on neural firing in insects, however, students should predict a decrease in
neural activity given what they know about GABA)