Questions for Olfaction, Brain and Emotion



1.  Where on the sensory receptor cell does binding of odorant molecules take place?  Sensory receptor neurons expressing the same odorant receptor type converge where?

2. What mechanism/structural specialization does the male silkworm moth use to increase it's likelihood of 'picking up' the signal from a female pheromonal molecule that may be one in many millions of air molecules?  Does the female show this specialization?  Where does transduction of the pheromonal signal into electrical signals take place?

3.  The reception of a smells like those of cheese and of pheromones is different for a mouse.  What do I mean by this?  Think in terms of the receptors the compounds bind to, what specific structures this binding takes place in/on, what the first part of the nervous system to receive the information is, and where the information goes from that point in a general sense (what major brain areas).

4.  What are two mechanisms by which drugs of abuse can affect dopamine function?  (think about basic mechanisms of neurotransmitter function here)

5.  What is the key neurotransmitter linked to depression in humans and aggression in other animals?

6.  We talked about several sexual dimorphisms that have been described in the human brain.  Where are these usually found (i.e., what brain region) and why would investigators focus on this region?
 
 

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