VETS2011

Students please note that it is impossible to treat the nervous system, even cursorily, in 13 lectures. I have therefore focussed on a few topics, such as the visual stabilisation reflexes, which will recur in a number of lectures so that you will be better able to understand how they work. The plan of lectures and the topics covered are idiosyncratic, and you will find no textbook that has the emphases or order that I use. If you must use a text-book, I have added, in the Lecture notes below, the numbers of the relevant figures and chapters in Schmidt and Thews "Human Physiology". This text  comes closest to my own treatment of the nervous system, but note that there is much more detail in the text than required and that the text does not emphasise some important principles that I will stress, nor does it cover topics in avian neurophysiology that I consider appropriate for a vet student.

There will be no examination questions from any material other than that presented in lectures.
 

Neuro Exam Questions: These will be in the End-of-Semester Exam in June (Date still to be determined)

 There will be:-

  • 13 questions of the UQ-type,  5-possibility MCQ, with a slight negative weighting for incorrect choices (guesses). Each worth 1 mark: 1 question for each lecture
  •  2 short answer questions of about 1/2 page length worth 4 marks each:  be concise and legible: use a table or figure if possible
  •   Total               21 marks

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    Sample Exam Questions VETS2011

    A. Multiple Choice Questions:

    1. Which of the following is NOT true regarding the VOR (vestibulo-ocular reflex)?

     a. Highest gain at high head velocities
     b. Short latency
     c. Disynaptic reflex pathway
     d. Operates in dark
     e. Unaffected by ìmycinî antibiotics like streptomycin and kanamycin
     
     

    2. Which of the following is the important neurohormone and free radical scavenger that circulates during sleep, having been released from the pineal gland, the eyes and other sources?

     a. Melanin
     b. MSH (Melanocyte Stimulating Hormone)
     c. Melatonin
     d. Dopamine
     e. Proctolin

    Correct answers at bottom of this page.
     

    B. 4 mark short answer questions:

    3. Contrast mechanoreception and photoreception, giving the key differences between these two kinds of sensory transduction systems (4 marks).
    (Keep you answer to the half page provided. Be concise and legible).
     

    Sample answer:

       Mechanoreception:                                                                  Photoreception:
      Cation channel linked physically to mechanical stimulus                  Cation channel linked indirectly via G-protein mediated signal transduction cascade
      Short latency                                                                             Long latency; inversely proportional to strength of stimulus
     

    4. What is melatonin? What role does it play?
    (Keep you answer to the 1/2 page provided and use figures or tables if necessary. Be concise and legible).

    Sample answer: Melatonin is a small diffusible molecule related to serotonin that is produced at night, on a circadian rhythm, by the pineal gland and the retina (2 marks).
    Melatonin is the most efficient scavenger known for OH- ions, the most highly-reactive ROS known (1 mark).
    Melatonin leads to upregulation of cellular immunity (1 mark).
    Both the immune and oxidative repair functions of melatonin are consistent with the restorative power of sleep (bonus 1 mark).

    Tip from Bert the Boobook:
    For the short answer part of the exam, don't forget to study about saccades and oxidative damage.
     
     
     

    Background Reading:

    Schmidt and Thews; Human Physiology: Relevant Chapters and Figures from this text are indicated below.