Download VNS Worksheet - Rice CAAM Department

VNS Worksheet
1. What fraction of the fibers in the Vagus Nerve carry
information toward the brain?
2. How can touching someone's ear make them cough?
3. How can someone "naturally" stimulate their vagus nerve?
4. Why is the locus coeruleus (LC) called the "blue spot."
5. How many neurons are contained in the blue spot.
6. If the volume of a typical LC neuron is 50,000 cubic microns
and there are 2.54 cm in one inch what is the volume of such a
cell in cubic inches?
7. What important molecule is delivered by LC neurons?
8. List two regions that receive input from the LC.
9. List two regions that send input to the LC.
10.The signal received from an LC neuron depends on the type of
the receptor. How many types are they and what are they called?
11. Where is the hippocampus and why is it called a sea horse?
12. What happens if the hippocampus is removed?
13. What part of the cortex both sends to and receives from the
hippocampus?
14. Please name 4 other regions of the hippocampus and draw a
circuit diagram that depicts the flow of information.
15. Please name a brain region that is needed to generate theta
waves in the hippocampus.
16. What behavior states are associated with the hippocampal
theta rhythm?
17.What is Long Term Potentiation and what does it have to do
with memory?
18. Norepinephrine, like all key neurotransmitters and hormones
is highly regulated. This control typically comes in two types,
(1) regulation of release and (2) regulation of uptake. Please name
molecules that
(a) promote release
(b) inhibit release
(c) inhibit uptake.