2). In your lab, you are studying the neural mechanisms of taste transduction. B

Question

2). In your lab, you are studying the neural mechanisms of taste transduction. Below is a graph of the action potential firing rates of the three axons in response to quinine (bitter), NaCI (salty), HCI (sour) and sucrose (sweet) Quinine NaC HCI Sucrose Cell 1 +Cell 2 Cell 3 You then stimulate three gustatory nerve axons with an unknown tastant, Tastant X". You observe the following firing patterns in the different gustatory axons: cell 1 cell 2 a) Based on the firing rates you observe in the following cells, what are the possible tastes that could be Tastant X"? (5 ooints) b) Describe an experiment that you could conduct in order to determine the identity of "Tastant X". In your answer include the two potential outcomes of your

Explanation / Answer

a. Since firing patterns are higher in cells 1 and 2, the tastant X must be either quinine or HCl. This is because both these tastes give high firing rates in both cells 1 and 2. Also both these give low action potential for cell 3.

b. To determine the identity of tastant X, we will first stimulate cells 1 and 2 with the tastant X. This will give high firing rate. Then we will apply some NaOH to the cells without washing the earlier applied tastant X. If the tastant X was HCl, it would react with NaOH and give NaCl. This NaCl would cause low firing rate in cell1 while high in cell2. If this pattern is observed it becomes clear that the tastant X is HCl.

However if even after applying NaOH, the firing pattern of both cells 1 and 2 are high, it means there is no reaction and hence no NaCl formed and hence the tastant X is quinine.

But one separate control experiment with NaOH applied alone must also be conducted for this, to understand if NaOH has any special effect.

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