Assignment Task/s:
Assignment Task Description (mapped to assessment criteria)
Assessment criteria
Write a practical report on investigating nerve impulse transmissions through reaction times. The report should have the following sections: Title, introduction, results, discussion, and conclusion.
Introduction
You need to demonstrate your background understanding of the nervous system. You must introduce the following concepts:
A description of the structure of the central nervous system and sensory, connector and motor neurones, to include the Brain, Spinal Cord, Neurons (dendrites, axon, axon hillock, cell body, myelin sheath, node of Ranvier, and synapses)
An explanation for the role of the sensory and motor neurones in reflex arc.
An explanation for the mechanisms of transmission of an impulse along a neurone, to include the following events:
Resting potential
Graded potential
Depolarisation
Repolarisation
Hyperpolarisation
A comparison of voluntary and reflex actions
An explanation for the role of the autonomic nervous system to include sympathetic and parasympathetic systems.
Methodology
Describe how you will conduct the experiment to measure reaction times
Results
Describe the data you obtained from the experiment. Graphs and tables must be used here.
Discussion
The discussion of your results is to include:
a) An explanation of how one of the following substances can impact the transmission of nerve impulses and how the results of the reaction time tests could have been impacted if participants had been exposed to differing levels of:
Caffeine
Nicotine
Amphetamines
Cocaine.
Reference should be made to relevant transmitters that are released and the physiological effects.
b) An explanation of how one of the following disorders can impact the nervous system, including neurones, impulses, synaptic transmissions or neurotransmitters,
Alzheimer’s
Multiple Sclerosis
Parkinson’s Disease,
Meningitis
Brain tumours.
Conclusion
This should be a short summary of the report.
The introduction and discussion should be referenced consistently.
Advisory word count for the report is 2000 words.