Habituation

• How do animals learn by habituation

• Learning is a change in behaviour or gained knowledge due to experience

• Learning is more effective due to recollection of info

• Memory is the strengthening of neural pathways due to modification of synapses

• Habituation is an example of learning, making more appropriate response to the same stimulus

What are memories & how are they stored

• Memories are specific pathways of neuronal connections

• They are stored in various parts of the cortex

• These parts can be identified by the symptoms displayed by people who have lost functionality in certain brain regions

• The hippocampus has an important role in long term memory

• Memory is increased by strengthening synapses in the pathway

• Synapses can be strengthened by increasing the frequency of impulses or use of a pathway

Explain how habituation occurs at a synapse

• With repeated stimulation, voltage-gated calcium channels become less responsive

• Fewer calcium ions enter the presynaptic cell

• Less neurotransmitter is released

• Fewer sodium channels open in the postsynaptic neurone

• There is less chance of depolarisation of the postsynaptic membrane

• This reduces stimulation of the effector, & the size of the response.

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