This document contains a complex exercise on the neurotoxins tetanospasmin (the agent causing tetanus) and strychnine.

It can be used as practice for an upcoming exam, or it can be used as an exam itself.

The exercise is tailored to require 90 min of work when done in "one sitting" and in writing.

It includes the solutions and references to the following competencies:

General Competencies:

-        I can purposefully extract information from written sources.

-        I can make (a) fact(s) or circumstance(s) clear by describing the involved elements and pointing out causal correlations between them ( explain).

-        I can draw logical conclusions based on known facts and/or data in order to answer a biological question ( deduce).

-        I can display similarities and differences of circumstances, objects, organisms or processes in a verbal (or tabular) manner. ( compare)

-        I can trace back a circumstance to a rule, biological law or causal correlation ( give reasons).

-        I can form justified hypotheses on scientific questions.

-        I can name significant parts of the human nervous system and explain their respective functions.

-        I can describe and explain the conversion of an action potential into a postsynaptic potential (EPSP and IPSP) at a chemical synapse.

-        I can describe and explain the influence of neurotoxins on membrane potentials and the transmission of signals on chemical synapses, and I can deduce potential consequences.