What Are the Proximate Causes That Underlie an Animal's Ability

question 74

Multiple Choice

What are the proximate causes that underlie an animal's ability to detect and respond to stimuli?

• A) only physiological mechanisms
• B) only genetic mechanisms
• C) genetic and physiological mechanisms
• D) genetic, cellular, physiological, and anatomical mechanisms
• E) genetic, physiological, and anatomical mechanisms

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Definitions:

Excitatory Signals

These are biochemical impulses that promote or increase neural activity or the firing of neurons.

All-or-none Response

A biological principle indicating that a nerve or muscle fiber reacts completely or not at all to a stimulus.

Sodium/Potassium Pump

A vital cell membrane protein that pumps sodium out of cells and potassium into cells, maintaining the necessary concentration gradients for nerve impulse transmission and muscle contractions.

Positively Charged Ions

Particles, either atoms or molecules, which have become positively charged by losing one or more electrons.