sensory question

[jjkwest1]

As a male silk worm moth nears a female that is releasing bombykol,?
a. the female starts to release more bombykol
b. the action potential in the antennal nerve increase
c. many bombykol sensitive hairs are stimulated per second
d. a larger number of bombykol sensitive hair undergoes adaptation
e. the receptor potential in bombykol sensitive hair is reduced

Answer says B. However it seems that b is implying that the magnitude of the action potential is increasing. I would understand that that would be the answer if it said the frequency would increase. I chose C for the question and was wondering if that would be right instead. can anyone confirm?

[billyfisher100]

I'm afraid that animal behaviour and physiology are not at all my specialisms, but I think that B is actually correct, because such an impulse would usually be a response in such a situation - I am not exactly sure specifically to this case.

Try and post this on the zoology or physiology forum - You might get slightly more knowledgeable answers there.

[RLBallantyne]

I've been away from this for awhile, but my answer to your dilemma is that the action potential has many components.

It's amplitude is normally a constant or varies little, but the refractory period may vary. I suspect the refractory period (time from stimulation to membrane recovery on a single neuron) might shorten under the influence of the airborne substance, thus increasing the rate of action.