Group: Bianca Jonson
Short lab report
10/4/14
Effect of household drugs on circulatory system of Lumbriculus Variegatus (blackworms)
Hypothesis & justification part 1:
In order to understand a little bit about the effects of common household drugs such as nicotine and caffeine on pulsation rate, an experiment was conducted with Lumbriculus Variegattus (Blackworms). In week 1, we observed the basal rate of three different worms, and then placed the same three worms on different concentrations of caffeine and nicotine. “Caffeine is known to act as an inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain; it promotes sleep and suppresses aurosal, binding to the adenosine neurotransmitter receptor to block its inhibitory action” (CCNY lab manual, 2014). Before our experiment was conducted we hypothesized that increasing the concentration of caffeine will increase the pulsation rate. During this experiment we used 1.0mM, 3.0mM, and 10.0mM concentrations of caffeine. The highest the concentration the more effect it would have on the pulsation rate, so in this case we could assume that 10.0mM would have the highest effect on the pulsation rate of the blackworms.
Now in the case of nicotine it is known that, “ is mostly excitatory, inhibitory at some sites, activating receptors between some neurons of CNS, and neuromuscular junctions in PNS” (CCNY lab manual, 2014). According to Adam Cloe, Nicotine looks like a neurotransmitter that are called acetylcholine, and as a result nicotine can increase acetylcholine signaling through the brain (2011). We all know that acetylcholine is essential for the movement of our muscles, so an excess of it could cause paralysis and asphyxiation ( web.williams). Therefore we ended up hypothesizing that increasing the concentration of nicotine would decrease the pulsation rate. In this case we used 0.05mM, 0.25mM, and 1.0mM concentrations of nicotine.
Hypothesis & justification part 2:
In the second part of the experiment, we