Q&A Hero

Q: Damage to the ____ often causes people to lose their social inhibitions and to ignore the rules of polite conduct. a. corpus callosum b. cerebellum c. prefrontal cortex d. striate cortex

Q: Knowing that it is appropriate to tackle people on the football field, but not in the classroom, is dependent on functioning of the: a. prefrontal cortex. b. occipital cortex. c. amygdala. d. somatosensory cortex.

Q: The prefrontal cortex is important for: a. the processing of visual information. b. working memory. c. language acquisition. d. recognizing faces.

Q: Prefrontal lobotomies were conducted in the United States in an attempt to: a. restore memory. b. restrain prisoners. c. treat severe obesity. d. treat severe psychiatric disorders.

Q: Neurons in the prefrontal cortex ____ than neurons in other cortical areas. a. are larger in size b. have more dendritic spines c. have greater velocities of action potentials d. are more sensitive to light

Q: The only area of the cerebral cortex known to receive input from ALL sensory modalities is the: a. thalamus. b. prefrontal cortex. c. striate cortex. d. parietal lobe.

Q: The precentral gyrus is essential for: a. fine movements. b. coordination between vision and hearing. c. emotions. d. hunger and thirst.

Q: Which lobe contains the precentral gyrus? a. Occipital b. Parietal c. Temporal d. Frontal

Q: Which lobe contains the primary motor cortex and the prefrontal cortex? a. Occipital b. Parietal c. Temporal d. Frontal

Q: Following damage to the temporal lobe, monkeys that fail to display normal fear of snakes most likely have which of the following? a. Korsakoff's syndrome b. Kluver-Bucy syndrome c. Wertmann syndrome d. Urbach-Wiethe disease

Q: Monkeys with Kluver-Bucy syndrome fail to show normal fears and anxieties after damage to the: a. temporal lobe. b. parietal lobe. c. occipital lobe. d. frontal lobe.

Q: Visual hallucinations are often associated with tumors in which brain area? a. temporal lobe b. corpus callosum c. parietal lobe d. frontal lobe

Q: A tumor in the temporal lobe may give rise to: a. flashes of light. b. visual hallucinations. c. olfactory hallucinations. d. prolonged yawning.

Q: Which lobe contributes to perception of movement and recognition of faces? a. Occipital lobe b. Parietal lobe c. Temporal lobe d. Frontal lobe

Q: Which lobe seems to be especially involved in the comprehension of spoken language in humans? a. Occipital b. Parietal c. Frontal d. Temporal

Q: The temporal lobe of the cerebral cortex is the primary target for which kind of sensory information? a. somatosensory, including touch b. the simplest aspects of vision c. gustatory d. auditory

Q: What is the primary area of the cerebral cortex for auditory sensations? a. Occipital b. Parietal c. Temporal d. Frontal

Q: A blind person who suddenly loses the ability to read Braille has probably suffered damage to what area of the cerebral cortex? a. Temporal lobe b. Frontal lobe c. Occipital lobe d. Parietal lobe

Q: Someone who suddenly loses the ability to identify objects by feeling them has probably suffered damage to what area of the cerebral cortex? a. parietal lobe b. temporal lobe c. frontal lobe d. corpus callosum

Q: What is the primary target area in the cortex for information regarding muscle-stretch and joint receptors? a. primary somatosensory cortex b. occipital lobe c. central sulcus d. precentral gyrus

Q: The _____ monitors all the information about eye, head, and body positions and passes it on to brain areas that control movement. a. parietal lobe b. occipital lobe c. central sulcus d. precentral gyrus

Q: What is the primary target area on the cerebral cortex for touch and other skin sensations? a. olfactory bulbs b. striate cortex c. precentral gyrus d. postcentral gyrus

Q: The postcentral gyrus in the parietal lobe is the primary area for which type of sensation? a. Touch b. Vision c. Hearing d. Smell

Q: Which part of the cerebral cortex is most important for the sense of touch? a. Occipital lobe b. Parietal lobe c. Temporal lobe d. Frontal lobe

Q: What is one important difference between people who are blind because of cortical blindness and others who are blind because of problems with their eyes? a. People with damage to their eyes can still imagine visual scenes. b. People with cortical blindness are really just pretending to be blind. c. There is no distinguishable difference between them. d. People with cortical blindness are also deaf.

Q: An individual has normal eyes and normal pupillary reflexes but no pattern perception or visual imagery. This person suffers from: a. imagery deficit syndrome. b. cortical blindness. c. parietal lobe degeneration. d. retinal degeneration.

Q: What deficits does a person suffer after damage to the striate cortex in the occipital lobe? a. Deafness b. Blindness c. Loss of touch and other body sensations d. Loss of fine motor control

Q: Cortical blindness may result from the destruction of: a. any part of the cortex. b. the occipital cortex. c. the parietal cortex. d. the central sulcus.

Q: Which lobe of the cerebral cortex is most important for visual information? a. Occipital b. Parietal c. Temporal d. Frontal

Q: If a cell in a given column responds to touch on the person's right toe, then another cell in the same column would respond to: a. touch on the left toe. b. sounds from the right ear. c. touch on the right finger. d. touch on the right toe.

Q: All of the cells in a given column in the cerebral cortex: a. have the same shape. b. are the same size. c. are involved in the same function. d. are connected to one another by a single horizontal cell.

Q: If you could selectively damage the individual laminae of the cortex, damage to which layer would most likely affect visual sensation? a. Layer IV of the temporal cortex b. Layer V of the occipital cortex c. Layer IV of the occipital cortex d. Layer II of the frontal cortex

Q: Lamina IV is prominent in: a. all the primary sensory areas. b. the secondary sensory areas. c. primary motor areas. d. spinal cord.

Q: Lamina V is thickest in the: a. primary sensory area. b. secondary sensory areas. c. primary motor areas. d. spinal cord.

Q: Which of the following is TRUE about laminae in the cerebral cortex? a. All cortical areas contain six layers. b. Odd numbered laminae contain only neurons; even numbered laminae contain only glia. c. The laminae vary in thickness in different areas. d. Each layer corresponds to a different sensory modality.

Q: Across mammalian species, the most constant structure (in terms of relative size) is the: a. cortex. b. medulla. c. cerebellum. d. thalamus.

Q: The ____ constitutes a higher percentage of the brain in primates than in other species of comparable size. a. cerebral cortex b. cerebellum c. basal ganglia d. thalamus

Q: What do the corpus callosum and anterior commissure have in common? a. They both produce CSF. b. They both connect the two hemispheres. c. They are made up of gray matter. d. They each have six laminae.

Q: Which of the following is gray matter? a. The outer surfaces of the cerebral cortex b. The inner surface of the cerebral cortex c. The cerebral ventricles d. The axons of the brainstem and spinal cord

Q: The large bundle of axons connecting the two hemispheres of the brain is called the: a. corpus callosum. b. limbic system. c. midbrain. d. thalamus.

Q: Each hemisphere of the cerebral cortex receives most of its input from the ____ side of the body and controls the muscles on the ____ side. a. contralateral; ipsilateral b. ipsilateral; contralateral c. ipsilateral; ipsilateral d. contralateral; contralateral

Q: Hydrocephalus is usually associated with: a. a lack of nutrition. b. an obstruction of the flow of CSF. c. an excess of hormones. d. a constriction of the skull bones.

Q: What causes hydrocephalus? a. Poorly developed skull bones in an infant b. Interruption of blood flow to the brain around the time of birth c. Obstruction in the flow of cerebrospinal fluid d. Damage to one of the cranial nerves

Q: A function of the cerebrospinal fluid is to: a. cushion the brain. b. hold blood in reserve for emergencies. c. maintain the blood-brain barrier. d. synthesize neurotransmitters.

Q: Cerebrospinal fluid is gradually reabsorbed in the _____ of the brain. a. dura b. subarachnoid space c. pia d. cistern

Q: Membranes that surround the brain and spinal cord are called: a. CSF. b. ventricles. c. meninges. d. hydrocephali.

Q: What is contained in the ventricles of the brain? a. Glia b. Cell bodies c. Dendrites and axons d. Cerebrospinal fluid

Q: Meningitis is an inflammation of the: a. cerebrospinal fluid. b. glia. c. membranes surrounding the brain. d. medulla oblongata.

Q: Glutamate opens sodium gates, enabling sodium ions to enter the postsynaptic cell. What is this effect called? a. metabotropic b. ionotropic c. modulatory d. orthodromic

Q: Which of the following actions is most likely to be dependent on ionotropic effects? a. gradual sleepiness b. hormone release c. hunger d. rapid muscle contraction

Q: What does it mean to say that acetylcholine exerts ionotropic effects? a. It opens gates for a particular ion. b. It alters the permeability of the presynaptic neuron. c. It increases the concentration of ions within the vesicles. d. It changes the electrical charge of sodium ions from positive to negative.

Q: A receptor can directly open a channel exerting a(n) ____ effect or it can produce slower but longer ____ effects. a. gated; metabotropic b. ionotropic; gated c. metabotropic; ionotropic d. ionotropic; metabotropic

Q: A neurotransmitter receptor is: a. a protein embedded in the membrane. b. a channel in the membrane. c. found only on the soma. d. activated similarly for all neurotransmitters.

Q: What determines the effect that a neurotransmitter has on the postsynaptic neuron? a. the speed the action potential traveled down the axon b. the number of branches of the presynaptic axon c. the receptors on the postsynaptic membrane d. the distance between the synapse and the cell body

Q: The main advantage of a neuron releasing more than one neurotransmitter is that: a. if it runs out of one, it has others. b. it can release different transmitters on different occasions. c. it can send more complex messages. d. it can release one from the axon's terminal and one from another location along the axon.

Q: In most cases, how many neurotransmitters can activate a postsynaptic neuron? a. only one neurotransmitter b. any neurotransmitter c. several transmitters, with different synapses responding to different transmitters d. several transmitters, which must be received simultaneously

Q: In general, a single neuron releases ____ neurotransmitter(s) and can respond to ____ neurotransmitter(s). a. one; many b. dozens of; only one c. several; only one d. several; many

Q: What happens when a neurotransmitter is released by a presynaptic cell? a. It causes calcium to rush into the presynaptic neuron. b. It causes calcium to rush into the postsynaptic neuron. c. The neurotransmitter passively spreads across the synaptic cleft. d. The neurotransmitter is actively transported across the synaptic cleft.

Q: What is the synaptic cleft? a. the gap between the presynaptic neuron and the postsynaptic neuron b. a packet that stores neurotransmitter molecules c. a subthreshold depolarization d. the storage location for calcium ions

Q: Given a repetitive series of action potentials in a given neuron, we can expect that: a. each action potential will release the same amount of neurotransmitter. b. later action potentials in a series will release more neurotransmitter than the first. c. many action potentials will fail to release any neurotransmitters at all. d. some action potentials will release one chemical as the neurotransmitter, and others will release other chemicals.

Q: Exocytosis is the process by which neurotransmitters are: a. excreted into the synaptic cleft. b. synthesized. c. destroyed. d. secreted into synaptic vesicles.

Q: The neuron excretes neurotransmitter through its membrane by a process called: a. Dale's principle. b. exocytosis. c. endocytosis. d. voltage-dependent flow.

Q: The release of neurotransmitter from the presynaptic terminal is most dependent on the influx of what ion? a. sodium b. potassium c. chloride d. calcium

Q: An action potential causes the release of neurotransmitters by: a. blocking potassium pores in the membrane. b. opening chloride pores in the membrane. c. blocking iron pores in the membrane. d. opening calcium pores in the membrane.

Q: When an action potential reaches the end of an axon, the depolarization causes what ionic movement in the presynaptic cell? a. sodium out of the cell b. lithium out of the cell c. iron into the cell d. calcium into the cell

Q: When an action potential reaches the end of an axon, it evokes the release of neurotransmitters by opening ____ channels in the axon terminal. a. chloride b. bicarbonate c. calcium d. oxygen

Q: High concentrations of all neurotransmitters, except for NO, are stored in the: a. presynaptic terminals. b. postsynaptic terminals. c. axon. d. cell body.

Q: The tiny packets that contain neurotransmitters in the presynaptic neuron are called: a. vesicles. b. bags. c. sacs. d. terminals.

Q: Vesicles are located: a. in postsynaptic terminals. b. in dendrites. c. in presynaptic terminals. d. outside of the neuron in the extracellular fluid.

Q: Although slower than an action potential, synaptic transmission is still relatively fast because: a. the synaptic cleft is very narrow. b. sodium ions are transported quickly. c. neurotransmitters diffuse faster than electricity. d. EPSPs travel faster than IPSPs.

Q: Large neurotransmitters are synthesized in the: a. postsynaptic terminal. b. presynaptic terminal. c. cell body. d. dendrites.

Q: The presynaptic terminal stores high concentrations of neurotransmitter molecules in: a. axons b. vesicles c. peptides d. dendrites

Q: Acetylcholine is synthesized in the: a. postsynaptic terminal. b. presynaptic terminal. c. cell body. d. dendrites.

Q: Insulin increases the entry of tryptophan into the brain by: a. weakening the blood-brain barrier. b. converting tryptophan into a compound that more easily enters the brain. c. increasing metabolic activity only in those areas of the brain that use tryptophan. d. causing certain competing amino acids to enter other cells, outside the brain.

Q: Dopamine and norepinephrine are classified as: a. second messengers. b. purines. c. proteins. d. catecholamines.

Q: If you eat a food containing tryptophan, what can you consume with it to increase its entry to the brain? a. phenylalanine b. carbohydrates c. fats d. thiamine

Q: After a meal that was rich in the amino acid tryptophan, which neurotransmitter level would be increased the most? a. dopamine b. endorphin c. serotonin d. nitric oxide

Q: The amino acid tryptophan is the precursor to which neurotransmitter? a. dopamine b. endorphin c. serotonin d. nitric oxide

Q: Avoiding foods with lecithin, such as eggs and peanuts, would affect which neurotransmitter level the most? a. acetylcholine b. serotonin c. GABA d. endorphin

Q: What do dopamine, norepinephrine, and epinephrine share in common? a. They all affect the same receptors. b. They are all synthesized from the same amino acids. c. They are all released by the same neurons. d. They all are gases.