Biological Bases of Behavior
The autonomic nervous system is most directly involved in
digesting food
During neuronal firing, the part of the neuron that acts as an insulator and conductor to speed the electrical impulse as it travels down the axon is
the myelin sheath
The time shortly after a neuron fires is referred to as
the refractory period
A child's sex is genetically determined by the
Father
Juana accidentally touched a hot iron. She immediately drew back her hand. Which of the following is true about the withdrawal of her hand?
It was initiated in the spinal cord.
The person most strongly associated with identifying deficits in the motor speech area and in the ability to produce speech is
Paul Broca
If an individual has lost the ability to feel pain in the left arm, there is most likely damage to what area of the brain?
Right parietal lobe
The drugs that block the reabsorption of neurotransmitters in the synapse during neural transmission are
SSRIs
Neurotransmitters are typically stored in which of the following parts of a neuron?
The terminal buttons
A person will most likely develop aphasia as a result of damage to which of the following parts of the brain?
Wernicke's area
Damage to a small part of the occipital lobe would most likely result in a
visual deficit
Assume that R represents a dominant gene in rats for normal running and that r represent a recessive gene in rats for an abnormal gait called waltzing. Mating a female Rr rat with a male RR rat will produce offspring that are
100% runners
Activation of the parasympathetic nervous system results in which of the following?
A decrease in heart rate
Damage to the cerebellum would most likely result in which of the following problems?
A loss of motor coordination
Which scenario best exemplifies Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection?
A mutation in a species of lizards that allows them to better blend into their surroundings leads to greater survival and more offspring possessing this mutation in a later generation.
Researchers looking to create a drug to reduce the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease would most likely focus their efforts on which of the following neurotransmitters?
Acetylcholine
The depletion of which of the following neurotransmitters is most closely associated with the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease?
Acetylcholine
Damage to which of the following brain structures may cause the inability to detect the emotional significance of facial expressions, especially those demonstrating fear?
Amygdala
The area labeled X in the drawing above denotes which of the following structures?
Axon terminals
In the figure above, where does the neurotransmitter dopamine have its effect?
B
Brain damage that leaves a person capable of understanding speech but with an impaired ability to produce speech most likely indicates injury to which of the following?
Broca's area
Which of the following allows the examination of living brain tissue visually without performing surgery?
Computerized axial tomography
A person with damage to Broca's area would most likely demonstrate which of the following symptoms?
Difficulty with speech production
Which of the following neurotransmitters has been linked to Parkinson's disease and schizophrenia?
Dopamine
Which of the follow scenarios is the best example of natural selection?
During a drought, the foliage in a region turns brown. More brownish moths than whitish moths from a particular breed survive predation and produce more offspring. Subsequent generations of moths have a higher percentage of brownish moths than the generation before.
Most glands in the human body are a part of which system?
Endocrine
Which of the following provides information regarding brain function by monitoring the brain at work through metabolism of glucose?
Positron emission tomography (PET)
In which of the following techniques do researchers inject a harmless, radioactive substance into the living human brain to examine activity?
Positron-emission tomography (PET)
Which part of the nervous system is most immediately activated by sudden fear?
Sympathetic
The part of the neuron that is responsible for receiving signals from other neurons is called
a neurotransmitter
A drug that has the effect of intensifying or mimicking a particular neurotransmitter can be characterized as
a stimulant, because it increases activity of the central nervous system
Reuptake of a neurotransmitter refers to
absorption of the neurotransmitter into the terminal buttons of the sending neuron
An individual was admitted to the hospital after experiencing a mild tingling on the right side of the face and a sudden inability to speak. Using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), a doctor would likely find
an abnormality in the brain tissue of the left hemisphere
Activation of the sympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system results in
an increase in respiratory rate
When a person is suffering from severe pain, the type of drug that will best help alleviate that pain is
an opiate
Curare blocks action at acetylcholine synapses and causes paralysis. This drug is an example of an
antagonist
An individual with damage to Wernicke's area is most likely to have difficulty
comprehending a spoken request for information
People who have experienced severe damage to the frontal lobe of the brain seldom regain their ability to
make and carry out plans
A participant in a study of music perception listens to music with electrodes attached to her scalp while data are collected on the activity of her brain. This technique is called
electroencephalography (EEG)
The diagram above depicts the human body's
endocrine system
Painkilling substances produced by the brain are known as
endorphins
The brain scans of people with amnesia are most likely to show damage to the
hippocampus
The part of the endocrine system that is responsible for overseeing and regulating the release of hormones across the entire body is the
hypothalamus
Brain lateralization refers to the
inclination for certain cognitive processes to be specialized to one hemisphere of the brain or the other
Mary participates in an exercise program because she experiences an increase in energy and feelings of well-being at the end of each exercise session. The best explanation for Mary's perseverance in the program is that exercise
increases her level of endorphins
For most people, speech functions are primarily localized in the
left cerebral hemisphere
Dopamine, norepinephrine, and acetylcholine are all
neurotransmitters that excite or inhibit a neural signal across a synapse
The hypothesis that intelligence is in part inherited is best supported by the fact that the IQ correlation for
pairs of identical twins is greater than for pairs of fraternal twins
An image projected to the left visual field of a split-brained person will be processed in the
right visual cortex
Ben was enjoying a walk in the woods on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. As he went around a curve, he noticed a bear walking toward him. Immediately his pupils dilated, he began to perspire, and his heart accelerated. These changes are most closely related to the function of the
sympathetic nervous system