Exam 2 quizzes for NSCI

How many distinct layers are observed in the human neocortex?

6

The following are major cell groups in the brain (select all that apply): A. putamen B. fornix C. septal area D. corpus collosum E. caudate nucleus

A, C, E A. putamen C: septal area E. caudate nucleus

The monosynaptic stretch reflex arc is A. All of these are correct B. what produces the knee jerk reflex. C. reliant on only one synapse between sensory input and motor neuron output. D. comprised of Ia axons and alpha motor neurons

A. All of these are correct

Which of the following is a striated muscle? A. Cardiac and skeletal muscle B. Cardiac muscle C. Skeletal muscle D. Smooth muscle

A. Cardiac and skeletal muscle

Consider the motor loop through the basal ganglia. Which of the following is the functional consequence of cortical activation of the striatum? A. Excitation of the motor cortex by VL B. Inhibition of the motor cortex by VL C. Inhibition of VL/VA of thalamus D. Excitation of the globus pallidus

A. Excitation of the motor cortex by VL

Which of the following has large receptive fields that may cover an entire finger or half of the palm? A. Pacinian corpuscles B. Krause end bulbs C. Merkel's disks D. Meissner's corpuscles

A. Pacinian corpuscles

Which of the following is involved in pain pathways in the spinal cord? A. Substance P B. Acetylcholine C. GABA D. both B and C

A. Substance P

Outputs from the olfactory bulb make synaptic connections to all of the following except the A. thalamus. B. temporal lobe structures. C. olfactory cortex. D. olfactory tubercle.

A. Thalamus

What is the consequence of knocking out critical proteins of the olfactory cAMP pathway in mice?

Anosmia occurs.

Which of the following are somatic sensory areas of the parietal lobe?

Areas 1, 2, 3a, 3b, 5, and 7

Identify the disorder that causes inability to recognize common objects by feeling them even though they can be recognized by sight or sound.

Astereognosia

The brainstem contains which of the following structures? A. Corpus callosum B. Medulla C. Cerebellum D. Central sulcus

B. Medulla

Which of the following is the most posterior cerebral lobe in the brain? A. Temporal lobe B. Occipital lobe C. Frontal lobe D. Parietal lobe

B. Occipital lobe

What of the following is not typically considered one of the basic tastes? A. Salty B. Spicy C. Umami D. Sour

B. Spicy

People perceive sweet A. only on the right side of the tongue. B. anywhere on the tongue where there are taste receptors. C. only on the left side of the tongue. D. only at the tip of the tongue.

B. anywhere on the tongue where there are taste receptors.

Why does the fovea appear like a pit in a cross-sectional view of the retinal

Because of the lateral displacement of cells above the photoreceptors in the fovea

Which of the following mediates vital bodily functions?

Brain stem

How does the brain distinguish between alternative tastes?

By roughly labeled lines and population coding

Small-diameter _______ fibers conduct pain information slowly and adapt slowly.

C

Which of the following are true? Select all that apply. A. Binding of odorants to receptor proteins generates an action potential. B. Most odorants bind to ion channel receptors. C. Olfactory receptors only use one type of molecular signaling system. D. Transduction molecules are found in cilia.

C (olfactory receptors only use one type of molecular signaling system) and D (transduction molecules are found in cilia) are correct

Which is true of population coding? A. Receptor cells are each responsive to only a single taste. B. Temporal patterns of spiking codes determine the quality of an odor. C. A large number of neurons specify the properties of a stimulus. D. There is an orderly spatial arrangement of neurons.

C. A large number of neurons specify the properties of a stimulus.

In the hierarchy of motor control, which of the following is a function at the lowest level of control? A. Sequences of muscle contraction to accurately achieve the goal B. The goal of movement and the best method to achieve this goal C. Activation of motor neurons that generate goal-directed movement D. Memory of sensory information from the past movements

C. Activation of motor neurons that generate goal-directed movement

Mirror neurons are especially interesting to researchers because A. they appear to trigger specific movements. B. they might be part of a neural system for empathy. C. All of these D. they fire when a monkey sees another monkey (or human) performing a simple movement previously performed by the monkey itself.

C. All of these

Which of the following is the most likely basis of visual perception? A. Hierarchical organization of visual receptive fields culminating in highly specialized cells such as grandmother cells B. Binocular neurons in striate cortex C. Concerted activity of many neurons throughout the visual pathways D. Decussation at the optic chiasm, projecting the left visual field to the right brain and the right field to the left brain

C. Concerted activity of many neurons throughout the visual pathways

Which of the following occurs during sour taste transduction? A. K+ influx depolarizes the cell. B. Ca2+ influx depolarizes the cell. C. H+ influx depolarizes the cell. D. Na+ influx depolarizes the cell.

C. H+ influx depolarizes the cell.

Which membrane lies closest to the brain? A. Meninges B. Arachnoid C. Pia mater D. Dura mater

C. Pia mater

In which plane of section would it be easiest to see the corpus callosum? A. Sagittal cut at the level of the temporal lobe B. Horizontal cut at the level of the brainstem C. Sagittal cut directly down the midline D. Coronal cut at the level of the cerebellum

C. Sagittal cut directly down the midline

Primary sensory afferent axons have widely varying diameters, and their size correlates with the type of receptor to which they are attached. Which of these axons are the smallest and the slowest? A. Pain and temperature B. Proprioceptors of the skeletal muscles C. Temperature, pain, and itch D. Mechanoreceptors of the skin

C. Temperature, pain, and itch

Which is the first step in the contraction phase of the excitation-contraction coupling?

Ca2+ binds to troponin.

What are chemoreceptors?

Chemically sensitive cells that serve as sensory receptors

Where is CSF produced?

Choroid plexus in the cerebral ventricles

James, age 22 years, was riding a motorbike when he had an accident. A neuropsychological test revealed that James suffered extensive damage to area V4 in the ventral stream. What is the most likely deficit resulting from a V4 lesion?

Color vision deficit

At what point do the axons of the dorsal column medial lemniscal pathway cross to the opposite side of the CNS?

The axons from the cells of the dorsal column nuclei decussate in the medulla.

What is the function of odorant-binding proteins in the mucus?

May concentrate odorants

Which of the following describes the function and location of Golgi tendon organs?

Monitor muscle tension, situated in series with muscle fibers

Axons of the nervous system are described as afferent and efferent according to the direction in which they carry information. Which of the following represents an efferent projection? A. Sensory input to the spinal cord, Motor output of the spinal cord, Interneurons in the spinal cord B. Interneurons in the spinal cord C. Motor output of the spinal cord D. Sensory input to the spinal cord

Motor output of the spinal cord

What is meant by the notion "the output of the cortex can influence the input of the cortex"?

Neurons of the thalamus and dorsal column are also controlled by cortical input.

What is a difference between ON-center ganglion cells and OFF-center ganglion cells?

ON-center ganglion cells receive input from ON bipolar cells, whereas OFF-center ganglion cells receive input from OFF bipolar cells.

Which region of the cortex is necessary for vision?

Occipital cortex

What mechanism(s) does the brain use to distinguish between smells?

Olfactory map, temporal code, and population code

Which layer contains the light-sensitive elements of the retina?

Photoreceptor layer

The left and right portions of the body are divided by the _______ plane.

Sagittal plane

What are mechanoreceptors?

Sensitive to physical distortion

Information about pain and temperature in the anterolateral system crosses the nervous system at the level of the

Spinal cord

The painful sensations induced by capsaicin are mediated by

TRPV1

Neurons in the __________ are often referred to as the gateway to the cerebral cortex.

Thalamus

What changes occur in taste receptors when the membrane is depolarized during receptor potential?

Voltage-gated Ca2+ channels open, triggering the release of neurotransmitter.

Transduction is

a process that converts stimuli in the environment into electrical responses in sensory receptor cells.

The responses of thermoreceptors are

adaptable.

Biceps and triceps are

antagonists

Afferent fibers from the periphery that carry nociceptive information terminate on neurons in the

dorsal horn cells of the spinal cord.

True or false: we smell with our nose

false

Intrafusal muscle fibers are innervated by:

gamma motor neurons

The ridges of tissue on the convoluted surface of the cortex are called

gyri

What secretions promotes swelling at the site of a skin injury?

histamine

The optic tract makes synaptic connections at

hypothalamus, midbrain, and LGN

Most of the input to alpha motor neurons comes from:

interneurons

The brain and spinal cord are wrapped in protective membranes known collectively as the

meninges

The vomeronasal system appears to specialize in detecting

pheromones

Which region of the cortex is crucial for motor control?

precentral gyrus

The receptors through which capsaicin exerts its effects are

responsive to sudden increases in temperature.

Ganglion cell axons carrying light information can influence

saccadic eye movement, head movement, sleep and wakefulness, pupil size

This type of cell has elongated orientation selective receptive fields with ON and OFF subregions:

simple cell

The motor unit is a

single motor axon and all the muscle fibers it innervates.

Salty taste is mediated by

sodium ions

The dorsal stream processes information related to

visual control of action and visual motion

Which cells in the retina have axons that leave the retina?

Ganglion cells

What type of motor neurons ensure that the spindle continues to provide information about muscle length during muscle contraction?

Gamma motor neurons

What is the function of the ventromedial pathways with regard to the descending motor pathways?

Control the posture and locomotion

What is the function of lateral pathways with regard to the descending motor pathways?

Control the voluntary movement of distal musculature

Which major white matter system bridges the cerebral hemispheres? A. Posterior capsule B. Internal capsule C. Dorsal columns D. Corpus callosum

D. Corpus callosum

Which of the following suppress feelings of pain? A. Dorsal horn B. Raphe Nuclei C. VP nucleus D. PAG

D. PAG

The olfactory epithelium contains all of the following types of cells except _______ cells. A. basal B. supporting C. receptor D. glomerular

D. glomerular

What are some differences between the pain and touch pathways?

Different nerve endings in the skin, diameter of axons is different, different pathways in how they transmit information to the brain

What are the advantages of MRI over CT scan?

Does not use X-irradiation, Yields a more detailed map of the brain, Images of brain slices can be made in any plane desired

At what point do the somatic sensory axons enter the spinal cord?

Dorsal roots

Which cranial nerve(s) carry taste information from the taste buds to the brain?

Facial nerve, glossopharyngeal nerve, and vagus nerve

Why do we not confuse the tastes of bitter chemicals with sweet ones?

The receptor proteins are expressed in different cells.

Which quality of the somatic sensory cortical organization does the distortion of the sensory homunculus reflect?

The relative size of the cortex that is devoted to each body part is correlated with the density of the sensory input received from that part.

What is two-point discrimination?

The smallest distance between two points that can be differentiated by the somatic sensory system

Why there is no sensation of light at the optic disk?

There are no photoreceptors at the optic disk

What type of information does the dorsal column medial lemniscal pathway carry?

Touch and vibration

In the cerebral cortex, layer 5 is especially noticeable because it

contains many large cell bodies

Three important points to remember about retinotopy

there is some distortion of the map, perception is based off of the brain's interpretation of distributed activity patterns, there is an overlap of receptive fields in the PVC

The function of a muscle spindle is:

to provide information about muscle length.