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