biology and the brain test

An adult with a healthy sleep cycle is most likely to enter REM sleep

after cycling through the NREM sleep stages

Tony's RAS (reticular activating system or reticular formation) regulates his

arousal/ability to focus attention

A neuron sends a signal along its

axon

Antagonists function by

blocking receptors to prevent other neurotransmitters from binding to the neural receptors

John's hypothalamus is not much bigger than a kidney bean, but its importance is huge. It regulates basic biological needs such as ___ ___ and serves as a link between the brain and the ___ ___

body temp and hunger endocrine system

Our central nervous system is composed of the

brain and spinal cord

The medulla oblongata is a part of the

brain stem

Jason's medulla is what regulates his vital functions like

breathing and blood pressure

Cassandra's coordination is run by her "little brain, " known as the

cerebellum

The outer layer of Richard's brain is called the

cerebral cortex

Amy's 2 hemispheres are connected by the

corpus callosum

Which hormone is released when a person is under stress?

cortisol

The psychodynamic theory of dreaming would postulate that

dreams fulfill unconscious wishes

Jennifer's ___ ___ is a set of glands that secrete hormones that helps control behavior

endocrine System

The hormone most associated with the fight or flight response is

epinephrine

A person whose body is not producing enough testosterone is most likely to exhibit

fatigue

Susan's ___ ___ handles the most complex mental activities such as learning, thinking, memory and consciousness.

frontal lobe

Johnny often hits his brother even though his brother does not do anything to antagonize him. Johnny's aggression is most likely due to a combination of

his genetic makeup, the environment he grew up in, and the fact that aggression can be evolutionarily adaptive

Carl Wernicke discovered the region of the brain that is responsible for

language comprehension

Jared's brain is composed of ___ lobes, each dedicated to specific purposes

4

A drug that is used to treat seizures functions by preventing inhibitory neurotransmitters from returning to the presynaptic neuron. This slows the rate of neurons firing by increasing the amount of the inhibitory neurotransmitter in the synapse. The drug is most likely to be classified as a

GABA reuptake inhibitor (GRI)

a major role of the thalamus?

It relays most sensory signals to the cortex.

Madeline has previously been diagnosed with major depressive disorder. She has an identical twin sister, Josephine, and a nonidentical sister, Abigail. Neither of Madeline's sisters has previously been diagnosed with major depressive disorder. What is true of Madeline's sisters?

Josephine is more likely to be diagnosed with major depressive disorder than Abigail in response to a stressful or traumatic event.

The idea that there is a part of the mind that is not directly accessible to awareness but still drives a person's thinking and behavior is most directly attributable to

Sigmund Freud

What happens when a neuron sends a signal?

The neuron goes from being negatively charged to briefly being positively charged, and finally returns to being negatively charged again. The magnitude of the negative charge is fixed regardless of the strength of the input signal it receives.

If a body does not have enough potassium, how might that affect neuronal firing?

The neurons will struggle to fire because there will not be enough positively charged ions to trigger the firing of the neuron.

object matching vs location

The temporal lobe plays a role in object recognition, and the parietal lobe plays a role in spatial processing. When Group 1 has a lesion in the parietal lobe, the monkeys can no longer perform the location task because it relies on spatial processing, but they can still do the object-matching task. When Group 2 has a lesion in the temporal lobe, the monkeys can no longer perform the object-matching task because it relies on object recognition, but they can still do the location task.

At a synapse, neurotransmitters released by the sending neuron do what?

They bind to receptors at the receiving neuron, which opens ion channels.

What effect do agonists have?

They increase the likelihood that a postsynaptic neuron will fire.

Ruth and Debbie are identical twins who were raised by the same family. Vince and Frankie are identical twins who were separated at birth and raised by different families. According to research on the heritability of personality traits, Ruth's and Debbie's personalities are statistically

likely to be as similar and dissimilar to one another as are Vince's and Frankie's personalities

The fatty casing that helps speed up the neural transmissions of a neuron is called the

myelin sheath

If Jill isn't paying attention, it is often said that her neurons aren't firing, or no info is being sent between

nerve cells synapses

Bill's Peripheral Nervous System is made up of miles of nerves extending through the body. These nerves are made up of nerve cells called

neurons

The nerve cells communicate with one another by transmitting

neurotransmitters

Her ___ ___ is the "master gland" that tells the other glands to act

pituitary gland

The parietal lobe is most involved in

processing sensory information

Waking up frequently, loud snoring, silent pauses in breathing, and sleepiness during the day are symptoms of

sleep apnea

Michael Gazzaniga is best known for

studying split-brain patients

Their ___ ___ produces hormones that control metabolism

thyroid gland

The phenomenon of declining physiological effects of taking a drug after sustained use is referred to as

tolerance