Physiological Psychology (Ch. 6)

What is a dermatome?

An area of the skin innervated by a given spinal nerve

An individual with damage to the primary somatosensory cortex would most have problems with ____.

ability to locate where they're being touched

What is the intensity of a sound wave called?

amplitude

Loudness is to ____ as pitch is to ____.

amplitude; frequency

A tonotopic map refers to a(n) ____.

auditory cortex map of sounds

Most theorists believe that the first sensory system was ____.

chemical

Tinnitus may be ____.

due to a phenomenon like the phantom limb

Studies with placebos and studies using hypnotism suggest that much of the reduction in pain is the result of decreased activation in the ____.

emotion areas of the brain

Nicola has an area on her arm that itches. That area itches because of _____.

histamine release

A sound shadow refers to ____.

how much louder a high-frequency sound is to the ear closest to the sound

Professor Schimke is giving a lecture on the somatosensory system. He tells the class that sensory information travels from the thalamus to the _____.

parietal lobe

Signe got her ears pierced. The earring was placed in her _____.

pinna

Rosalinda has had damage to A1, and now she has _____.

problems detecting the source of a sound that is moving

The sensory aspect of pain activates the ____ cortex, whereas the emotional aspect activates the ____ cortex.

somatosensory; cingulate

One hypothesis of synesthesia is that ____.

some of the axons from one cortical area have branches into another cortical area

The somatosensory system involves a sensation of ____.

the body and its movements

The current view of how we perceive high frequencies is based on ____.

where along the basilar membrane neurons fire most rapidly

Three small bones connect the tympanic membrane to the oval window. What is the function of these bones?

They convert airwaves into waves of greater pressure.

Taste and smell axons converge onto many of the same cells in an area called the ____.

endopiriform cortex

Lacey's voice teacher asked her to sing a higher pitch. Therefore, she adjusted the _____.

frequency

A mild degree of pain releases the neurotransmitter ____. A more intense pain also releases ____.

glutamate; substance P

Deeta is a supertaster. As a result, she _____.

is more sensitive than the average person to nearly all tastes

In the auditory system, hair cells are specialized receptors that respond to ____.

mechanical displacement

What does the vestibular system detect?

movement of the head

The vomeronasal organ (VNO) is a set of receptors located ____.

near, but separate from, the olfactory receptors

What kind of deafness is the result of damage to the cochlea or the hair cells?

nerve

What process is predicted by the gate theory of pain?

non-pain information can inhibit pain information

The taste nerves initially project to the ____.

nucleus of the tractus solitarius

Olfactory receptors carry their message to the ____.

olfactory bulb

The brain chemicals known as endorphins produce effects similar to which substance?

opiates

The tympanic membrane connects to three tiny bones that transmit the vibrations to the ____.

oval window

Pain receptors of the skin are ____.

simple, bare neuron endings

Most auditory information is sent to which hemisphere of the brain?

the contralateral side

An acceleration of the head at any angle causes ____.

the jelly-like substance in one of the semicircular canals to push against hair cells