Q&A Hero

Q: The dorsal portions of the gray matter in the spinal cord carry a.motor information. b.sensory information. c.motor and sensory information from the dorsal surface of the body. d.sensory and motor information to the cerebellum.

Q: Which of the following statements regarding the prenatal development of the human nervous system is correct? a. The brain develops from ectoderm cells, whereas the spinal cord develops from mesoderm cells. b. Ectoderm cells are the precursors of the entire nervous system. c. Glial cells are derived from endoderm cells, whereas neurons are derived from ectoderm cells. d. Mesoderm cells are the precursors for all parts of the human nervous system.

Q: This type of early cell line is the precursor to the cells that will compose the nervous system. a. blastula b. gastrula c. endoderm d. ectoderm

Q: The 3H-thymidine labeling method is especially useful in determining when particular cells in the nervous system emerge because a.only cells that are fully myelinated at the time of injection are radioactively labeled. b. only glial cells absorb the marker and are radioactively labeled. c.only cells that are fully mature at the time of injection are radioactively labeled. d. only cells that are undergoing cell division at the time of injection are radioactively labeled.

Q: The cells in the brain that guide migrating neurons to their final locations are called a. microglia. b. radial glia. c. oligodendrocytes. d. ventricular cells.

Q: __________ refers to the process of rapid cell division that occurs early in development of the nervous system. a. Neurulation b. Neuronal proliferation c. Neuronal migration d. Neural determination

Q: __________is the idea that the columnar organization in the adult cortex is derived during development from the cells dividing in the ventricular region. a.Topographic mapping b. The sensory homunculus c. The radial unit hypothesis d. The ventricular zone hypothesis

Q: The cell body of a neuron contains the same machinery found in most cells, including a nucleus, ribosomes, and mitochondria.

Q: Action potentials are electrical signals that are conducted down the axon of a neuron.

Q: Dendrites, which are large treelike processes extending from a neuron, are said to be presynaptic.

Q: The term selective permeability refers to the fact that a cell membrane will allow some ions to pass through more readily than others.

Q: Hyperpolarization makes the inside of a cell more positive and more likely to generate an action potential.

Q: The equilibrium potential is the membrane voltage at which there is no net flow of ions in or out.

Q: The resting potential of a neuron is typically +40 to +90 millivolts (mV).

Q: The amplitude of an action potential is directly proportional to the size of the initial depolarization that produced it.

Q: Communication between two neurons is always achieved through chemical, and not electrical, mechanisms.

Q: If the sum of the excitatory postsynaptic potentials (EPSPs) causes a postsynaptic neuron to reach its threshold, then the postsynaptic neuron will generate an action potential.

Q: Sulci are the protruding rounded surfaces of the cortex, and gyri are the fissures and invaginations between the sulci.

Q: Neural inputs that target the cortex and originate in the thalamus are referred to as corticothalamic.

Q: The term commissure refers to the white matter tracts that connect the brain and spinal cord.

Q: The field of __________ is based on the idea that perception and thought employ mental representations that undergo transformations as they are used. a. neuropsychology b. computer modeling c. cognitive psychology d. neuroimaging

Q: During development, a structure called the blastula begins to form when the neural plate invaginates via neural folds being pushed up at its border.

Q: The hippocampus is considered part of the neocortex.

Q: Posner and his colleagues had participants view two letters and respond according to whether these letters were both vowels, both consonants, or one of each. Participants were fastest when viewing two physically identical letters, somewhat slower when viewing the same letter in two different fonts, and slowest in the case where two different consonants were presented. This finding shows that a.we form multiple representations of stimuli. b. we form representations of stimuli based only on their physical attributes. c.we form representations of stimuli based only on their abstract category membership. d. more complex mental representations produce faster reaction times.

Q: The Sternberg paradigm illustrates that when a set of letters held in short-term memory is tested with a recognition task, the time needed to respond to a probe item is a.unrelated to the number of items in the memory set and is unrelated to whether the probe item was part of the original list. b. unrelated to the number of items in the memory set but is affected by whether the probe item was part of the original list. c.related by a linear function to the number of items in the memory set, the slope of which is the same regardless of whether the probe item was part of the original list. d. related by a linear function to the number of items in the memory set, the slope of which is steeper when the probe item was not part of the original list.

Q: The corpus callosum a.permits communication between the two cerebral hemispheres. b. is the area of the cortex in which information about touch, pain, temperature, and limb position is processed. c.separates the temporal lobe from the frontal and parietal lobes. d. is a fluid-filled chamber that cushions and supports the brain.

Q: Communication between the two hemispheres of the brain occurs mainly through the a. basal ganglia. b. cingulate gyrus. c. corpus callosum. d. limbic system.

Q: Of the following choices, the most anterior portion of the frontal lobesthe prefrontal cortexis most critical to a.processing information about pain, touch, and temperature. b. executive functions. c.the what visual pathway. d. the where visual pathway.

Q: Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is produced in the lateral and third ventricles by the a. dura mater. b. substantia nigra. c. globus pallidus. d. choroid plexus.

Q: All of the following terms refer to the same cortical region that processes visual input EXCEPT a.striate cortex. b. area V1. c. Heschls gyrus. d. Brodmann area 17.

Q: The frontal lobe is __________to the occipital lobe, whereas the temporal lobe is to the parietal lobe. a.posterior ; superior b. anterior ; inferior c.superior ; caudal d. inferior ; rostral

Q: The neocortex typically contains__________ cortical layers, with __________ typically being the input a.10 ; layer IV b. 10 ; layer I c. 6 ; layer IV d. 6 ; layer I

Q: The primary visual cortex, or V1, is located in a. the striate cortex. b. Brodmann area 17. c.the calcarine fissure. d.all of the above.

Q: The model of Kali and Dayan predicted that the maintenance of memories over time would a.depend on reactivation of thalamoneocortical connections. b.depend on reactivation of hippocampalneocortical connections. c.not depend on reactivation of thalamoneocortical connections, even though these are essential for the formation of new memories. d.not depend on reactivation of hippocampalneocortical connections, even though these are essential for the formation of new memories.

Q: Which of the following is NOT an advantage of computer modeling? a.Creating a simulation leads researchers to be completely explicit in the modeled operations. b. Some models have homunculus-like teachers, just like those of biological organisms. c.Such models can lead to testable predictions. d. Models can be lesioned to see how their performance changes when they are altered.

Q: The greatest advantage of incorporating computer modeling into the study of a cognitive phenomenon is that a.this approach best demonstrates the limitations of information processing in natural cognition. b. computers can analyze a larger amount of data than can real brains. c.it is no longer necessary to test humans to understand cognition. d. this technique can generate explicit, testable theories of natural cognition.

Q: is the science of simulating natural cognitive processes on computers. a. Mental chronometry b. Neuropsychology c. Artificial intelligence d. Cognitive psychology

Q: The Stroop effect demonstrates that when viewing a.colors, we are successful at suppressing color representations when they are irrelevant to the task. b.words, we are successful at suppressing word representations when they are irrelevant to the task. c.colors, we cannot help but activate color representations even when they are irrelevant to the task. d.words, we cannot help but activate word representations even when they are irrelevant to the task.

Q: People are better at identifying a briefly presented letter on a computer screen if the letter is a __________ . a vowel rather than a consonant. b. presented as part of a word. c. processed serially. d. printed in colored ink.

Q: Research using __________ models sometimes involves lesioning the model to see if it adequately simulates the behavioral deficits observed in neurological patients. a. symbolic b. propositional c. neural network d. chronometric

Q: Neural network models often a.have distributed processing. b. store information discretely in isolated and independent units. c.have static activation levels. d. are symbolic in nature.

Q: The particular region of space in which a stimulus must be presented to evoke a response from a given neuron is its a.topographic map. b. sensory homunculus. c.receptive field. d. baseline space.

Q: You have isolated a neuron in the occipital lobes that you believe is responsible for processing information about color. What type of neurophysiological technique would allow you to assess this hypothesis in a living animal? a.single-cell recording b. histology c.electrical stimulation d. Golgi stain

Q: For which disorder have patients benefited from deep-brain stimulation of the basal ganglia? a. epilepsy b. Huntingtons disease d. strokes c. Parkinsons disease

Q: Which of the following types of topographic representation does NOT incorporate information about the location of a stimulus in space? a. retinotopic maps in the visual cortex b. motor maps in the motor cortex c. cochleotopic maps in the auditory cortex d. somatosensory maps in the somatosensory cortex

Q: One limitation of what we can learn through the single-cell recording technique is that a.it is often difficult to determine the baseline activity level of a single neuron. b. patterns of activity among groups of neurons may describe the function of a brain area better. c.the receptive field of a single neuron changes as the brain develops. d. single-cell recording is effective only in exploring the primary sensory cortex.

Q: What can you infer about the responsiveness of two neurons in the visual cortex that lie next to each other in V1? a.Both cells share a common receptive field. b. The cells are sensitive to precisely the same stimulus characteristics. c.The receptive fields of these cells are also next to each other. d. Both cells have identical baseline activity rates.

Q: Which of the following imaging techniques would be best for visualizing a skull fracture? a. CT (computed tomography) b. PET (positron emission tomography) c. fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) d. DTI (diffusion tensor imaging)

Q: Which of the following imaging techniques can be thought of as a three-dimensional X-ray? a. MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) b. CT (computed tomography) c. fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) d. PET (positron emission tomography)

Q: This neuroimaging technique combines X-ray pictures taken from many different angles into a compressed two-dimensional representation of the brain. a. MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) b. CT (computed tomography) c. PET (positron emission tomography) d. EEG (electroencephalography)

Q: Which of the following neuroimaging techniques involves manipulating the orientation of hydrogen atoms? a. MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) b. PET (positron emission tomography) c. MEG (magnetoencephalography) d. ERP (event-related potential)

Q: A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) image is constructed from signals that are generated by: a. protons being perturbed by the Earths magnetic field b. protons rebounding to the Earths magnetic field c. protons being perturbed by the MRIs magnetic field d. protons rebounding to the MRIs magnetic field

Q: Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) a. is like a conventional X-ray but allows the reconstruction of three-dimensional space from compressed two-dimensional images. b. is an imaging method used to evaluate the circulatory system in the brain. c. involves inserting electrodes into the brain that produce continuous signals to trigger neural activity. d. is performed with an MRI scanner but measures the density and motion of water contained in axons.

Q: One of the experimental strengths of brain-lesion methods in animals, compared to human neuropsychology, is that a.animal work can be truly experimental, whereas with humans we are limited to correlational inferences. b. with animal work, we can be confident that the effect of a lesion eliminates the contribution of a single structure. c.humans, but not other animals, often develop compensatory strategies to minimize the consequences of a lesion. d. with animals, but not humans, we can create temporary lesions using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS).

Q: The formation of plaques composed of abnormal amyloid protein in the brain is a characteristic symptom of a. Alzheimers disease. b. Parkinsons disease. c. Huntingtons disease. d. Korsakoffs disease.

Q: A patient suffering from a progressive neurological disorder is brought to a neurologist for diagnosis.The neurologist notes that the patients MRI reveals a great deal of cortical atrophy and suspects that the problem may be Alzheimers disease. Which of the following symptoms, if also discovered, would confirm this diagnosis? a. tremors and difficulty in initiating movement b. double vision c. loss of dopaminergic neurons in the basal ganglia d. presence of amyloid plaques during postmortem examination of the brain

Q: A knockout mouse a. has damage to a particular neural structure due to a physical lesion. b. has a transient functional lesion because of administration of neurotransmitter antagonists. c. is part of a special genetic strain that lacks or no longer expresses certain genes. d. is bred to perform poorly on maze-solving tasks.

Q: Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) affects brain function by a.altering neuronal polarization. b. increasing binding to a radioactive tracer. c.transcranial magnetic stimulation. d. knocking-out genes.

Q: Which of the following degenerative disorders is believed to have the strongest genetic component? a. Alzheimers disease b. Parkinsons disease c. Huntingtons disease d. Korsakoffs disease

Q: A blockage of the posterior cerebral arteries that resulted in brain damage would most likely cause a deficit in a. vision. b. motor function. c. somatosensation. d. speech.

Q: What part of the brain does an angiogram allow you to visualize? a.ventricles b. meninges c.cell bodies d. arteries

Q: The small regions in a three-dimensional grid, approximately 5 to 10 cubic millimeters in volume, that neuroimagers use to map the brain are known as a.posners. b. sternbergs. c.voxels. d. pixels.

Q: The driver in a car accident first hits the windshield with great force, then rebounds backward. Which part of the brain would you expect to be damaged as a result of the countercoup injury? a. the dorsolateral frontal lobes b. the posterior occipital lobes c. the medial temporal lobes d. the anterior tips of the temporal lobes

Q: Resecting or removing regions of cortex and cutting the corpus callosum are techniques that are usually used to a.alleviate severe chronic epilepsy. b. reduce the symptoms of depression. c.increase the functioning of dopaminergic cells in people with Parkinsons disease. d. relieve imbalances in neurotransmitter levels that can lead to Alzheimers disease.

Q: __________ is a condition characterized by excessive and abnormally patterned activity in the brain. a. Progressive supranuclear palsy b. Epilepsy c. Multiple sclerosis d. Aneurysm

Q: The term__________ is used to describe the situation in which group 1 is impaired on task X and unimpaired on task Y and group 2 is impaired on task Y and unimpaired on task X. In contrast, the term __________ is used when group 1 is impaired on task X and unimpaired on task Y and group 2 is unimpaired on both tasks X and Y. a. single dissociation ; double dissociation b. double dissociation ; single dissociation c. double dissociation ; triple dissociation d. triple dissociation ; double dissociation

Q: The electrical signal evoked by a class of sensory, motor, or cognitive events, which is observed by averaging multiple EEG traces, is known as a(n) a.brain response potential. b. mean event trace. c.event-related potential. d. neural activity trace.

Q: The time course of cognition are better addressed using methods like , whereas questions about the anatomy of cognition are better addressed using methods like . a.ERP / fMRI b. fMRI / PET c. PET / MEG d.MEG / ERP

Q: Which of the following is an advantage of MEG (magnetoencephalography) over EEG (electroencephalography)? a.With MEG, current flow can be detected in any orientation. b. With MEG, the inverse problem can be avoided. c.With MEG, magnetic fields are not distorted by the skull. d. With MEG, the temporal resolution is much better.

Q: Which neuroimaging technique involves injecting an isotope of oxygen into the bloodstream and using it to measure regional cerebral blood flow? a.fMRI b. PET c. CT d. EEG

Q: A patient has an injury to the parietal lobe and has a selective deficit in processing information about the spatial location of visual stimuli. You hypothesize that this region of the brain is distinct in function from other visual areas in the temporal lobe, in which you suspect shape perception information is processed. To establish a double dissociation between the two functions and brain regions, you would need to find another person who had damage to the a.same part of the parietal lobe but did not have a visuospatial deficit. b. temporal lobe and had both visuospatial and shape perception deficits. c.same part of the parietal lobe and had only a shape perception deficit. d. temporal lobe and had only a shape perception deficit.

Q: Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is based on a measurement of a.magnetic fields emanating from the surface of the brain. b. the distribution of dye in the arteries and veins of the brain. c.virtual lesions following intense magnetic stimulation of the brain. d. ratios of oxygenated to deoxygenated hemoglobin in the brain.

Q: Functional connectivity is a measure of functional relatedness between different a.stimuli. b. brain regions. c. neurons. d. methods.

Q: The technique known as__________ can be used to induce virtual lesions in humans. a. EEG (electroencephalography) b. TMS (transcranial magnetic stimulation) c. MEG (magnetoencephalography) d. PET (positron emission tomography)

Q: Which of the following is an advantage of the group study approach in neuropsychology, compared to the individual case study approach? a.A group study allows a cognitive process to be related to particular underlying brain structures with greater reliability. b. A group study can employ the methods of cognitive psychology. c.A group study avoids the problem of compensatory strategies. d. A group study allows neuroimages to be produced.

Q: Computational models can vary widely in the level of explanation they seek to provide, and they can range from the cellular/molecular level to the systems level.

Q: The Sternberg experiment showed that the amount of time it takes to compare a target item with a list of items in memory increases with the number of items in the memory set. This is an example of parallel processing.

Q: The most frequent cause of stroke is occlusion of the normal passage of blood by a foreign substance, such as an embolus.

Q: The best neuroimaging method for visualizing the white and gray matter is computed tomography (CT).

Q: Weaver mice are a knockout strain in which Purkinje cells, the prominent cell type in the hippocampus, fail to develop. As a result, these mice are maze dull.