The cortex works as a whole, and the more cortex the better, defines:
a. operant conditioning.
b. classical conditioning.
c. equipotentiality.
d. mass action.
Which of the following has been associated with an increased probability of suicide
attempts?
a. high dopamine turnover
b. high GABA turnover
c. low serotonin turnover
d. low substance-P turnover
Atypical antipsychotic drugs alleviate schizophrenia with fewer side effects than other
drugs because they:
a. stimulate dopamine synapses instead of blocking them.
b. act at acetylcholine synapses instead of dopamine synapses.
c. block dopamine synapses for only minutes per day.
d. are better at blocking certain serotonin synapses.
Women on the average have a greater density of neurons in part of the _____.
a. hippocampus
b. temporal lobe
c. frontal lobe
d. gray matter
Nerves from the central nervous system convey information to the muscles and glands
by way of the:
a. autonomic nervous system.
b. somatic nervous system.
c. sympathetic nervous system.
d. parasympathetic nervous system.
Which of the following is necessarily included in the concept of evolution?
a. Species improvements from one generation to the next.
b. “If you don’t use it, you lose it.”
c. Generationally changing frequencies of various genes in the population.
d. Improvements to the individual.
SSRIs work similarly to:
a. tricyclics.
b. MAOIs.
c. Antabuse.
d. L-Dopa.
Poikilothermic organisms include:
a. humans.
b. most mammals.
c. amphibians and reptiles.
d. all mammals and all fish.
What is the main source of nutrition for vertebrate neurons?
a. Fats
b. Glucose
c. Sodium
d. Complex carbohydrates
Beyond about 40 or 41C, ___ begin to break their bonds and lose their useful
properties.
a. RNA
b. DNA
c. cells
d. proteins
In Pavlov’s experiments, he presented a sound followed by meat. Gradually the sound
came to elicit salivation. The salivation to the sound in this experiment was the:
a. unconditioned stimulus.
b. unconditioned response.
c. conditioned stimulus.
d. conditioned response.
Dysphonetic dyslexics have the most difficulty with:
a. recognizing whole words.
b. hearing words.
c. guessing word meaning based on context.
d. sounding out words.
Cases in which individuals with cataracts have sight restored to them after many years
suggest that:
a. most aspects of visual perception are inborn.
b. early experiences can have relatively permanent effects on the brain.
c. visual perception can be learned at any age.
d. experiences later in life can greatly remodel connection in the visual cortex.
Repeated involuntary movements of the arms and legs that may prevent a person from
falling asleep are known as:
a. REM behavior disorder.
b. night terrors.
c. periodic limb movement disorder.
d. restless legs syndrome.
A person who is taking an antidepressant that increases serotonin or norepinephrine
levels in the brain is most likely to have:
a. interrupted or shortened REM sleep.
b. prolonged wakefulness.
c. prolonged NREM sleep.
d. enhanced dreaming.
Research on Aplysia shows us that at least one physiological basis for learning involves
which of the following?
a. changes in RNA molecules
b. presynaptic changes
c. increased dendrite branching
d. changes in glia
Damage to the ventral stream may interfere with:
a. the ability to describe the shape or size of an object.
b. walking toward something seen.
c. reaching to grasp an object.
d. perceiving whether the lights are on or off.
After hurting your elbow in a biking accident, the gate-control theory of pain suggests
that to reduce the pain, you could:
a. eat hot peppers.
b. rub it gently.
c. focus on how painful it is.
d. block endorphin release.
The retinohypothalamic pathway receives input from the:
a. retinal ganglion cells that respond directly to light.
b. occipital cortex.
c. SCN.
d. LGN.
Which of the following behaviors would be most affected by damage to the cell bodies
of the lateral hypothalamus?
a. feeding behavior
b. sexual behavior
c. osmotic thirst
d. memory
Which of the following social behaviors can result from damage to the amygdala?
a. standing closer than usual to someone during a conversation
b. tendency to trust almost no one
c. impairment at remembering people’s names
d. loss of sexual responsiveness
One way to test the hypothesis that people are biologically adapted to learn best during
a critical period is to:
a. compare the vocabularies of children and adults.
b. determine whether people learn a second language better than a first language.
c. determine whether people learn a second language if they start at various ages.
d. compare the grammar use of children and adults.
Deleting a single gene for potassium channels in mice led to an amazing superpower
related to the sense of:
a. touch.
b. smell.
c. sight.
d. hearing.
The field of study that would be most concerned with the effects of smoking, diet,
exercise, and stress on health is:
a. behavioral medicine.
b. neurology.
c. dietetics.
d. psychology.
An MRI device creates an image of the brain based on:
a. x-rays.
b. gamma rays.
c. release of electromagnetic energy from atomic nuclei.
d. release of radioactive substances.
Of the following, the most important consideration in developing a drug that will act in
the brain is:
a. if the drug can be inexpensively manufactured.
b. if the drug will cross the blood-brain barrier.
c. how long the drug will act.
d. the number of people who will use the drug.
In general, drugs that treat epilepsy work by:
a. enhancing the effects of GABA.
b. causing apoptosis.
c. preventing the sodium-potassium pump from working.
d. relaxing the cell membrane.
What is known to be critical for long-term potentiation?
a. high levels of magnesium
b. only one axon being active at a time
c. the absence of NMDA receptors
d. a massive inflow of calcium
An EPSP is a(n):
a. graded depolarization.
b. depolarization with a rebounding hyperpolarization.
c. graded hyperpolarization.
d. action potential in a reflex arc.
Which of the following is true of depression?
a. A single gene has been identified that causes depression.
b. Men are more likely to be depressed than women.
c. The influence of traumatic events during young adulthood depends on particular
genes for serotonin.
d. Female hormone levels are strongly correlated with depression.
What sound characteristics can be compared between the two ears to locate the source
of the sound?
a. sound shadows and frequency
b. frequency and amplitude
c. loudness and timing
d. timbre and rhythm
A reflex arc consists only of sensory neurons.
The solutes inside and outside a cell produce an osmotic pressure.
The optic nerve is composed of axons from ganglion cells.
Central pattern generators are most likely to be found in the spinal cord.
REM sleep depends on a relationship between the neurotransmitters serotonin and
acetylcholine.
Through what mechanism does insulin affect appetite?
A It enables stored nutrients to enter the blood stream.
B It enables glucose in the blood stream to enter the cells.
C It converts other nutrients into glucose.
D It converts glucose into other nutrients.
Describe activating effects of sex hormones and give specific examples.
Answer:
Answers will vary.
Nature’s “default setting” is to make every mammal a female in its external anatomy.
The amplitude of a sound wave is its intensity.
Briefly describe the refractory period of a neuron.
Answer:
Answers will vary.
Briefly describe the role of the sex hormone oxytocin.
Obese people tend to produce more insulin than people of normal weight.
Dreams only occur during REM sleep.
Girls with CAH are more likely to participate in “tomboyish” activities.
The left hemisphere of the cerebral cortex is connected to skin receptors and muscles
mainly on the right side of the body.
The hippocampus is especially important for which kind of memory?
A procedural
B episodic
C short-term
D implicit
Impaired arousal and attention in Alzheimer’s patients is largely due to damage to the
basal forebrain.
Discuss the leading theories on the biological perspectives on dreaming.
Answer:
Answers will vary.