The concentration of 5-HIAA in the blood, cerebrospinal fluid, or urine provides an
estimate of:
a. serotonin stores.
b. serotonin turnover.
c. dopamine stores.
d. dopamine turnover.
To what lobe of the cerebral cortex is auditory information sent?
a. occipital
b. temporal
c. parietal
d. frontal
To promote recovery, stroke victims should be given:
a. stimulant drugs immediately after the stroke.
b. any drug that decreases dopamine.
c. stimulant drugs a few days after the stroke.
d. tranquilizers a few days after the stroke.
Even at rest, most neurons have periodic production of action potentials, known as the:
a. spontaneous firing rate.
b. excitatory firing rate.
c. all-or-none law.
d. Dale’s principle.
A key area of the hypothalamus, particularly important in the regulation of the
biological clock, is the:
a. substantia nigra.
b. caudate nucleus.
c. lateral hypothalamus.
d. suprachiasmatic nucleus.
Which of these is true of glial cells?
a. They are larger than neurons
b. They transmit information over long distances.
c. They do not transmit information over long distances.
d. They are less numerous then neurons.
Untreated PKU will result in:
a. a loss of phenylalanine.
b. impaired brain development.
c. temporary loss of memory.
d. enhanced brain development.
Schizophrenia is Greek for:
a. multiple personality.
b. hallucinations.
c. split mind.
d. premature deterioration of the mind.
Compared to an adult, a fetus has:
a. more neurons.
b. approximately the same number of neurons.
c. about half the number of neurons.
d. about one-tenth the number of neurons.
The proteins PER and TIM, originally discovered in insect but now found in mammals
also, influence circadian rhythms by:
a. building up during the day and declining during sleep.
b. being transformed into melatonin.
c. stimulating and inhibiting (respectively) the release of acetylcholine in the cerebral
cortex.
d. providing negative feedback from the muscles to the neurons that innervate them.
Language comprehension in people with Broca’s aphasia resembles that of someone
who is:
a. shy about speaking in public.
b. suffering from bipolar disorder
c. highly distracted.
d. starting to learn a foreign language
What type of muscle is responsible for the movement of your body through the
environment?
a. smooth
b. striated
c. cardiac
d. syncarpous
Which group is most likely to suffer from a thiamine deficiency?
a. alcoholics
b. heroin addicts
c. diabetics
d. infants
A “zeitgeber” is a(n):
a. biological clock.
b. animal that does not have a biological clock.
c. environmental cue that resets a biological clock.
d. body activity that is controlled by a biological clock.
When organisms help those they recognize as capable of returning the favor, this is
termed:
a. kin selection.
b. group selection.
c. reciprocal altruism.
d. sociobiology.
What is the stimulus for the Babinski reflex?
a. Stroking the sole of the foot
b. Placing an object firmly in the palm of the hand
c. Touching the cheek near the mouth
d. A loud noise
Patients with damage to the cerebellum are impaired at ____ movements, but relatively
normal in making ____ movements.
a. continuous, rapid
b. imagining, continuous
c. rapid, imagining
d. imagining, rapid
Viagra facilitates sexual arousal in males by:
a. increasing sexual fantasies.
b. blocking dopamine receptors.
c. prolonging the effects of nitric oxide.
d. increasing testosterone levels.
A sound shadow refers to:
a. out of phase sound waves.
b. in phase sound waves.
c. the time it takes sound waves to reach the ears.
d. how much louder a high-frequency sound is for the ear closest to the sound.
Which is MORE characteristic of marijuana users than of cocaine users?
a. sudden “crash” several hours after taking the drug
b. impairments of attention and memory
c. increased sensitivity to the drug’s effects
d. high risk of overdose on the drug
A person with a history of depression would most likely react to a diet low in
tryptophan by becoming:
a. susceptible to a drug craving.
b. angry.
c. depressed.
d. violent.
Which of the following is an advantage of having a resting potential?
a. The toxic effects of sodium are minimized inside the cell.
b. No energy is required to maintain it.
c. The cell is prepared to respond quickly to a stimulus.
d. All of the ions are maintained in equal concentrations throughout the cytoplasm.
In response to nervous system injury, neurotrophins:
a. cause the neuron’s death.
b. reduce inflammation due to this injury.
c. increase regrowth of damaged axons.
d. promote apoptosis.
The brain gets part of its information regarding low osmotic pressure from:
a. receptors around the third ventricle.
b. the blood-brain barrier.
c. the subfornical organ.
d. thalamus.
Which of the following systems is most likely to be active when moderate physiological
arousal occurs while approaching a member of the opposite sex?
a. Behavioral Inhibition System
b. Behavioral Activation System
c. Behavioral Attenuation System
d. Behavioral Attraction System
Who is most likely to develop Korsakoff’s syndrome?
a. those exposed to chronic stress
b. chronic alcoholics
c. certain ethnic groups
d. vegetarians
What do dopamine, norepinephrine, and epinephrine share in common?
a. They all affect the same receptors.
b. They are all synthesized from the same amino acids.
c. They are all released by the same neurons.
d. They all are gases.
Transplanting brain tissue into Parkinson’s patients would most likely be successful if:
a. the patient is older.
b. they are female.
c. the brain tissue comes from rats.
d. the transplant was accompanied by neurotrophins.
The current view of how we perceive high frequencies is based on:
a. the frequency of responses by each auditory neuron.
b. volleys of responses by many auditory neurons.
c. where along the basilar membrane neurons fire most rapidly.
d. the ratio of firing among three types of receptors.
People with unipolar disorder are characterized by:
a. obsessions and compulsions.
b. variations between depression and mania.
c. variations between depression and a normal mood.
d. chemical imbalances in one half of their brains.
Which of the following statements about evolution is TRUE?
a. Because having goose bumps isn”t very effective in keeping us warm, soon people
will be born without goose bumps.
b. Humans have stopped evolving.
c. Evolution means improvement.
d. Genes in the previous generation may not be adaptive in future generations.
Slow-wave sleep is comprised of:
a. alpha wave sleep.
b. stages 1 and 2.
c. stages 3 and 4.
d. REM sleep.
According to a number of animal studies, under which of the following conditions is the
probability of violent behavior greatest?
a. low acetylcholine turnover
b. high acetylcholine turnover
c. low serotonin turnover
d. high serotonin turnover
A disruption of circadian rhythms due to crossing time zones is known as:
a. circashift.
b. phaselag.
c. jetlag.
d. zeitgeber.
Following a certain kind of experience in Aplysia, a facilitating interneuron causes
changes that block the potassium channels at the end of the axon of the sensory neuron,
leading to:
a. sensitization.
b. habituation.
c. both sensitization and habituation.
d. death of the individual sensory neuron.