Exam 2: The Biological Basis of Behavior

A member of a gene pair that can control the appearance of a certain trait only if it is paired with another, similar type gene is a ________ gene.

Jessica's mother has blue eyes, with two recessive genes for blue eyes. Her father has brown eyes, with a dominant gene for brown eyes and a recessive gene for blue eyes. What are the chances that Jessica has blue eyes?

Anesthetics work primarily by shutting down the ________.

Pain-reducing chemicals that occur naturally in the brain are called ________.

The "all or none law" is the principle stating that ________.

The area of the frontal lobe that is crucial in our ability to talk is ________ area.

The nervous system is usually divided into two major parts: the central nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system.

Violence is greatest among males between the ages of ________.

A process that controls our most important traits in which many genes interact to produce a certain specific trait is called ________.

A young man reads in a letter that he has just won $1,000 in a statewide lottery and he literally jumps for joy. Which neurons are sending messages from his brain to the muscles in his legs causing him to jump?

The inner core of the two adrenal glands that releases hormones important for dealing with stress is the adrenal ________.

"Split brain" patients are patients who have had ________.

A technique in which a tiny quartz or glass pipette (smaller in diameter than a human hair) that is filled with conducting fluid and placed on the surface of a neuron so that scientists can study changes in the electrical conditions of that particular neuron is called ________.

Define neuron, axon, dendrite, cell body, and myelin sheath. In your definitions, be sure to describe the specific functions of each item.

Afferent neurons carry messages from the central nervous system.

At fertilization, the chromosomes from the father's sperm unite with the chromosomes from the mother's egg, creating a new cell called a(n) ________.

A young woman recovering from a blow to her head finds she has great difficulty maintaining her balance and coordinating her movements. Injury to which part of her brain is likely to be causing her difficulties?

At the end of each branch of an axon, there is a tiny swelling called a ________.

The central nervous system contains about ________ percent of the body's neurons.

A member of a gene pair that controls the appearance of a certain trait, no matter what other type of gene it is paired with is called a ________ gene.