Exam 3: Biological Foundations of Behaviour

As well as its function in the central nervous system, the hypothalamus also plays an important role in the endocrine system because of its connection with the ____________.

Most neurotransmitters can have either an excitatory or an inhibitory effect. In contrast, which of the following neurotransmitters always has an inhibitory effect?

Scientists have suggested that the entire period of human evolution could be labelled "the age of the ___________ lobe."

The resting potential of a typical neuron is

Police officers try to determine if a driver is drunk by giving him/her tests of coordination. That is because alcohol disrupts _____________ function.

Imagine that you suddenly became aware of a sense of hunger. Which of these structures would be most closely associated with that feeling?

The two ways in which neurotransmitters are deactivated in the synapse are chemical breakdown and reuptake.

An excitatory neurotransmitter is likely to cause the membrane potential to be close to _______________.

What is the difference between the central and peripheral nervous systems? Describe the two major divisions of the peripheral nervous system and their respective functions.

Describe how psychoactive drugs have their effects.

While a neuron will fire more frequently as stimulus intensity increases, there is a limit on how frequently a neuron can generate an action potential. This limit is set by the neuron's

You have just joined a psychology lab and are working with a group of researchers who are interested in how the brain responds to different kinds of facial expressions (e.g. happy, scared, angry, etc.). They ask you if you have any ideas for experiments. You suggest that knowing whether the overall electrical activity of the brain changes immediately after processing happy or scared faces might tell you something about how the brain perceives emotion. If you hypothesize that the electrical response of the brain may vary across different kinds of facial expressions, what method would be appropriate to test that hypothesis?

Large protein molecules embedded in the receiving neuron's cell membrane are called ___________.

How do neurons communicate through synaptic transmission?

The division of the axon into many branches (several hundred in some cases) with endings makes it possible for a single neuron to connect to the dendrites of as many as 50,000 other neurons. These endings are called ___________.

As you enter the classroom to take the exam covering this material, your heart rate increases, your muscles become tenser, and you start to sweat. These symptoms are most likely produced by your _____________________ system.

Neurogenesis, which is the growth of new neurons in an adult brain, has been found in the _______.

A new drug has its effect at the postsynaptic membrane. Specifically, it opens both potassium and chlorine channels. The effect will be

What is neurogenesis and how does it relate to neural plasticity? Is there evidence of neurogenesis in mature human brains?

What is the role of association cortex, the "silent areas"?