Exam 10: Development of the Central Nervous System

An investigator injects a cell lineage marker into the developing ventricular zone of the ganglionic eminence of the developing forebrain.Cells in which region of the neonatal brain will be labeled?

A researcher knocks out Ephrin-B2 in the developing visual system.What effect will this have on retinal ganglion cell (RGC) axon projection?

A researcher interested in patterning of the early neural tube identifies a new secreted factor expressed in the floor plate.Assuming that the newly identified factor plays a role in patterning,which axis of the developing neural tube would you expect to be perturbed if this factor is inactivated?

A researcher treats an early neural-tube-stage embryo with a 1-hour pulse of colchicine,which arrests proliferating cells in metaphase.Where will the arrested cells be found?

A 20-year-old woman suffers a stroke after a drug overdose that causes localized damage to the brain stem special somatic afferent column on one side.Sensation from which structure(s) will be compromised?

A surgeon operates on the lumbar nervous system to relieve intractable pain in a terminal cancer patient.What specific part of the nervous system would be cut?

A 45-year-old man develops Bell's palsy in which function of the facial (VII) cranial nerve is compromised.What specific level of the central nervous system does the facial nerve connect to?

A 13-year-old girl develops a tumor of the anterior pituitary gland.What is the embryologic origin of the anterior pituitary gland?

A 4-year-old girl is diagnosed with cerebellar heterotopia.What developmental process likely went awry,accounting for heterotopia?

A 3-year-old boy with spina bifida develops hydrocephalus.What is the likely cause of this?

A researcher labels a small area of the neural tube at the future cerebellar level.It is later noted that cells in the deep cerebellar nuclei are labeled.What portion of the neural tube was labeled in this experiment?

A researcher interested in patterning of the early neural tube identifies a new secreted factor expressed in the isthmus signaling center.Assuming that the newly identified factor plays a role in patterning,which axis of the developing neural tube would you expect to be perturbed if this factor is inactivated?

A child is diagnosed with Kallmann syndrome.Genetic evaluation revealed a mutation in the patient of the KAL1 gene.What does this gene encode?

A researcher knocks out the Soho gene in the rudiment of the developing mouse eye.What aspect of eye development will be affected?

Weaver mice provide insight into mechanisms of cerebellar development.What gene is mutated in these mice?