Deck 5: Sensation and Perception

Question 1

High-frequency sounds primarily activate hair cells at the of the cochlea, whereas low- frequency sounds primarily activate hair cells at the of the cochlea.

A) base thicker end) ; apex thinner end)
B) apex thinner end) ; base thicker end)
C) superior end ; inferior end
D) inferior end ; superior end

Answer 1

A

Question 2

In the auditory system, the conversion of sound waves into action potentials occurs in the

A) ganglion cells.
B) eardrum.
C) cochlear nucleus.
D) hair cells.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

The two cues that barn owls use to localize sounds are

A) echolocation and interaural time.
B) interaural time and interaural intensity.
C) interaural intensity and interaural frequency.
D) interaural frequency and echolocation.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

After modeling the quick habituation found in the olfactory system, Sobel's fMRI research suggested that

A) the primary olfactory cortex is related to sniffing, and the orbitofrontal cortex is related to smell.
B) the orbitofrontal cortex is related to sniffing, and the primary olfactory cortex is related to smell.
C) the orbitofrontal cortex is related to sniffing and smell, whereas the primary olfactory cortex is related to smell but not sniffing.
D) the primary olfactory cortex is related to sniffing and smell, whereas the orbitofrontal cortex is related to smell but not sniffing.

Question 5

In which of the following brain areas might you expect an expert taster such as a chef or sommelier to have unique patterns of neural connectivity?

A) the superior temporal gyrus
B) area MT
C) the orbitofrontal cortex
D) the basal ganglia

Question 6

Which of the following is a documented asymmetry in the olfactory system?

A) The number of receptor types in the left olfactory epithelium is 10 times greater than in the right olfactory epithelium.
B) The cortical volume of the primary olfactory cortex is larger on the right side than on the left in right-handed people.
C) The nasal passage in one nostril is larger than the other nostril, and this switches back and forth every few hours.
D) Although the left nostril projects to both the left and right cerebral hemispheres, the right nostril projects only to the right hemisphere.

Question 7

The basic taste umami is experienced when eating foods rich in

A) fat.
B) protein.
C) carbohydrates.
D) minerals.

Question 8

Neurons in the olfactory bulb demonstrate an extensive amount of convergence and divergence. This means that neurons in this system

A) sometimes fire synchronously and asynchronously with respect to each other.
B) project to, and receive input from, a large number of other neurons.
C) synapse onto their own presynaptic neurons, creating feedback loops.
D) send output to regions of the brain both near and far from the olfactory epithelium.

Question 9

Which of the following is NOT one of the basic tastes?

A) Acid
B) Bitter
C)
D) Sweet Umami

Question 10

Of the following choices, the strongest evidence for a link between the sense of smell and the triggering of memories is the observation that

A) the olfactory cortex has direct connectivity to the limbic cortex.
B) the olfactory cortex has direct connectivity to area MT.
C) people with damage to the basal ganglia have compromised odor recognition.
D) people with damage to the cerebellum have compromised odor recognition.

Question 11

Vision is to the as audition is to the .

A) medial geniculate nucleus ; lateral geniculate nucleus
B) lateral geniculate nucleus ; medial geniculate nucleus
C) medial geniculate nucleus ; cochlear nucleus
D) cochlear nucleus ; medial geniculate nucleus

Question 12

The orbitofrontal cortex is an integration area for which two senses?

A) somatosensation and vision
B) vision and audition
C) olfaction and gustation
D) somatosensation and proprioception

Question 13

In the auditory system, the basilar membrane is located within the

A) cochlea.
B) eardrum.
C) pinna.
D) middle ear.

Question 14

Information about which of the following senses does NOT pass through the thalamus on the way to the cortex?

A) audition
B) olfaction
C) gustation
D) somatosensation

Question 15

How many types of receptors are there in the olfactory epithelium?

A) two
B) four
C) five
D) more than five

Question 16

The primary gustatory cortex is located in the

A) thalamus and hypothalamus.
B) hippocampus and amygdala.
C) pons and medulla.
D) insula and operculum.

Question 17

Konishi's model of spatial hearing in the barn owl posits that interaural time is computed using , whereas interaural intensity differences are computed using .

A) relative rate of firing ; coincidence detectors
B) coincidence detectors ; relative rate of firing
C) unimodal processing ; multimodal integration
D) multimodal integration ; unimodal processing

Question 18

The orbitofrontal cortex is considered a secondary cortical area for which of the following senses?

A) proprioception
B) vision
C)
D) olfaction audition

Question 19

The primary auditory cortex is located in the

A) medial geniculate nucleus.
B) inferior temporal lobe.
C) lateral geniculate nucleus.
D) superior temporal lobe.

Question 20

The primary olfactory cortex is located at the junction of the and lobes.

A) frontal ; temporal
B) frontal ; parietal
C) temporal ; occipital
D) parietal ; occipital

Question 21

If you were to conduct a single-cell recording from a neuron in the MT region of the extrastriate visual cortex, you would probably find that the cell fires most vigorously to a

A) bar of light that alternates in color between red and green.
B) bar of light tilted at a 15° angle in the center of the cell's receptive field.
C) corner-shaped region of light on a dark background.
D) bar of light that moves across the cell's receptive field.

Question 22

The finding that V1, but not V2 or V3, has an fMRI "fingerprint" for a presented but not perceived orientation suggests that

A) higher visual areas track awareness.
B) lower visual areas track awareness.
C) higher visual areas track sensation but not necessarily perception.
D) lower visual areas track neither sensation nor perception.

Question 23

A patient who has a focal brain injury to the human analog of area MT would demonstrate all of the following for visually presented stimuli EXCEPT

A) accurate shape discrimination.
B) accurate velocity discrimination.
C) accurate hue discrimination.
D) accurate object recognition.

Question 24

A selective loss of motion perception is called

A) achromatopsia.
B) anomia.
C) akinetopsia.
D) agnosia.

Question 25

The highest density of , or color-sensitive photoreceptors, can be found in the of the retina.

A) cones ; fovea
B) cones ; periphery
C) rods ; fovea
D) rods ; periphery

Question 26

Using single-cell recording, you isolate a neuron in area MT that selectively responds to moving stimuli. What other response property would you expect from this cell?

A) It is selective for stimulus color.
B) It is selective for stimulus shape.
C) It is selective for stimulus hue.
D) It is selective for stimulus velocity.

Question 27

How are differences in individuals' perception of the Ebbinghaus illusion reflected in brain anatomy?

A) A larger illusion is found in people with a larger V1.
B) A smaller illusion is found in people with a larger V1.
C) A larger illusion is found in people with a larger V2/V3.
D) A smaller illusion is found in people with a larger V2/V3.

Question 28

Information about the left hand is processed

A) in the left hemisphere for both the primary and secondary somatosensory cortices.
B) in the right hemisphere for both the primary and secondary somatosensory cortices.
C) in the left hemisphere for the primary somatosensory cortex and bilaterally for the secondary somatosensory cortex.
D) in the right hemisphere for the primary somatosensory cortex and bilaterally for the secondary somatosensory cortex.

Question 29

Injury to all of the following brain areas EXCEPT will result in a scotoma.

A) MT
B) V1
C) LGN lateral geniculate nucleus)
D) Brodmann area 17

Question 30

Achromatopsia is due to

A) the absence of the photopigment sensitive to long wavelengths.
B) the absence of the photopigment sensitive to short wavelengths.
C) cortical lesions in area V4.
D) cortical lesions in area MT.

Question 31

The primary visual pathway is best described as

A) retina $\rightarrow$ optic nerve $\rightarrow$ hypothalamus $\rightarrow$ superior colliculus $\rightarrow$ occipital lobe.
B) retina $\rightarrow$ cochlea $\rightarrow$ optic chiasm $\rightarrow$ thalamus $\rightarrow$ occipital lobe.
C) retina $\rightarrow$ optic nerve $\rightarrow$ optic chiasm $\rightarrow$ thalamus $\rightarrow$ occipital lobe.
D) retina $\rightarrow$ hippocampus $\rightarrow$ thalamus $\rightarrow$ superior colliculus $\rightarrow$ occipital lobe.

Question 32

Which area of the body has the greatest amount of representation in the human primary somatosensory cortex?

A) hands
B) feet
C) gums
D) trunk

Question 33

Which of the following is NOT a type of corpuscle used for somatosensation?

A) Merkel
B) Calvert
C) Meissner
D) Pacinian

Question 34

Why is it difficult to investigate the conscious experience of perception using monkeys?

A) Monkeys do not have conscious experiences.
B) We cannot infer a conscious experience from monkeys' behavior.
C) Human visual regions do not correspond perfectly to monkey visual regions.
D) Visual illusions do not affect nonhuman animals.

Question 35

A scotoma that involves one entire side of the visual field is called a

A) topographic map.
B) homunculus.
C) receptive field.
D) hemianopia.

Question 36

A patient has an injury to the optic nerves, such that the branches of each optic nerve that normally cross to the opposite side of the brain at the optic chiasm are severed. The remaining branches, which do not cross to the other side of the brain, are intact. Which of the following best describes the effect of this injury on his vision?

A) He can now see only by using his right eye; his left eye is functionally blind.
B) Only information from the left visual field can enter his brain for processing.
C) Only the signal for half the visual field of each eye is processed by the brain.
D) His brain now receives visual information only from the medial half of each retina.

Question 37

Simple cells in the primary visual cortex selectively respond to visual stimuli based on

A) direction of stimulus motion.
B) stimulus color.
C) stimulus orientation.
D) distance of the stimulus from the viewer.

Question 38

A patient with progressive supranuclear palsy is suffering from gradual deterioration of his superior colliculus. Which of the following statements best describes the result of this disease?

A) The patient has intact acuity and shape perception, but he can no longer recognize visual objects.
B) The patient demonstrates the phenomenon of blindsight.
C) The patient is cortically blind.
D) The patient is unable to initiate eye movements.

Question 39

Due to a defect in one type of photoreceptor, Susan has poor vision at night, when light levels are relatively low. Which type of photoreceptor is defective?

A) ganglion cell
B) cone
C) rod
D) cornea

Question 40

Before entering the brain, each optic nerve splits into two branches so that information from the half of each retina crosses to the opposite side of the brain.

A) nasal medial)
B) temporal lateral)
C) left dorsal)
D) right ventral)

Question 41

Odorants from the mouth can travel back up into the nasal cavity.

Question 42

Describe two ways in which the auditory system of the barn owl computes auditory spatial information.

Question 43

Which of the following results would be expected for an individual experiencing the most common form of synesthesia?

A) Their visual cortices have been shown to be sensitive to tactile discrimination.
B) They show interference effects when asked to identify the colors of letters if the colors are inconsistent with their synesthetic experiences.
C) Their somatosensory cortices have been shown to be sensitive to visual information.
D) They show interference effects when asked to identify sung letters if the pitches are inconsistent with their synesthetic experiences.

Question 44

Which of the following is the best example of cortical plasticity?

A) the processing of tactile information by blind people in cortical regions that process visual information in sighted people
B) the ability of the barn owl to localize objects in space based on auditory and not visual information
C) the integration of information about olfaction and gustation in the orbitofrontal cortex
D) the activation of the superior colliculus by visual information in patients exhibiting blindsight

Question 45

Which term is used to describe an idiosyncratic union between or within sensory modalities, such as experiencing the color red whenever seeing the letter A?

A) achromatopsia
B) akinetopsia
C) synesthesia
D) agnosia

Question 46

Different parts of the body are represented in the primary somatosensory cortex in proportion to their size.

Question 47

How do receptive fields change as you proceed up the visual pathway starting at the LGN)? Include an example of a stimulus that would, and would not, cause a neural response for a hypothetical cell at each stage.

Question 48

Which subcortical region is known to maintain multimodal maps of the environment and is involved in the control and orienting of movements?

A) the pons
B) the cerebellum
C) the medulla
D) the superior colliculus

Question 49

Give several reasons why the following statement is incorrect: "The right visual field is processed by the left hemisphere of the brain, while the left visual field is processed by the right."

Question 50

Information about color is extensively processed in visual area V5.

Question 51

The term proprioception refers to the sensation of knowing the position of the body and limbs.

Question 52

The term akinetopsia refers to unusual sensory unions-either between two senses, such as perceiving tastes for words, or within a single sense, such as perceiving colors for letters.

Question 53

The senses of olfaction and gustation are known as chemical senses because they begin with stimulation by chemicals odorants or tastants).

Question 54

During audition, sound vibrations are encoded as neural signals in the basilar membrane of the cochlea.

Question 55

The two ears of the barn owl are positioned asymmetrically on the head, improving sound localization in the vertical direction.

Question 56

Unlike the visual system, auditory information does not pass through the thalamus on the way to the cortex.

Question 57

Studies of cortical organization in blind people have shown that, compared to sighted people,

A) blind people show increased activity in the occipital cortex when sweeping their fingers over rough surfaces and when given tactile discrimination tasks.
B) blind people show increased activity in the occipital cortex when given tactile discrimination tasks but not when sweeping their fingers over rough surfaces.
C) blind people show decreased activity in the occipital cortex when sweeping their fingers over rough surfaces and when given tactile discrimination tasks.
D) blind people show decreased activity in the occipital cortex when given tactile discrimination tasks but not when sweeping their fingers over rough surfaces.

Question 58

How do the two nostrils provide the brain with slightly different samples of the olfactory environment? Why might this be advantageous?

Question 59

The primary olfactory cortex is located in the parietal lobe.

Question 60

How do we know that somatosensory cortex is plastic? Describe the method and results of at least one experiment to support your answer.

Question 61

Speculate about what kinds of information might be processed in the superior temporal lobe of a congenitally deaf person. In your answer, consider the kinds of environmental information that are especially important in the absence of sound.

Question 62

Argue that activity in higher visual areas is more closely linked to the percept we experience than are early visual areas, using experimental findings to support your argument.

Question 63

What would the subjective experience of color-grapheme synesthesia be like? Describe an experiment real or hypothetical) that would demonstrate that these associations are automatically experienced.

Question 64

Describe two experiments that would allow you to determine if an individual has achromatopsia or has akinetopsia. If the symptoms appeared after a head injury, which brain regions are likely damaged in each case?

Question 65

Why might it be computationally useful for the primate brain to have so many different visual areas?