Deck 13: The Nervous System

Question 1

What happened to Phineas Gage that is relevant to neurobiology?

A) He survived an explosion that left everyone else around him brain damaged.
B) Midway through his life, his personality drastically changed.
C) A rod passed through a portion of his head and he survived.
D) A rod passed through a portion of his head and he survived but his personality changed.
E) He was the first person known to survive a severe brain injury.

Answer 1

D

Question 2

How is the brain protected?

A) The head protects it.
B) The skull protects it.
C) The tough meninges tissue around it protects it.
D) It's soft and flexible, so it doesn't need special protection.
E) Both the skull and the meninges surround the brain to protect it.

Answer 2

E

Question 3

What are the three major parts of the brain?

A) Hindbrain, midbrain, forebrain
B) Medulla oblongata, cerebellum, pons
C) Thalamus, cerebellum, pons
D) Hindbrain, right hemisphere, left hemisphere
E) Corpus callosum, hypothalamus, thalamus

Answer 3

A

Question 4

The most highly developed and largest part of the brain is which of these?

A) Hindbrain
B) Midbrain
C) Forebrain
D) Brainstem
E) Corpus callosum

Question 5

Which part of the brain is considered the "master control center?"

A) Hypothalamus
B) Thalamus
C) Cerebellum
D) Medulla oblongata
E) Brainstem

Question 6

You might be labeled "right or left-brained" depending whether you are more into logic or art and emotion. To which part of the brain does this refer?

A) The cerebrum
B) The cerebellum
C) The limbic system
D) The midbrain
E) The hypothalamus

Question 7

If your olfactory bulb was damaged, what might happen?

A) You would lose the sneezing reflex.
B) Your speech would slur.
C) Your would lose manual dexterity.
D) Your sense of smell.
E) Your sight would be affected.

Question 8

If your occipital lobe were damaged, what might happen?

A) You would lose the sneezing reflex.
B) Your speech would slur.
C) Your would lose manual dexterity.
D) You would lose your sense of smell.
E) Your sight would be affected.

Question 9

If you suffered a head injury and then exhibited changes in your ability to recognize faces, which part of your brain was likely affected?

A) Frontal lobe
B) Temporal lobe
C) Parietal lobe
D) Occipital lobe
E) Limbic system

Question 10

Phineas Gage suffered injury to the left hemisphere of his frontal lobe. What is typical of patients injured in this way?

A) They don't survive.
B) They lose the ability to "read" people and be social.
C) They can no longer speak clearly.
D) They can no longer understand math or logic.
E) They lose their sense of smell.

Question 11

If the rod that went through Gage's brain had damaged the Broca's area in his brain, what would have changed?

A) He would have been unable to see.
B) He would have been unable to hear.
C) He would have been unable to speak.
D) He would have been unable to smell.
E) He would have been unable to walk.

Question 12

About how many neurons make up the nervous system?

A) The CNS and PNS
B) Hundreds
C) Thousands
D) Millions
E) Billions

Question 13

Interneurons in this system integrate incoming and outgoing signals so the body responds appropriately to sensory information. Which system is it?

A) Limbic system
B) Central nervous system
C) Peripheral nervous system
D) Somatic nervous system
E) Parasympathetic nervous system

Question 14

Why are reflexes faster than typical body responses to stimuli?

A) The circuit from stimulus to response doesn't go through the brain first.
B) The circuit from stimulus to response travels directly from the spinal column to the brain.
C) A reflex involves the cranial nerves which operate more quickly than other nerves.
D) A reflexive response bypasses the central nervous system.
E) A reflexive response involves just the somatic nervous system.

Question 15

What is the spinal cord composed of and where is it?

A) It is a myelin sheath in the backbone.
B) It is a bundle of nerve fibers in the lower skull.
C) It is the bundles of nerve fibers that connect the brain to muscles and organs.
D) It is a bundle of nerve fibers in the backbone.
E) It is a bundle of interneurons in the backbone.

Question 16

This body system connects to the central nervous system by the cranial nerves and the spinal nerves. Which system is it?

A) Limbic system
B) Sympathetic nervous system
C) Peripheral nervous system
D) Somatic nervous system
E) Parasympathetic nervous system

Question 17

You raise your hand to answer a question in class. Which part of the nervous system are you using?

A) Limbic system
B) Sympathetic nervous system
C) Central nervous system
D) Somatic nervous system
E) Autonomic nervous system

Question 18

Your heart rate increases as you climb stairs. Which part of the nervous system is being used?

A) Limbic system
B) Sympathetic nervous system
C) Central nervous system
D) Somatic nervous system
E) Autonomic nervous system

Question 19

There is a loud crash in the room behind you and you jump. Which part of your nervous system caused that response?

A) Limbic system
B) Sympathetic branch
C) Central nervous system
D) Somatic nervous system
E) Parasympathetic branch

Question 20

Is it correct to say that it is your brain that "sees," not your eyes?

A) No. Your eyes are what see things.
B) Yes. Your eyes take in the light but your brain interprets the image.
C) No. Your brain can't "see" anything without the eyes.
D) Yes. The eyes take in the image but the brain is what responds to the light.
E) No. Your brain is an inanimate object. It can't "see."

Question 21

Which of your sensory receptors is responsible for your ability to hear?

A) Pain
B) Thermoreceptors
C) Mechanoreceptors
D) Chemoreceptors
E) Electromagnetic receptors

Question 22

Which of your sensory receptors is responsible for your ability to smell odors?

A) Pain
B) Thermoreceptors
C) Mechanoreceptors
D) Chemoreceptors
E) Electromagnetic receptors

Question 23

Nearly continuous epileptic seizures eventually killed Phineas Gage. How did the seizures probably kill him?

A) With nearly continuous convulsions brought on by the seizures, it would be nearly impossible to breathe.
B) The body would be unable to maintain energy for anything but the convulsions, body temperature would drop, and circulation would eventually cease.
C) The convulsions would disrupt the heart rate, and with the irregular heartbeat, there would be insufficient energy available and the body would shut down.
D) Because a seizure is essentially an "electrical storm" in the brain, if this were happening continuously, the brain could not otherwise maintain the body functions.
E) Probably, the convulsions caused by the seizures didn't really kill him, but the constant falls and banging onto the floor damaged his brain to the point where it couldn't maintain body functions.

Question 24

When the neurotransmitter is released to a neuron, what happens?

A) It binds to the membrane of the neuron, triggering an action potential where positive ions can rush into the cell.
B) It changes the external charge of the neuron from positive to negative, triggering an action potential and nerve impulse.
C) It causes the heart rate to increase.
D) It enters into the synaptic space and triggers negative ions to bind with the cell membrane, allowing an action potential.
E) It binds to the dendrites on a neuron, triggering an action potential that travels up the axon to the next cell.

Question 25

What is the function of the myelin sheath on a nerve fiber?

A) It acts as insulation to keep heat in.
B) It acts as insulation to speed signal transmission.
C) It acts as insulation to maintain separation between the negative and positively charged ions.
D) It acts as a pathway for neurotransmitters to get to the neuron membrane.
E) It keeps the neurotransmitters traveling lengthwise along the cells, rather than crossing into them from the side.

Question 26

Where does a nerve impulse end?

A) At the end of the nerve fiber.
B) At the effector which is responding.
C) At the heart which then responds.
D) At the brain which directs a response.
E) At the spinal cord which signals the brain.

Question 27

Adrenaline is the only known neurotransmitter in humans.

A) True. It triggers all appropriate body responses as directed by the brain.
B) False. There are at least 25 neurotransmitters that do different things but work together to produce body responses.
C) True. It is responsible for the "fight or flight" response in all animals, not just humans.
D) False. There are at least 25, and they all produce different responses but only one response at a time.
E) True. This is the only known one but scientists suspect that there are more they haven't found yet.

Question 28

If you are injured and your legs are paralyzed, what part of you was probably damaged?

A) The frontal lobe of the brain.
B) The parietal lobe of the brain.
C) The sympathetic nervous system.
D) The spinal cord below the arms.
E) Somewhere along the spinal cord.

Question 29

Many colleges require incoming students to be vaccinated against this particular brain infection. Which is it?

A) Tetanus
B) Encephalitis
C) Inflammation
D) Meningitis
E) Epilepsy

Question 30

Which of the following is a brain infection, usually caused by a virus carried by mosquitoes?

A) Encephalitis
B) Inflammation
C) Meningitis
D) Multiple sclerosis
E) Atrophy

Question 31

Which of the following neurodegenerative diseases is most common and is caused by abnormal proteins interfering with neurons in the brain?

A) Alzheimer's disease
B) Parkinson's disease
C) Multiple Sclerosis
D) Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
E) Encephalitis

Question 32

Which of the following neurodegenerative diseases is the result of a lack of the neurotransmitter dopamine which leads to tremors.

A) Alzheimer's disease
B) Parkinson's disease
C) Multiple Sclerosis
D) Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
E) Encephalitis

Question 33

In this neurodegenerative disease the body's own immune system causes the progressive loss of the myelin sheath on the nerves.

A) Alzheimer's disease
B) Parkinson's disease
C) Multiple Sclerosis
D) Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
E) Encephalitis

Question 34

In this neurodegenerative disease the motor neurons are attacked leading to muscular degeneration, including the muscles necessary for breathing.

A) Alzheimer's disease
B) Parkinson's disease
C) Multiple Sclerosis
D) Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
E) Encephalitis

Question 35

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder seems to be increasingly diagnosed in young children. Why is this somewhat controversial?

A) ADHD is a complex syndrome, and so far there's no way to effectively diagnose it.
B) It is suspected that drug companies bribe doctors in order to get them to prescribe ritalin.
C) There's no effective way to treat ADHA so diagnosing just stresses the parents and children and magnifies the problem
D) Many young children just naturally exhibit a lot of the symptoms of ADHD so it's hard to say when it's a "disease."
E) Many more boys than girls are diagnosed with the disorder.

Question 36

Depression is largely untreatable. True or false?

A) True. It cannot be effectively treated and gets progressively worse.
B) True. But most of the time it doesn't get that bad and people get over it.
C) True. Despite effective drugs and psychotherapy, it's impossible to adjust the chemical imbalance in the brain to make people fully functional again.
D) False. There are a number of effective antidepressants that work well in combination with psychotherapy.
E) False. Psychotherapy alone over a short period is often enough to bring a depressed person back to health.

Question 37

Which of the following drugs are all stimulants?

A) Alcohol, caffeine, and nicotine
B) Caffeine, nicotine, and marijuana
C) Caffeine, nicotine, and cocaine
D) Alcohol, caffeine and cocaine
E) Heroin, nicotine, and cocaine

Question 38

People tend to use recreational drugs at parties, particularly the hallucinogens. Which of the following hallucinogens might be used like this.

A) Alcohol, and marijuana
B) Marijuana and cocaine
C) Ecstasy and heroin
D) Ecstasy and LSD
E) Amphetamines and LSD

Question 39

You badly injure you lower back falling off a horse and are so uncomfortable you cannot sleep or function. Which of the following drugs might be prescribed to control the pain until healing has progressed?

A) A tranquilizer
B) An amphetamine
C) LSD
D) Pharmaceutical ecstasy
E) Codeine or morphine

Question 40

Truck drivers often get paid by the mile so they feel they need to work long hours on minimal sleep. Which drugs do you think they might use to achieve this?

A) LSD
B) One of the opiates
C) Caffeine or an amphetamine
D) Marijuana and nicotine
E) Ecstasy

Question 41

The opiate drugs, codeine, morphine, and heroin, are highly effective painkillers, but they are dangerous. Why?

A) While the manufacture of the drugs themselves is legal, the original source of them, opium, is not, so they support crime networks.
B) They are also stimulants and can raise your heart rate and blood pressure to the point where you're at high risk of a stroke.
C) They interact dangerously with commonly used drugs like nicotine.
D) They are highly addictive and so once started, it's difficult to stop using them
E) The manufacture of these drugs tends to be "underground," so there is a high risk of contamination.

Question 42

As a treatment for brain or spinal cord injuries, patients are often initially chilled to lower their body temperature below normal. What good does this do?

A) They stay unconscious so they don't feel as much pain.
B) This slows metabolism and reduces swelling and pressure on the area.
C) A cold person's movements are much slower and less likely to cause further injury.
D) Your nervous system in general works better at cooler temperatures.
E) The rate of blood circulation slows, minimizing oxygen uptake and therefore energy use.

Question 43

Which of the following seems to hold the most promise for treating brain and spinal cord injuries?

A) Better drugs in development
B) Improved surgical techniques
C) Regeneration and stem cells
D) Chilling the patient
E) Nothing is working for treatment but our equipment is getting better at preventing the damage in the first place
"Scientist Spotlight"

Question 44

Dr. Linda Buck won a Nobel Prize for her work on brain function. What, specifically did she study?

A) The effects of Alzheimer's Disease on neurons in the brain
B) The way the peripheral and central nervous systems interact
C) The way an action potential or nerve impulse travels down a nerve
D) The way the optic lobes translate light coming into the eye into an image
E) The way the olfactory receptors work to allow us to identify odors

Question 45

Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging is a tool that has been very useful in identifying what parts of the brain do what. Scientists can have a person perform some particular activity and then look for active areas in the brain. How does fMRI work?

A) It takes a picture of the inside of the brain according to electricity levels. The more electrical current in the area, the more active it is.
B) It takes a picture of the inside of the brain according to blood flow. More blood flow indicates more activity in that area.
C) It takes a picture of the brain according to oxygen levels. More oxygen in an area indicates more activity in that area.
D) It takes images of thin layers of the brain and the more electrical activity in a layer, the more magnetic it is and this shows up in fMRI.
E) Electrodes attached to the skull can trigger activity in particular brain areas which then trigger a person to perform certain behaviors.

Question 46

What is and what causes a concussion?

A) A brain bruise; a hard blow to the head
B) A brain bruise; anything that causes the brain to bang into the inside of the skull
C) A brain bruise; dizziness and a severe headache
D) A brain bruise; any sort of contact sport
E) A brain bruise; repeated blows to the head

Question 47

How did scientists realize they'd been stimulating the part of a rats brain in an area that made the rat "feel" good?

A) The rat kept behaving in such a way as to repeat the stimulus over and over, no matter what other activities were offered.
B) The rat would twitch its whiskers in response to the stimulus, which is how rats communicate to other rats that something is good.
C) Electrical stimulation in any part of a rats brain caused it to try to behave in such way as to repeat the stimulation, so it must have "felt" good.
D) When rats were given a choice between the stimulus and a piece of their favorite food, they couldn't decide what to do and so did nothing.
E) The rats were trained to push a lever when they "felt" good and they did this in response to particular brain stimulations.

Question 48

Which part of the brain is the wrinkly outer surface you think of when you think of a brain?

Question 49

You can't sleep. Which part of your brain is not doing its job correctly?

Question 50

Which part of the brain of Phineas Gage was injured?

Question 51

What was the effect of the brain injury of Phineas Gage?

Question 52

The rod through his brain didn't directly kill Phineas Gage, but what did that was probably related?

Question 53

The nervous system is a whole network running throughout the body. What is the network composed of?

Question 54

What triggers an action potential in a neuron?

Question 55

An action potential in a neuron starts as an electrical signal that travels down the cell. How does it get to the next neuron?

Question 56

Meningitis is an inflammation of what portion of the brain?

Question 57

Which of the neurodegenerative diseases is most common in the United States?

Question 58

Why is it perhaps not surprising that people who both smoke and drink coffee tend to do both first thing in the morning?

Question 59

Endorphins are neurotransmitters that reduce the sensation of pain of make you feel good. Which group of drugs mimics these for the same effects?

Question 60

It's increasingly possible to repair damage to the spinal cord.