Deck 16: Being Different From Others

Question 1

One problem stated in this chapter regarding the experimental methods of neuroscience is that ________________________.

A) results from other species are not generalizable to humans
B) it has not been efficient to study multiple species because using one model organism would be sufficient
C) many studies of humans comes from a non-random human sample of young males from North America and Europe
D) all of the above

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Analyze Figure 16.1. In the text Which of the following can be concluded from these data?

A) The use of rodents in research has been declining since 2004.
B) The use of rodents in research declined from 2000-2004.
C) Biological sub-disciplines all use approximately equal proportions of various model organisms.
D) The use of dogs as a model organism is common in studies of physiology.
E) None of the above can be concluded from these data.

Answer 2

E

Question 3

Why are mice used so commonly as a model organism? Compose an argument and state the advantages of mice over other species. Cite specific examples.

Answer 3

Answers will vary. Students may cite the proportion of studies that use mice, examples of processes that have been studied that generalize to humans, the convenience of mice as a model system, etc.

Question 4

A species that is used for experimental study, often because it is more convenient or ethical than using humans, is known as a ________________________.

Question 5

Which is true of the cnidarian nervous system (such as jellyfish)?

A) neurons are clustered in ganglia
B) neurons are distributed throughout the organism in a nerve net
C) neurons are organized into a complex structure that can be appropriately called a brain
D) none of the above

Question 6

You identify an alien life form, and the nervous system is organized into clusters of neurons (ganglia). This organism's nervous system most closely resembles which of the following earthly species?

A) jellyfish
B) insects
C) mice
D) starfish

Question 7

Analyze Figure 16.3. In the text Which of the following is an accurate statement regarding these data?

A) Worm nervous systems are more closely related to jawless fishes than to jellyfish.
B) Nematodes are more closely related to millipedes than to rotifers.
C) Turtles are most closely related to mammals than to flatworms.
D) None of the above are accurate statements.

Question 8

Which of the following is an accurate statement regarding evolution and brain size?

A) Brain size seems to correlate roughly with behavioral complexity
B) Each of the three evolutionary lineages that produced a nervous system has a range of brain sizes and complexities
C) Birds generally have a bigger brain in proportion to their body mass than reptiles.
D) All of the above are accurate statements.

Question 9

Which of the following is an accurate statement?

A) Humans devote 20% of their oxygen supply to the brain.
B) Humans have the biggest brains (in terms of mass) of any species.
C) Humans have the biggest brains (in terms of volume) of any species.
D) Humans brains use the most oxygen proportionately for the body size than any other organism.
E) all of the above

Question 10

Which of the following is NOT true of the encephalization quotient?

A) The EQ is higher in humans than most other species
B) The EQ is the proportion of actual brain size to expected brain size
C) EQ can be used to predict intelligence
D) The EQ in whales is lower than in humans

Question 11

Analyze Figure 16.6. In the text These data show that

A) large brains have a larger percentage of the brain devoted to the neocortex
B) the mass of the brainstem is lower in elephants than bats
C) Sperm whales have the smallest brain stems
D) The data highlighted in yellow show that brain mass is correlated strongly with the percentage of brain devoted to the neocortex regardless of the range of brain sizes.

Question 12

Brains in different species vary in terms of ________________________.

A) size
B) types of neurons
C) how the neurons are arranged
D) the relative proportions of various brain regions
E) all of the above

Question 13

Why do you think that we don't observe cnidarians (such as jellyfish) that have organized brains like vertebrates? Propose an explanation.

Question 14

One theory of why humans quickly evolved a bigger brain size is that there was intraspecific competition for mates and resources. What new behaviors might have emerged, and how could these explain the need for a greater amount of brain volume? Propose an explanation, giving specific examples of brain regions that might be involved.

Question 15

What are hypotheses as to the reasons that brains in the genus homo have enlarged so substantially?

A) The ability to use fire to cook decreased the available nutrients
B) Intraspecific competition drove increases in brain size related to social behaviors
C) The size of individuals in the homo genus has increased substantially over time
D) all of the above

Question 16

Imaging you are a lawyer, and you have to make the case that human brains are the most advanced in the animal kingdom. Compose an argument, citing experimental evidence that supports your case.

Question 17

Which of the following is NOT true regarding the human brain compared to the brains of other species?

A) The human brain contains a about the same size of prefrontal cortex relative to its size as other species
B) The human brain contains the same proportion of neurons relative to brain size as other species
C) The human brain is about the size you might expect in proportion to our body size as other species
D) The human brain has a larger neocortex relative to its size than most other species

Question 18

A person that can understand speech but cannot produce articulate sounds because of damage to speech centers in the brain has what is known as ____________________________.

Question 19

You are a neurologist and encounter a stroke patient that can understand speech but cannot produce articulate sounds. Based on information presented in this chapter, you might suspect that the person might have had damage in which area of the brain?

A) the left occipital lobe
B) the left parietal lobe
C) the left temporal lobe
D) the left prefrontal cortex

Question 20

A person that can produce non-sensical speech because of damage to speech centers in the brain has what is known as ____________________________.

Question 21

You are a neurologist and encounter a stroke patient that cannot understand speech, but can speak fluidly (though they make little sense). Based on information presented in this chapter, you might suspect that the person might have had damage in which area of the brain?

A) the left occipital lobe
B) the left parietal lobe
C) the left temporal lobe
D) the left prefrontal cortex

Question 22

Analyze Figure 16.12. In the text Which of the following is an accurate statement regarding this figure?

A) Deaf individuals and hearing individuals both respond to speech (oral or sign-language) with activation in the auditory cortex.
B) After speech (oral or sign-language), both deaf and hearing individuals show activation of brain regions that are limited to the left hemisphere.
C) After speech (oral or sign-language), both deaf and hearing individuals show activation of brain regions in both hemispheres.
D) Oral speech, but not sign language, activates Broca's area.

Question 23

Choose the missing words in this sentence. The ______________ stream is involved in speech ___________________.

A) ventral; production
B) dorsal; production
C) anterior; comprehension
D) posterior; comprehension

Question 24

Which of the following are true regarding neural circuits involved in human speech?

A) Humans have more motor innervation of the lips, tongue, and larynx than primates
B) Speech centers such as Wernicke's area is larger in humans than in other primates
C) Connections between the termporal lobe and prefrontal cortex are larger in humans than other primates
D) all of the above

Question 25

FOXP2 is a gene that has been hypothesized to be associated with human speech abilities. What is NOT true of this gene?

A) It is mutated in several human families that have speech problems.
B) It is expressed primarily in areas of the brain known to be associated with speech.
C) Individuals with FOXP2 mutations have abnormalities in non-speech brain areas such as the striatum and cerebellum.
D) Individauls with FOXP2 mutations have abnormally small Broca's areas.

Question 26

The reason that sex differentiation occurs in males is because of a gene located on the Y chromosome called the _____________________.

Question 27

Which of the following is true regarding sex differentiation?

A) males have the chromosomal makeup XY
B) the SRY gene causes differentiation of precursor gonadal tissue into testes
C) during embryonic development, the testes release a surge of testosterone
D) testosterone binds to neuronal androgen receptors and begins to masculinize the brain
E) all of the above

Question 28

If a primate females were given estradiol shortly after birth, you might expect that

A) they would begin to ovulate soon after
B) they would change their chromosomal makeup to XY
C) they would develop some masculine characterisitics
D) they would experience no change and remain phenotypically female
E) all of the above

Question 29

The function of aromatase is to

A) convert testosterone to estradiol
B) convert estradiol to testosterone
C) convert testosterone to alpha-fetoprotein
D) convert estradiol to alpha-fetoprotein
E) all of the above

Question 30

Outline how a gynandromorphic organism shows that not all sex differentiation happens because of circulating sex hormones.

Question 31

Choose 3 examples and construct an argument that male and female brains are different. Cite three specific examples from the text to justify your answer.

Question 32

Compare and contrast the nervous systems of males and females. On average, male and females differ in that

A) Onuf's nucleus is larger in human males than females
B) The sexually dimorphic nucleus of the hypothalamus is larger in rodent females than males
C) The anteroventral periventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus is larger in males than in females
D) female brains are larger than male brains
E) All of the above

Question 33

Propose an explanation as to why men might develop Parkinson's Disease at a higher rate than women. In your answer, include information about sex differentiation in the substantia nigra.

Question 34

Analyze Figure 16.17 In the text . Which of the following is an accurate statement regarding these data?

A) In Figure A, only 1 woman is observed to have a larger brain size then the male subjects
B) No women were observed to have a brain volume larger than 1600cm3.
C) In men and women who are the same height, the number of neurons in their brain is approximately equal.
D) All of the above are accurate.

Question 35

Analyze Figure 16.20 In the text . Which of the following is an accurate statement regarding these data?

A) The data in the shaded blue region is collected only from males
B) Each horizontal line represents an individual experimental human subject
C) No statistically significant studies shows that females are more likely to be right handed than males
D) For every right handed female, there appears to be 1.25 right-handed males.
E) All of the above are accurate.

Question 36

Analyze Figure 16.21 In the text . Which of the following is NOT an accurate statement regarding these data?\

A) When emotionally arousing images are presented, amygdalar activation is observed to be greater in women than in men as determined by fMRI imaging.
B) When emotionally arousing images are presented, amygdalar activation is observed to be greater in men than in women as determined by fMRI imaging.
C) When emotionally arousing images are presented, the left amygdala is more active in women and the right amygdala is more active in men.
D) Women generally show a great deal of non-amygdala activation when presented with emotionally arousing images.

Question 37

Human subject testing is necessary for the proper vetting of experimental drugs, and the more subgroups (race, age, etc.) that are studied the better we will understand the differential effects of the drug and potential side-effects in various populations. Give 2 ethical dilemmas that might be associated with human trials that include various subgroups.

Question 38

What does functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) measure?

A) glucose metabolism
B) blood oxygen levels
C) electrical activity
D) all of the above

Question 39

Analyze Figure 16.22 In the text . What might you conclude from these data?

A) genetics appears to play the predominate role in determining brain morphology.
B) environmental factors appear to play the predominate role in determining brain morphology.
C) both genetics and the environment appear to play a role in determining brain morphology.
D) brain morphology is more similar between same-sex dizygotic twins than between monozygotic twins.

Question 40

Choose two examples to illustrate how the brain varies with age in humans, and how sex influences this variation.

Question 41

As humans age, which of the following accurately describes what happens to their brains?

A) neocortical white matter volume shrinks by nearly a third between the ages of 20 and 90
B) cortical regions begin to shrink at 0.5% a year starting at age 60
C) the sizes of the ventricles increases, especially in men
D) all of the above

Question 42

The disease characterized by a loss of memory, cognitive decline, amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles is known as ___________________________.

Question 43

Briefly explain the amyloid cascade hypothesis and how it relates the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease.

Question 44

You are a pathologist. On autopsy, you find that a brain contains amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles. You might conclude that this individual had ______________________.

A) schizophrenia
B) Alzheimer's disease
C) autism
D) Parkinson's disease
E) none of the above

Question 45

Autism is a disease characterized by which of the following symptoms?

A) deficits in social interaction
B) repetitive behaviors
C) unusally restricted interests
D) some language impairment
E) all of the above

Question 46

Which of the following is true of autism?

A) genetics appears to play the predominate role in determining whether someone will be autistic.
B) environmental factors appear to play the predominate role in determining whether someone will be autistic.
C) both genetics and the environment appear to play a role in determining whether someone will be autistic.
D) autism is characterized by small brain size in early childhoold and increased white matter development in adulthood.

Question 47

Which of the following is NOT true of schizophrenia?

A) It afflicts 10% of the world's population
B) It is characterized by hallucinations and delusions
C) Many schizophrenics self-medicate with cigarettes
D) The average life-span is shorter by 10-15 years than non-schizophrenic controls

Question 48

Schizophrenia is likely the result of genetic and environmental factors. Outline 2 specific research findings that speak to whether genetics or the environment contributes to the schizophrenic phenotype.

Question 49

Analyze Figure 16.28. In the text What is NOT an accurate statement regarding these data?

A) Prairie voles spend more time huddling with their partner than a stranger.
B) Meadow voles spend more time huddling with a stranger than a partner.
C) Meadow voles expressing the vasopressin receptor huddled more with their partner than with a stranger.
D) Meadow voles show increased vasopressin receptor expression in the ventral pallidum.
E) Meadow voles spend less time overall huddling with another vole.

Question 50

This chapter draws from a wide variety of animal studies. Form an argument that there are benefits to animal use in research. Justify your argument with specific examples of the findings that are generalizable from model species to humans.

Question 51

This chapter brings up a great deal of controversial findings related to sex differentiation in the brain. Do you believe these types of questions are worth asking? Why or why not? Justify your response by citing specific examples from the text.

Question 52

Compare and contrast autism, schizophrenia, and Alzheimer's disease. What are commonalities, if any, among these conditions? Justify your response using specific examples or research findings.

Question 53

Create a chart that gives the different ways that brains can vary between species, or even between members of the same species. Include at least 8 different ways that brain variation occurs in your chart.

Question 54

After reading this textbook, what area of neuroscience do you find most exciting? Choose at least one specific example from the book and discuss why you feel this way about it.

Question 55

After reading this textbook, what question do you think will be very challenging to answer? In other words, what is a difficult problem in neuroscience? Choose at least specific example from the book and discuss why you feel this problem is uniquely challenging to address.

Question 56

After reading this textbook, were there any ways in which your perception of an ethical dilemma changed? Cite a specific example and discuss how your viewpoint was altered.

Question 57

After reading this textbook, which scientific finding stands out in your mind as providing the most significant advance to our understanding of how the nervous system or brain works? Cite a specific example from the text and describe why this particular result is significant.

Question 58

Imagine you are the director of a scientific society dedicated to promoting neuroscience research. You are invited to make a case to congress regarding the merits of neuroscientific research. That is, your job is to convince the members of congress that it is worth the investment by taxpayers to carry out this research. Compose an argument, listing at least 5 examples from the text that support your case.

Question 59

Imagine that you are invited to an elementary school to make a presentation about the brain to 3^rd graders. What would you tell them? Choose one concept or idea that you think is most important and describe how you would relate this to the children in terms they could understand.

Question 60

Think of an organism that was not mentioned in this textbook. What brain structures or functions could you learn about from this organism that would not be convenient, or even possible, in humans? In what way could you develop this organism into a new model species?