Deck 5: Sensation and Perception

Question 1

The primary gustatory cortex is located in the

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

Answer 1

D

Question 2

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

A)acid
B)bitter
C)sweet
D)umami

Answer 2

A

Question 3

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.

Answer 3

D

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

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

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

Question 7

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 8

Suppose you injected an anterograde tracer into taste-specific regions of the thalamus. Which of the following are you LEAST likely to find?

A)Clustering is evident for bitter tastes.
B)Clustering is evident for sweet tastes.
C)The salty cluster may be distributed over multiple pathways.
D)The sour cluster may be distributed over multiple pathways.

Question 9

All of the following are common across each sensory system, EXCEPT:

A)Neuronal signals are passed along specific sensory nerves.
B)System nerves terminate either monosynaptically or disynaptically in different parts of the thalamus.
C)The system begins with a structure for collecting, filtering, and amplifying information from the environment.
D)The system contains specialized receptor cells that transduce environmental stimuli.

Question 10

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

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

Question 11

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

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

Question 12

Peng and colleagues manipulated the behavior of mice by activating differential regions of the gustatory cortex. Based on their findings, which of the following scenarios is MOST plausible if translated to human behavior?

A)Andrew visits his mother's house and prefers to eat near the kitchen where he can smell his mother's cooking.
B)Charlene prefers her meals when the food is divided on the plate and the flavors are not mixed together.
C)George closes the windows and doors in his office while he eats his lunch.
D)Alena frequently chooses to drink coffee at her favorite dessert bar, even if she isn't eating dessert.

Question 13

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 14

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 15

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 16

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 17

The basic taste umami is experienced when eating foods rich in

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

Question 18

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 19

Sobel and colleagues (Gelstein et al., 2011) asked male participants to rate pictures of women's faces in terms of sexual attraction. While rating the photos, they instructed the participants to sniff either tears from "donor women" or an odorless saline solution. Which of the following best summarizes the findings of this study?

A)Participants rated faces as less sexually attractive when sniffing tears compared to when they were sniffing the saline solution.
B)Participants rated faces as more sexually attractive when sniffing tears compared to when they were sniffing the saline solution.
C)Participants were equally likely to rate faces as sexually attractive, regardless of whether they were sniffing tears or saline.
D)There were no differences in participant ratings, however functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data revealed differences in activation for brain areas associated with sexual arousal.

Question 20

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 in the other nostril, and this switches back and forth every few hours.
D)Although the left nostril projects to both left and right cerebral hemispheres, the right nostril projects only to the right hemisphere.

Question 21

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.

Question 22

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 23

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 24

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

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

Question 25

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)The patient 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 the patient's brain for processing.
C)Only the signal for half the visual field of each eye is processed by the brain.
D)The patient's brain now receives visual information only from the medial half of each retina.

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

Vision is to audition as the ____________ 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 28

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

Question 29

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 30

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 31

Disorders of color perception that arise from disturbances in the central nervous system are called

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

Question 32

If a patient has a unilateral lesion in area V5, which of the following disruptions is the patient MOST likely to experience?

A)A selective loss of motion perception.
B)A disorder of color perception.
C)An agnosia.
D)A subtle deficit in motion perception.

Question 33

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 34

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 35

Due to a defect in one type of photoreceptor, Sheena 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 36

The primary visual pathway is best described as

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

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

Cells in the posterior part of A1 are to cells in the anterior part of A1 as ______________ is to ______________.

A)sharp tuning; coarse tuning
B)coarse tuning; sharp tuning
C)high frequency; low frequency
D)low frequency; high frequency

Question 39

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 40

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.

Question 41

A review of outcomes compared children who had received cochlear implants at ages ranging from 6 months to 6 years. Which of the following best describes the findings of this review?

A)Children who received the implant before 12 months of age had superior communication outcomes.
B)Children who received the implant after 12 months of age had superior communication outcomes.
C)The implant was most effective for children between the ages of 2 and 6 years old.
D)The implant was most effective when implanted during the critical period of 18 months of age.

Question 42

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 43

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

Question 44

Which of the following is NOT applicable to the epiretinal implant?

A)It is driven by an external video camera.
B)Users have been able to identify objects, detect motion, and regain mobility.
C)It works by exploiting the remaining photoreceptors.
D)It is approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for clinical use.

Question 45

While simultaneously listening to a person saying "ba" and seeing a video of them saying "fa," you will most likely hear ____. This is because of _________________.

A)"ba"; the McGurk effect
B)"fa"; the McGurk effect
C)"ba"; sensory acuity
D)"fa"; sensory acuity

Question 46

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 47

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

Question 48

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

Question 49

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 50

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 idly 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 idly sweeping their fingers over rough surfaces.
C)blind people show no difference in occipital cortex activity when idly sweeping their fingers over rough surfaces or when given tactile discrimination tasks.
D)blind people show no difference in occipital cortex activity when given tactile discrimination tasks and increased activity when idly sweeping their fingers over rough surfaces.

Question 51

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

Question 52

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 53

The primary olfactory cortex is located in the parietal lobe.

Question 54

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

Question 55

A selective loss of motion perception is called

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

Question 56

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 57

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

Question 58

If you have a patient with significant photoreceptor loss, what is the BEST treatment available that you can offer?

A)Eyeglasses
B)Subretinal implant
C)Epiretinal implants
D)Cochlear implants

Question 59

Which of the following sequences best represents the processing order of the cochlear implant?

A)Sound waves are converted into digital representations → digital representations are converted into electrical signals → electrical signals are transmitted as radio waves → radio waves are delivered to the cochlea.
B)Sound waves are converted into electrical signals → electrical signals are converted into digital representations → digital representations are transmitted as radio waves → radio waves are reconverted into electrical signals that travel to the cochlea.
C)Sound waves are converted into digital representations → digital representations are converted into radio waves → radio waves are converted into electrical signals → electrical signals travel to the cochlea.
D)Sound waves are converted into electrical signals → electrical signals are converted into radio waves → radio waves are converted into digital representations → digital representations are delivered to the cochlea.

Question 60

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 61

Information about color is extensively processed in visual area V5.

Question 62

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 63

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 64

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 65

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

Question 66

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

Question 67

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

Question 68

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

Question 69

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 70

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

Question 71

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 72

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

Question 73

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.