Deck 2: Section 3: Neuroscience and Behavior

Question 1

When a neuron is in the resting state, it is polarized so that the axon's interior is more positively charged than the exterior fluid surrounding the axon.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

Schwann cells remove waste products from the nervous system, including dead and damaged neurons.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

The myelin sheath is a white fatty covering that surrounds the axons of some neurons.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Microglia are involved in brain development and the communication of information among neurons.

Question 5

Interneurons communicate information from one neuron to the next.

Question 6

The human brain contains approximately 100 billion neurons and about ten times as many glial cells.

Question 7

The action potential is the brief electrical impulse that is transmitted along the axon.

Question 8

The field of neuroscience focuses primarily on the effects of environmental input on human behavior.

Question 9

Dendrites receive information from other neurons.

Question 10

Oligodendrocytes provide connections between neurons and blood vessels.

Question 11

Glial cells provide structural support and nutrition for neurons and remove waste products.

Question 12

Glial cells are the most abundant cells in the human brain.

Question 13

Oligodendrocytes and Schwann cells form the myelin sheath, a fatty covering that is wrapped around the axons of some neurons.

Question 14

Sensory neurons communicate information to muscles to help muscles better respond to environmental events.

Question 15

Neurons outnumber glial cells by about 10 to 1.

Question 16

The myelin sheath covering an axon insulates that axon from other axons and increases its communication speed.

Question 17

An action potential is produced by the movement of ions across the axon membrane.

Question 18

The neuron's genetic material (DNA) is found in the nucleus of the neuron's cell body.

Question 19

Biological psychology is the scientific study of the biological bases of behavior and mental processes.

Question 20

Glial cells are the most abundant cells in the human brain, provide connections between neurons and blood vessels, and are involved in brain development and the communication of information among neurons.

Question 21

The neurotransmitter called acetylcholine plays a key role in sleep, moods, and emotional states, including the symptoms of major depressive disorder.

Question 22

Alcohol makes people feel relaxed by enhancing glutamate release.

Question 23

Dopamine is the neurotransmitter that has been found to be most depleted in Alzheimer's patients.

Question 24

Endorphins have pain-reducing effects.

Question 25

During the process of reuptake, glial cells absorb unused neurotransmitters and then transfer the neurotransmitters to the appropriate neuron.

Question 26

Diminished brain levels of dopamine can produce symptoms of Parkinson's disease, while excess brain levels of dopamine can produce symptoms of schizophrenia.

Question 27

Acupuncture seems to reduce pain by reducing the availability of serotonin and dopamine in the brain.

Question 28

During the refractory period, the neuron is unable to fire.

Question 29

An excitatory message communicated to a postsynaptic neuron increases the likelihood that the postsynaptic neuron will generate an action potential.

Question 30

Acetylcholine is found in all motor neurons.

Question 31

About 12 to 15 seconds elapse during the entire sequence of a neuron's activation, generation of action potential, and reestablishment of the ability to fire again.

Question 32

Synaptic vesicles contain neurotransmitters.

Question 33

"Runner's high" is the rush of euphoria that many people experience after sustained aerobic exercise.

Question 34

The receiving, or postsynaptic, neuron can have many differently shaped receptor sites on its dendrites, allowing it to receive more than one type of neurotransmitter.

Question 35

One of the key ways that drugs affect synaptic transmission is by changing an excitatory neurotransmitter to an inhibitory neurotransmitter and vice versa.

Question 36

The action potential is slower in myelinated neurons, because it has to travel the entire length of the axon rather than being able to jump from one node of Ranvier to the next.

Question 37

The all-or-none law refers to a neuron's ability to either release all or none of its neurotransmitter when an action potential occurs in its axon.

Question 38

Each neuron produces only one type of neurotransmitter.

Question 39

The synaptic vesicles are tiny pouches that hold the special chemical messengers manufactured by the neuron called neurotransmitters.

Question 40

When a neuron depolarizes and begins an action potential, sodium ions move into the axon and then potassium ions move out of the axon.

Question 41

Some simple forms of behavior, called spinal reflexes, occur without any involvement of the brain.

Question 42

Throughout the entire body, the human nervous system contains an estimated 1 trillion neurons.

Question 43

Prozac and many other antidepressant medications increase the availability of serotonin in certain brain areas.

Question 44

Nicotine binds to acetylcholine receptor sites, stimulating skeletal muscles and causing the heart to beat more rapidly. Thus, nicotine is an agonist.

Question 45

An antagonist is a drug or other chemical that blocks a receptor site and inhibits or prevents a response in the receiving cell.

Question 46

An agonist is a neurotransmitter that activates a receptor site and inhibits or prevents a response in the receiving cell.

Question 47

The drug naloxone acts as an antagonist at opioid receptor sites and can reverse the effects of both endorphins and opiates.

Question 48

The most common type of traumatic brain injury is a concussion.

Question 49

In the central nervous system, nerves are the most important transmitter of messages.

Question 50

Research has shown that the greater the subjective feelings of euphoria experienced by runners, the higher the brain level of endorphin activity.

Question 51

An antagonist is a drug or other chemical that binds to a receptor site and triggers a response in the cell.

Question 52

Because the drug naloxone is chemically dissimilar to endorphins and opiates, it prolongs and intensifies their effects.

Question 53

There are four hollow cavities in the brain, called ventricles, which are filled with cerebrospinal fluid and whose inner surfaces are lined with neural stem cells.

Question 54

An antagonist is a neurotransmitter that activates a receptor site and triggers a response in the cell.

Question 55

One way in which drugs can prolong the effects of a neurotransmitter is through blocking the reuptake of the neurotransmitter by the sending neuron.

Question 56

Chronic traumatic encephalopathy can be diagnosed before noticeable symptoms are present.

Question 57

The drug curare blocks acetylcholine receptor sites, causing virtually instantaneous paralysis. Thus, curare is an agonist.

Question 58

The central nervous system and the peripheral nervous system act independently of each other.

Question 59

An agonist is a drug or other chemical that binds to a receptor site and triggers a response in the cell.

Question 60

Black widow spider venom causes the release of dopamine, resulting in muscle spasms.

Question 61

Hormones can influence the nervous system by promoting or inhibiting the generation of nerve impulses.

Question 62

Endocrine glands communication from one part of the body to another by secreting messenger chemicals called pepsin.

Question 63

The fight-or-flight response is triggered by the activation of the sympathetic nervous system.

Question 64

Gonads are found only in males.

Question 65

In males, the gonads are the testes, which produce hormones called androgens, the most important of which is testosterone.

Question 66

The somatic nervous system regulates involuntary functions, including heartbeat, blood pressure, breathing, and digestion.

Question 67

Melatonin is a hormone secreted by the thyroid gland that plays an important role in the "let down" of milk in nursing mothers.

Question 68

The hypothalamus is largely controlled by the pituitary gland.

Question 69

The notion that different psychological and mental functions are located or localized in different areas of the brain is called localization of function or cortical localization.

Question 70

The adrenal medulla, which secretes epinephrine and norepinephrine, plays a key role in helping to activate the body during the fight-or-flight response.

Question 71

The sympathetic nervous system conserves and maintains your body's energy resources, whereas the parasympathetic nervous system activates your body and prepares the body for action.

Question 72

The autonomic nervous system regulates spinal reflexes.

Question 73

The psychograph machine provides detailed images of the brain's structures.

Question 74

As your body's emergency system, the sympathetic nervous system rapidly triggers the fight-or-flight response when a threat or danger is perceived.

Question 75

Phrenology, which was a popular pseudoscience in the 1800s, has since been refuted by modern brain research, including research with brain-imaging techniques.

Question 76

Although the basic premise of phrenology was disproved, it helped trigger scientific interest in the idea of cortical localization.

Question 77

Pituitary hormones regulate the production of other hormones by many of the glands in the endocrine system.

Question 78

The two subdivisions of the peripheral nervous system are the somatic nervous system and the autonomic nervous system.

Question 79

Your metabolism, growth rate, digestion, and blood pressure are regulated by hormones.

Question 80

The adrenal cortex plays a key role in the fight-or-flight response through its production of epinephrine and norepinephrine.