question

Nineteenth-century theory that bumps on the skull reveal a persons abilities and traits is called..

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phrenology

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Professor Seif conducts research on relationship between the limbic system and sexual motivation. Her research interests best represent the psychological speciality known as..

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biological psychology

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Your friend is taking her first psychology class. she comes to you saying, "I don't understand why we are studying the brain; I thought this was psychology class." Because your background is in psychology your best response should be...

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"Everything psychological is simultaneously biological"

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Dendrites are branching extensions of..

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neurons

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An axon is

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the extension of a neuron that carries messages away from the cell body

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In transmitting sensory information to the brain, an electrical signal travels from the _______ of a single neuron.

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Dendrites to the cell body to the axon

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A brief electrical charge that travels down the axon of a neuron is called the

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action potential

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The slowdown of neural communication in multiple sclerosis involves a degeneration of the

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myelin sheath

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As you are reading this question, the cells in your eyes are firing in response to the light coming from this paper. Which type of neuron is carrying this message to the brain?

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Sensory (afferent)

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The depolarization of a neural membrane can create an

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action potential

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Resting potential is to action potential as ____ is to _____

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polarization; depolarization

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With regard to the process of neural transmission, a refractory period refers to a time interval in which

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dendrites transmit more electrical signals to axons

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Increasing excitatory signals above the threshold for neural activation will not affect the intensity of an action potential. This indicates that a neurons reaction is

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an all-or-none response

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Sir charles sherrington observed that impulses took more time to travel a neural pathway than he might have anticipated. His observation provided evidence for the existence of

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synaptic gaps

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The spatial junctions where impulses are chemically transmitted from one neuron to another are called

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synapses

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Neurotransmitters are chemical messengers that travel across the

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synaptic gap

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Within a single neuron the action potential

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travels in one direction toward the axon terminals

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When the release of ACh is blocked, the result is..

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muscular paralysis

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Jose has just played a long, bruising football game but feels little fatigue or discomfort. His lack of pain is most likely caused by the release of..

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endorphins

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Alzheimers disease is most closely linked to the deterioration of neurons that produce

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acetylcholine

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Schizophrenia is most closely linked with excess receptor activity for neurotransmitter

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dopamine

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Some opiate drugs have molecular structures so similar to endorphins that they mimic endorphins euphoric effects in the brain, making these opiate drugs which kind of molecule?

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agonists

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The brains of patients with Parkinsons disease have little dopamine. Drugs used to treat such patients bind to dopamine receptors, thereby stimulating those receptors. These drugs would be considered

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agonists

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Molecules that are similar enough to a neurotransmitter to bind to its receptor sites on a dendrite and block that neurotransmitters effects are called what?

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antagonists

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The body's speedy, electrochemical information system is called the

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nervous system

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For you to be able to run, _____ must relay messages from your central nervous system to your leg muscles.

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motor neurons

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The peripheral nervous system is to sensory neurons as the centrals nervous system is to

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interneurons

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Messages are transmitted from your spinal cord to your digestive systems stomach muscles by the

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sympathetic nervous system

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An accelerated heartbeat is to a slowed heartbeat as the _____ nervous system is to the _____ nervous system.

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sympathetic; parasympathetic

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Motor neurons are to the _____ nervous system as interneurons are to the ____ nervous system.

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peripheral;central

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A simple, automatic, inborn response to a sensory stimulus is called an

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reflex

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A football quarterback can simultaneously make calculation of receiver distances, player movements, and gravitational forces. This best illustrates the activity of multiple..

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neural networks

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The knee-jerk reflex is controlled by interneurons in the

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spinal cord

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Hormones are the chemical messengers of the

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endocrine system

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The ovaries in females and testes in males are part of the

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endocrine system

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At the age of 22, Mrs. LaBlanc was less than 4 feet tall. Her short statue was probably influenced by the lack of grown hormone produced by the

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pituitary gland

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Mandy came home late. As she reached to turn on the kitchen light, her hand brushed against something unexpected. Her adrenal glands, as a part of the "fight or flight" response, released epinephrine and norepinephrine, which increased her heart rate and blood pressure. Even after she realized it was just the curtain, her excited feelings lingered. This example illustrates..

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that endocrine messages tend to outlast the effects of neural messages

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Sleep researchers who are interested in brain wave activity are likely to use which kind of brain scan?

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EEG

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Surgical destruction of brain tissue is called an

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lesion

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The concentration of glucose in active regions of the brain underlies the usefulness of a

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PET scan

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What is the main difference between an MRI scan and an fMRI scan?

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MRI scans measure glucose levels in the brain, fMRI scans measure oxygen levels

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The sequence of brain regions from the evolutionarily oldest to newest is

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brainstem;limbic system;cerebral cortex

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Which of the following structures in the brainstem helps coordinate movements and lies above the medulla?

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pons

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In which brain structure are nerves from the left side of the brain routed to the right side of the bodY?

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brainstem

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Servering a cats reticular formation from higher brain regions causes the cat to

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lapse into a coma

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Your ability to experience the physical pleasure of a hot shower is most likely to be dirupted by damage to your

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thalamus

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The "little brain" attached to the rear of the brainstem is called the

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cerebellum

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We are usually least consciously aware of the processes and functions of which brain structure?

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brainstem

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Which of the following is the component of the limbic system that plays an essential role in processing of new memories?

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hippocampus

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When the cats amygdala is electrically stimulated the cat prepares to attack by hissing and arching its back. Which division of the autonomic nervous system is activated by such stimulation?

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sympathetic

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The secretions of the pituitary gland are most directly regulated by the

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hypothalamus

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Addictive drug cravings are likely to be associated with reward centers in the

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limbic system

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Animal research has revealed a general reward system that triggers the release of the neurotransmitter

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dopamine

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One function of the glial cells is to

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provide nutrients to interneurons

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The occipital lobes are to _____ as the temporal lobes are to ______

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seeing;hearing

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Which lobes of the brain receive the input that enables you to feel someone scratching your back?

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parietal

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In 1848, Phineas Gage, a railroad construction foreman, survived when an explosion drove an iron rod through his head. The once friendly, soft-spoken Gage became irritable and dishonest. Gages case provided evidence that which region of the brain plays a role in personality and behavior?

answer

frontal lobes

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To trigger a persons hand to make a fist, Jose Delgado stimulated the individuals

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motor cortex

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The sensory cortex is the most critical for our sense of

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touch

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a PET scan of a patient looking at a photograph of a painting would most likely indicate high levels of activity in which brain structure?

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occipital lobes

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The most extensive regions of the cerebral cortex, which enable learning and memory, are called the

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association areas

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After he suffered a stroke, Mr. Santore's physical coordination skills are responsiveness to sensory stimulation quickly returned to normal. Unfortunately, however, he began to experience unusual difficultly figuring out how to find his way to various locations in his neighborhood. It is most likely that Mr. Santone suffered damage to his

answer

association areas

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In 1861, Paul Broca studied a stroke patient he called "tan." He was called this because as a result of brain damage it was the only word he could pronounce. Based on Broca's early work, which of the following brain regious is involved in speech production?

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left frontal lobe

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Which brain area is primarily involved with controlling speech?

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Broca's area

question

Which brain area is primarily involved with understanding and producing meaningful speech?

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Wernickes area

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Which brain area is primarily involved with reading aloud?

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angular gyrus

question

If a blind person uses one finger to read Braille, the brain area dedicated to that finger expands as the sense of touch invades the visual cortex. This is an example of

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brain plasticity

question

After Terry lost a finger in an industrial accident, the area of his sensory cortex devoted to receiving input from that finger gradually became very responsive to sensory input from his adjacent fingers. This best illustrates

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plasticity

question

Physical exercise and exposure to stimulating environments are most likely promote

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neurogenesis

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Information is most quickly transmitted from one cerebral hemisphere to the other by the

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corpus callosum

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Psychologist Micheal Gazzaniga asked split-brain patients to stare at a dot as he flashed He - ART on a screen. HE appeared in the left visual field, ART on the right. When asked patients said they saw

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ART

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A picture of a cat is briefly flashed in flashed in the left visual field and a picture of a mouse is briefly flashed in the right visual field of a split-brain patient. The individual will be able to use her

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right hand to indicate she saw a mouse

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In a recent car accident, Tamiko sustained damage to his right cerebral hemisphere. This injury is most likely to reduce Tamiko's ability to

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facially express emotions

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A failure to recognize that one's arm or leg is part of ones self is most likely to be associated with damage to the

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right hemisphere

question

Someone is trying to add a long series of three digit numbers and is probably experiencing increased brain waves and bloodflow to which brain structure

answer

left hemisphere

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French psychiatrist Joseph Capgras described a patient who reported that impostors had replaced her husband, children, and herself. Her inability to recognize the faces of her closest family members or herself suggests that the

answer

right hemisphere of her brain was damaged

question

What is the interdisciplinary study of how brain activity is liked with our mental processes called?

answer

cognitive neuroscience

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Consciousness is

answer

our awareness of ourselves and our environment

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When looking at a flying bird, we are consciously aware of cognitive processing (its a bird) but not of our subconscious processing of the birds form, color, distance, and movement. This illustrates what psychologists call

answer

dual processing

question

Which cognitive neuroscience term reflects the idea that "much of our everyday thinking, feeling, and acting operates outside our conscious awareness?"

answer

dual processing

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