question

The vast majority of neurons in the body's information system are

answer

interneurons.

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Natural, opiatelike neurotransmitters linked to pain control are called

answer

endorphins

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3. Drugs that block the reuptake of serotonin will thereby increase the concentration of serotonin molecules in the

answer

synaptic gaps.

question

Botox injections smooth facial wrinkles because botulin is a(n)

answer

a. ACh antagonist.

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In stressful situations, the sympathetic nervous system ________ blood sugar levels and ________ the pupils of the eyes.

answer

raises; dilates

question

While listening to operatic solos, musicians process the lyrics and the tunes in separate brain areas. This most clearly illustrates the functioning of different

answer

c. neural networks.

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The endocrine system consists of

answer

d. glands.

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Which of the following would be most useful for detecting the brain areas that are most active as a person performs mathematical calculations?

answer

c. a PET scan

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Which region of the brain appears to have the oldest evolutionary history?

answer

brainstem

question

After suffering an accidental brain injury, Kira has difficulty walking in a smooth and coordinated manner. She has probably suffered damage to her

answer

hypothalamus

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Which portion of the cerebral cortex is most directly involved in making plans and formulating moral judgments?

answer

b. frontal lobes

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13. The regions of the parietal lobes that are involved in mathematical and spatial reasoning are known as

answer

d. association areas.

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14. The successful functioning of children who have experienced the surgical removal of an entire cerebral hemisphere best illustrates the value of

answer

c. plasticity.

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15. Speech is processed primarily in the right hemisphere by the ________ of those who are left-handed and by the ________ of those who are right-handed.

answer

a. minority; minority

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1. An axon transmits messages ________ the cell body and a dendrite transmits messages ________ the cell body.

answer

a. away from; toward

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2. Multiple sclerosis is a disease that is most directly associated with the degeneration of:

answer

a. the myelin sheath.

question

3. Depressed mood states are linked to ________ levels of serotonin and ________ levels of norepinephrine.

answer

low; low

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4. A drug that blocks the reuptake of a particular neurotransmitter is called a(n):

answer

agonist

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5. The peripheral nervous system consists of:

answer

d. sensory and motor neurons.

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6. The autonomic nervous system most directly controls:

answer

d. bladder contractions.

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7. Although Ron has no genital sensations, he is capable of an erection if his genitals are stimulated. Ron's experience is most indicative of a:

answer

b. severed spinal cord.

question

8. The release of epinephrine and norepinephrine ________ blood pressure and _______ blood sugar levels.

answer

a. raises; raises

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9. In order to monitor electrical activity in the brain that is triggered by hearing one's own name, researchers would make use of a(n):

answer

c. EEG.

question

10. Research has suggested that a reward deficiency syndrome may contribute to:

answer

b. alcoholism.

question

11. Which lobe of the cerebral cortex is most directly involved in speaking?

answer

b. frontal

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12. Following massive damage to his frontal lobes, Phineas Gage was most strikingly debilitated by:

answer

d. irritability.

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13. In which of the following parts of the brain would a lesion most likely result in aphasia?

answer

c. Wernicke's area

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14. Brain scans indicate that well-practiced pianists have a larger-than-usual auditory cortex area that encodes piano sounds. This best illustrates:

answer

d. plasticity.

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15. Research with split-brain patients led Michael Gazzaniga to conclude that the ________ typically constructs the theories people offer to explain their own behaviors.

answer

b. left cerebral hemisphere.

question

1. Ions are ________ charged molecules located ________ the axon.

answer

a. negatively; inside

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2. An axon is polarized when:

answer

a. the inside of the axon is electrically negative with respect to the outside.

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3. During depolarization, ________ molecules rush into the axon; during repolarization, ________ molecules rush out of the axon.

answer

c. sodium; potassium

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4. The process by which a single neuron relays messages to other neurons is called:

answer

e. synaptic transmission.

question

5. In the process of communication between neurons, neurotransmitter molecules are released into the gap between neurons by the:

answer

d. synaptic vesicles.

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1. The left hemisphere of a split-brain patient receives visual input only from the ________ visual field of ________.

answer

e. right; both right and left eyes

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2. Right-handed split-brain patients are able to:

answer

a. name unseen objects placed in their right hands but not objects placed in their left hands.

question

3. Evidence that the left hemisphere is especially effective at processing language is provided by the fact that split-brain patients are able to:

answer

c. read words more easily when they are flashed briefly in their right rather than their left visual field.

question

4. Normal people who have been blindfolded can name an object placed in their left hand because:

answer

b. information about the object is transferred across the corpus callosum to the left hemisphere of the brain.

question

5. A right-handed split-brain patient can most effectively assemble a puzzle with the ________ hand because the ________ hemisphere of the brain excels at spatial tasks.

answer

c. left; right

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1. Which of the following are functions of the cerebellum?

answer

c. coordinate balance and movement

question

2. The hippocampus, amygdala, and hypothalamus are all part of the:

answer

a. limbic system.

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3. The limbic system structure that influences aggression and fear is the:

answer

d. amygdala.

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4. The part of the cerebral cortex that controls voluntary muscle movements is the:

answer

d. motor cortex.

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5. If someone has difficulty understanding spoken language, he or she may have damage to:

answer

c. Wernicke's area.

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1. In humans and monkeys, the premotor cortex is involved in:

answer

c. planning movements.

question

2. Mirror neurons that are found in the premotor cortex of monkeys:

answer

c. fire excitedly when the monkey watches a movement just as they did when the monkey performed the same movement.

question

3. In humans, mirror neurons might enable:

answer

a. observational learning.

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4. The area in the human brain that corresponds to the F5 area in the monkey's brain is:

answer

d. Broca's area.

question

5. Evolutionary psychologists believe mirror neurons may have played an important role in:

answer

d. the evolution of language.

question

What are neurons, and how do they transmit information?

answer

Neurons are the elementary components of the nervous system, the body's speedy electrochemical information system. Sensory neurons carry incoming information from sense receptors to the brain and spinal cord, and motor neurons carry information from the brain and spinal cord out to the muscles and glands. Interneurons communicate within the brain and spinal cord and between sensory and motor neurons. A neuron sends signals through its axons, and receives signals through its branching dendrites. If the combined signals are strong enough, the neuron fires, transmitting an electrical impulse (the action potential) down its axon by means of a chemistry-to-electricity process. The neuron's reaction is an all-or-none process.

question

How do nerve cells communicate with other nerve cells?

answer

When action potentials reach the end of an axon (the axon terminals), they stimulate the release of neurotransmitters. These chemical messengers carry a message from the sending neuron across a synapse to receptor sites on a receiving neuron. The sending neuron, in a process called reuptake, then normally absorbs the excess neurotransmitter molecules in the synaptic gap. The receiving neuron, if the signals from that neuron and others are strong enough, generates its own action potential and relays the message to other cells.

question

How do neurotransmitters influence behavior, and how do drugs and other chemicals affect neurotransmission?

answer

Each neurotransmitter travels a designated path in the brain and has a particular effect on behavior and emotions. Acetylcholine affects muscle action, learning, and memory. Endorphins are natural opiates released in response to pain and exercise. Drugs and other chemicals affect communication at the synapse. Agonists excite by mimicking particular neurotransmitters or by blocking their reuptake. Antagonists inhibit a particular neurotransmitter's release or block its effect.

question

What are the functions of the nervous system's main divisions?

answer

One major division of the nervous system is the central nervous system (CNS), the brain and spinal cord. The other is the peripheral nervous system (PNS), which connects the CNS to the rest of the body by means of nerves. The peripheral nervous system has two main divisions. The somatic nervous system enables voluntary control of the skeletal muscles. The autonomic nervous system, through its sympathetic and parasympathetic divisions, controls involuntary muscles and glands. Neurons cluster into working networks.

question

How does the endocrine system—the body's slower information system—transmit its messages?

answer

The endocrine system is a set of glands that secrete hormones into the bloodstream, where they travel through the body and affect other tissues, including the brain. The endocrine system's master gland, the pituitary, influences hormone release by other glands. In an intricate feedback system, the brain's hypothalamus influences the pituitary gland, which influences other glands, which release hormones, which in turn influence the brain.

question

How do neuroscientists study the brain's connections to behavior and mind?

answer

Clinical observations and lesioning reveal the general effects of brain damage. MRI scans now reveal brain structures, and EEG, PET, and fMRI (functional MRI) recordings reveal brain activity.

question

What are the functions of important lower-level brain structures?

answer

The brainstem is the oldest part of the brain and is responsible for automatic survival functions. Its components are the medulla (which controls heartbeat and breathing), the pons (which helps coordinate movements), and the reticular formation (which affects arousal). The thalamus, the brain's sensory switchboard, sits above the brainstem. The cerebellum, attached to the rear of the brainstem, coordinates muscle movement and helps process sensory information. The limbic system is linked to emotions, memory, and drives. Its neural centers include the amygdala (involved in responses of aggression and fear) and the hypothalamus (involved in various bodily maintenance functions, pleasurable rewards, and the control of the hormonal system). The pituitary (the "master gland") controls the hypothalamus by stimulating it to trigger the release of hormones. The hippocampus processes memory.

question

What functions are served by the various cerebral cortex regions?

answer

In each hemisphere the cerebral cortex has four lobes, the frontal, parietal, occipital, and temporal. Each lobe performs many functions and interacts with other areas of the cortex. The motor cortex controls voluntary movements. The sensory cortex registers and processes body sensations. Body parts requiring precise control (in the motor cortex) or those that are especially sensitive (in the sensory cortex) occupy the greatest amount of space. Most of the brain's cortex—the major portion of each of the four lobes—is devoted to uncommitted association areas, which integrate information involved in learning, remembering, thinking, and other higher-level functions.

question

To what extent can a damaged brain reorganize itself?

answer

If one hemisphere is damaged early in life, the other will pick up many of its functions. This plasticity diminishes later in life. Some brain areas are capable of neurogenesis (forming new neurons).

question

What do split brains reveal about the functions of our two brain hemispheres?

answer

Split-brain research (experiments on people with a severed corpus callosum) has confirmed that in most people, the left hemisphere is the more verbal, and that the right hemisphere excels in visual perception and the recognition of emotion. Studies of healthy people with intact brains confirm that each hemisphere makes unique contributions to the integrated functioning of the brain.

question

How does handedness relate to brain organization?

answer

About 10 percent of us are left-handed. Almost all right-handers process speech in the left hemisphere, as do more than half of all left-handers.

question

biological psychology:

answer

a branch of psychology concerned with the links between biology and behavior. (Some biological psychologists call themselves behavioral neuroscientists, neuropsychologists, behavior geneticists, physiological psychologists, or biopsychologists.) (p. 48)

question

neuron

answer

a nerve cell; the basic building block of the nervous system. (p. 49)

question

sensory neurons

answer

neurons that carry incoming information from the sensory receptors to the brain and spinal cord. (p. 49)

question

motor neurons:

answer

neurons that carry outgoing information from the brain and spinal cord to the muscles and glands. (p. 49)

question

interneurons:

answer

neurons within the brain and spinal cord that communicate internally and intervene between the sensory inputs and motor outputs. (p. 49)

question

dendrite:

answer

the bushy, branching extensions of a neuron that receive messages and conduct impulses toward the cell body. (p. 49)

question

axon:

answer

the extension of a neuron, ending in branching terminal fibers, through which messages pass to other neurons or to muscles or glands. (p. 49)

question

myelin sheath

answer

a layer of fatty tissue segmentally encasing the fibers of many neurons; enables vastly greater transmission speed of neural impulses as the impulse hops from one node to the next. (p. 49)

question

action potential:

answer

a neural impulse; a brief electrical charge that travels down an axon. (p. 49)

question

threshold:

answer

the level of stimulation required to trigger a neural impulse. (p. 50)

question

synapse: [SIN-aps]

answer

the junction between the axon tip of the sending neuron and the dendrite or cell body of the receiving neuron. The tiny gap at this junction is called the synaptic gap or synaptic cleft. (p. 51)

question

neurotransmitters:

answer

chemical messengers that cross the synaptic gaps between neurons. When released by the sending neuron, neurotransmitters travel across the synapse and bind to receptor sites on the receiving neuron, thereby influencing whether that neuron will generate a neural impulse. (p. 51)

question

reuptake:

answer

a neurotransmitter's reabsorption by the sending neuron. (p. 51)

question

endorphins:

answer

"morphine within"—natural, opiatelike neurotransmitters linked to pain control and to pleasure. (p. 53)

question

nervous system:

answer

the body's speedy, electrochemical communication network, consisting of all the nerve cells of the peripheral and central nervous systems. (p. 55)

question

central nervous system (CNS):

answer

the brain and spinal cord. (p. 55)

question

peripheral nervous system (PNS):

answer

the sensory and motor neurons that connect the central nervous system (CNS) to the rest of the body. (p. 55)

question

nerves:

answer

bundled axons that form neural "cables" connecting the central nervous system with muscles, glands, and sense organs. (p. 55)

question

somatic nervous system:

answer

the division of the peripheral nervous system that controls the body's skeletal muscles. Also called the skeletal nervous system. (p. 55)

question

autonomic: [aw-tuh-NAHM-ik] nervous system

answer

the part of the peripheral nervous system that controls the glands and the muscles of the internal organs (such as the heart). Its sympathetic division arouses; its parasympathetic division calms. (p. 55)

question

sympathetic nervous system:

answer

the division of the autonomic nervous system that arouses the body, mobilizing its energy in stressful situations. (p. 55)

question

parasympathetic nervous system:

answer

the division of the autonomic nervous system that calms the body, conserving its energy. (p. 56)

question

reflex:

answer

a simple, automatic response to a sensory stimulus, such as the knee-jerk response. (p. 57)

question

endocrine: [EN-duh-krin] system

answer

the body's "slow" chemical communication system; a set of glands that secrete hormones into the bloodstream. (p. 58)

question

hormones:

answer

chemical messengers that are manufactured by the endocrine glands, travel through the bloodstream, and affect other tissues. (p. 58)

question

adrenal: [ah-DREEN-el] glands

answer

a pair of endocrine glands that sit just above the kidneys and secrete hormones (epinephrine and nor-epinephrine) that help arouse the body in times of stress. (p. 59)

question

pituitary gland:

answer

the endocrine system's most influential gland. Under the influence of the hypothalamus, the pituitary regulates growth and controls other endocrine glands. (p. 59)

question

lesion: [LEE-zhuhn]

answer

tissue destruction. A brain lesion is a naturally or experimentally caused destruction of brain tissue. (p. 61)

question

electroencephalogram (EEG):

answer

an amplified recording of the waves of electrical activity that sweep across the brain's surface. These waves are measured by electrodes placed on the scalp. (p. 61)

question

PET (positron emission tomography) scan:

answer

a visual display of brain activity that detects where a radioactive form of glucose goes while the brain performs a given task. (p. 62)

question

MRI (magnetic resonance imaging):

answer

a technique that uses magnetic fields and radio waves to produce computer-generated images of soft tissue. MRI scans show brain anatomy. (p. 62)

question

fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging):

answer

a technique for revealing bloodflow and, therefore, brain activity by comparing successive MRI scans. fMRI scans show brain function. (p. 62)

question

brainstem:

answer

the oldest part and central core of the brain, beginning where the spinal cord swells as it enters the skull; the brainstem is responsible for automatic survival functions. (p. 63)

question

medulla: [muh-DUL-uh]

answer

the base of the brainstem; controls heart-beat and breathing. (p. 63)

question

reticular formation:

answer

a nerve network in the brainstem that plays an important role in controlling arousal. (p. 63)

question

thalamus: [THAL-uh-muss]

answer

the brain's sensory switchboard, located on top of the brainstem; it directs messages to the sensory receiving areas in the cortex and transmits replies to the cerebellum and medulla. (p. 64)

question

cerebellum: [sehr-uh-BELL-um] t

answer

the "little brain" at the rear of the brainstem; functions include processing sensory input and coordinating movement output and balance. (p. 64)

question

limbic system:

answer

neural system (including the hippocampus, amygdala, and hypothalamus) located below the cerebral hemispheres; associated with emotions and drives. (p. 65)

question

amygdala: [uh-MIG-duh-la]

answer

two lima bean-sized neural clusters in the limbic system; linked to emotion. (p. 65)

question

hypothalamus: [hi-po-THAL-uh-muss]

answer

a neural structure lying below (hypo) the thalamus; it directs several maintenance activities (eating, drinking, body temperature), helps govern the endocrine system via the pituitary gland, and is linked to emotion and reward. (p. 66)

question

cerebral: [seh-REE-bruhl]

answer

cortex the intricate fabric of interconnected neural cells covering the cerebral hemispheres; the body's ultimate control and information-processing center. (p. 68)

question

glial cells (glia):

answer

cells in the nervous system that support, nourish, and protect neurons. (p. 68)

question

frontal lobes:

answer

portion of the cerebral cortex lying just behind the forehead; involved in speaking and muscle movements and in making plans and judgments. (p. 68)

question

parietal: [puh-RYE-uh-tuhl] lobes

answer

portion of the cerebral cortex lying at the top of the head and toward the rear; receives sensory input for touch and body position. (p. 68)

question

occipital: [ahk-SIP-uh-tuhl]

answer

lobes portion of the cerebral cortex lying at the back of the head; includes areas that receive information from the visual fields. (p. 68)

question

temporal lobes:

answer

portion of the cerebral cortex lying roughly above the ears; includes the auditory areas, each receiving information primarily from the opposite ear. (p. 68)

question

motor cortex:

answer

an area at the rear of the frontal lobes that controls voluntary movements. (p. 69)

question

sensory cortex:

answer

area at the front of the parietal lobes that registers and processes body touch and movement sensations. (p. 71)

question

association areas:

answer

areas of the cerebral cortex that are not involved in primary motor or sensory functions; rather, they are involved in higher mental functions such as learning, remembering, thinking, and speaking. (p. 72)

question

plasticity:

answer

the brain's ability to change, especially during childhood, by reorganizing after damage or by building new pathways based on experience. (p. 73)

question

neurogenesis:

answer

the formation of new neurons. (p. 74)

question

corpus callosum: [KOR-pus kah-LOW-sum]

answer

the large band of neural fibers connecting the two brain hemispheres and carrying messages between them. (p. 75)

question

split brain:

answer

a condition resulting from surgery that isolates the brain's two hemispheres by cutting the fibers (mainly those of the corpus callosum) connecting them. (p. 75)

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