Psychology Learning Curve – Flashcards
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Chapter 3
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Neurons are functionally _____, in that they support ______.
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distinct, three major types
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Neurons _____ connected physically and communicate with each other at the ______.
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are not, synapse
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Diseases such as multiple sclerosis usually involve a deterioration of what part of the neuron?
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myelin sheath
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In this depiction of a neuron, the component labeled D is called _____, which is an insulating layer of glial cells that covers the axon and helps it transmit information more efficiently.
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myelin sheath
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Our ability to perceive the world around us relies not only on our sense, but more importantly on the way the ____ interprets the information
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brain
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Which of the following is a good analogy for the function of the myelin sheath?
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the rubber coating around an electrical wire
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The myelin sheath is made up of _____, which are support cells found in the nervous system.
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glial cells
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Katie has a rare neurological disease in which her neurons are able to receive new information and process it, but some of them just cannot pass the information along. This disease likely affects the _____ of the neuron.
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axon
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Victor is very cognitively inclined and loves to challenge his mind with new tasks. The components of his brain that process information in these new tasks are his _____.
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neurons
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The knob-like structures that branch out from an axon and release neurotransmitters are referred to as _____.
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terminal buttons
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Deterioration of acetylcholine-producing neurons has been associated with which of the following?
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Alzheimers
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Drugs are able to specifically target certain behaviors because neurons
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communicate along certain pathways and have specific receptor sites for different neurotransmitters.
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Which of the following is not a method by which leftover neurotransmitters leave the synapse?
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slow degredation over time
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Nicole went to the doctor because she suffered a seizure while she was at work. She was happy to hear the doctor tell her the seizure came from too much of the neurotransmitter _____, and not from a particular brain area.
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glutamate
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L-Dopa is a drug given to individuals with Parkinson's disease. This drug helps with the symptoms of the disease because it is an agonist for _____.
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dopamine
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If an axon is wrapped in a myelin sheath, which of the following would be true about the signal traveling down the axon?
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the signal would jump beteen breaks of the myelin sheath
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Which of the following has been related to the presence of too much glutamate?
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seizures
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Agonists are drugs that act to:
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increases the action of a neurotransmitter
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Runners sprinting short distances and handing off a flag is an analogy representing how the neural signal jumps between the _____, or the breaks in the myelin sheath.
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nodes of Ranvier
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In order for a neuron to respond to a particular neurotransmitter it must possess a(n) _____ for that neurochemical.
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receptor
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Which drug acts to both increase action of and block neurotransmitters, sometimes resulting in alteration of perceived visual images?
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methamphetamine
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Lily floats a note across a river to Karen instead of directly passing it from her hand to Karen's hand. If in this scenario the river represents the synapse and Lily represents the terminal button, the note represents the _____.
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neurotransmitter
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Jane's grandmother was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Jane wanted to do some research so that she could help her grandmother better understand this disease. Through her research, Jane found that Alzheimer's involves the deterioration of the neurotransmitter _____.
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acetylcholine
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Harry has been having problems eating lately and his doctor things it is likely because the neurotransmitter that regulates this behavior is probably not doing its job well. If the doctor wants to increase the activity of this neurotransmitter, he will most likely prescribe Harry a drug that acts as a(n):
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agonist
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L-Dopa is a drug given to individuals with Parkinson's disease. This drug helps with the symptoms of the disease because it is a(n) _____ for dopamine.
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agonist
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Patients suffering from Parkinson's disease have trouble with motor skills because they have problems with their dopamine levels. L-Dopa is used to treat the symptoms of the disease because it is a(n) _____ for the neurotransmitter, meaning it increases the activity of dopamine.
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agonist
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Patients suffering from Parkinson's disease have trouble with motor skills because they have problems with their dopamine levels. L-Dopa is used to treat the symptoms of the disease because it is an agonist for the neurotransmitter, meaning it increases the activity of _____.
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dopamine
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Billy took a drug that caused him to have hallucinations. It is possible that he took a type of drug called _____, because this acts to both increase and block effects of neurotransmitters involved in visual pathways.
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methamphetamine
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Natalie gets nervous being home alone and always feels as though she is hearing things in her home. Her increase in awareness of what's around her is likely due to the neurotransmitter _____.
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norepinephrine
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The sympathetic nervous system
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prepares the body for action in threatening situations
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Spinal reflexes are simple pathways in the nervous system that _____ generate muscle contractions.
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rapidly
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The _____ nervous system is the main set of nerves that carries involuntary and automatic commands that control blood vessels, body organs, and glands.
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autonomic
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Damage to the spinal cord:
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severs the connection from the brain to sensory and motor neurons.
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The central nervous system
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receives and processes sensory information and sends commands to other systems.
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Norah is cooking and accidentally grabs the pan in the wrong spot and burns herself. Norah's ability to rapidly jerk her hand away from the pan is due to her _____.
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spinal reflexes
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The _____ nervous system increases heart rate, suppresses immune system, and dilates pupils in the face of threat.
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sympathetic
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Missy became a quadriplegic after a spinal cord injury she suffered in a car accident. Based on the extent of her lost abilities, it is likely that the injury occurred:
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higher on her spinal cord
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Sherry arrived home at night and upon entering the house, her boyfriend jumped out from behind the door to scare her. She immediately reacted by screaming and punching him in the face. Sherry reacted this way as a result of her _____ nervous system.
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sympathetic
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Which of the following is NOT a function of the spinal cord?
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higher order processing
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What are three functions of the spinal cord
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keep person breathing, responding to pain, moving the msucles
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Neurotransmitters are chemical messengers that act to carry signals within the brain. Based on their location, these would be a component of the _____ nervous system.
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central
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After damage to the spinal cord, the amount of function that is lost:
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is based on the localization of the damage
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After reaching the safety of your car, you heart rate and breathing begin to slow down thanks to your _____ nervous system.
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parasympathetic
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Margo's dad recently suffered a spinal injury. She is worried that her dad will lose his ability to walk because that is what happened to Christopher Reeve after his spinal injury. Margo should not assume this will happen because:
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the location of the damage influences the skills affected.
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This image demonstrates how the human nervous system is organized into different subsystems. The two subsystems at level B are the _____, which is composed of the brain and spinal cord, and the _____, which connects the rest of the nervous system to the body's organs and muscles.
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central and peripheral
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Eddie has been feeling very lethargic lately, and the doctors think he may have a thyroid problem. They told him the problem could be originating in his brain or at the gland. If it's beginning in his brain, it's coming from his _____ nervous system, and if it's beginning in his gland, it's coming from his _____ system.
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central, peripheral
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Damage to the _____ influences the ability of the brain to receive information from the senses and direct movement.
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spinal cord
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Which of the following is the primary function of the midbrain?
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orienting toward or away from threatening stimuli
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Which major area of the brain controls complex cognitive, emotional, sensory, and motor functions?
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forebrain
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The medulla is an extension of the spinal cord into the skull that:
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controls heart rate, circulation, and respiration
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The _____ is the area of the brain that controls complex cognitive, emotional, sensory, and motor functions.
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forebrain
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The small cluster of neurons called the _____ regulates sleep, wakefulness, and levels of arousal.
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reticular formation
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In some psychology experiments, participants are presented with conflicting visual and audio information. In these cases, an area of the brain called the _____ gives more or less weight to these signals, determining which overrides the other.
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thalamus
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In one study, stimulation of the _____ in sleeping cats caused them to awaken immediately.
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reticular formation
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The area of the midbrain called the tectum:
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orients an organism in the enviroment
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Which of the following is the primary function of the forebrain?
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controlling complex cognitive, emotional sensory, and motor function
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The reticular formation is a small cluster of neurons that:
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regulates sleep, wakefulness, and levels of arousal.
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The thalamus is a subcortical structure that:
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filters and transmits information from the senses to the cerebral cortex
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The _____ is an area of the midbrain that orients an organism in the environment.
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tectum
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The _____ is/are the area(s) of the forebrain below the cerebral cortex, near the center of the brain.
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subcortial structures
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Which of the following is the primary function of the hindbrain?
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controlling most basic functions of life
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Henry is really skilled at mathematics and is able to do very complex calculations in his head. His _____ is the area of the brain allowing him to do this.
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forebrain
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Which major area of the brain controls complex cognitive, emotional, sensory, and motor functions?
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forebrain n
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The hindbrain is the area of the brain that coordinates information coming into and out of the _____.
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spinal cord
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Henry is really skilled at mathematics and is able to do very complex calculations in his head. His _____ is the area of the brain allowing him to do this.
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forebrain
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This area serves as a bridge from the cerebellum to the rest of the brain.
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pons
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Anesthetics work by reducing the activity in the _____.
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reticular formation
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Which of the following behaviors is the forebrain likely to be involved in?
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mentally rotating an object
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When Mary wakes up in the morning, she naturally turns toward the sun shining through the window. This behavior is likely guided by an area of her midbrain called the:
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tectum
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Which of the following behaviors is the midbrain likely to be involved in?
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turning away from a gory movie
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Which of the following first appeared in simple invertebrates like jellyfish?
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neurons
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Nurture refers to:
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the environmental influence on things like behavior, traits, and psychological disorders.
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Although the first neurons appeared in simple invertebrates like jellyfish, the first central nervous systems developed in:
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flatworms
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Which of the following statements about chromosomes is true?
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which chromosomes we inherit form our parents is random
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Maria is studying neuroscience and is in a class that covers the evolution of the brain. She has been assigned the task of looking at a brain and assigning it to a set of categories. The brain distinctly has different components: a hindbrain, a midbrain, and a forebrain. Based on this observation, to which of the following categories should Maria guess the brain belongs?
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vertebrates
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Barry is very shy and thinks it is because his parents never really encouraged him to interact with others and make a lot of friends. Barry's thoughts are consistent with the _____ view of behavior.
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nurture
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The _____ brain is hierarchically organized, while the invertebrate brain is not.
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vertebrate
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Michelle has a very outgoing personality and claims that she inherited this trait from her mother. Michelle's view is consistent with the _____ view of behavior, which argues for genetic influence on traits and behavior.
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nature
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What is true of species as the forebrain shows more refinement and differentiation?
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species perform more complex functions
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Missy is pregnant and when she visited the doctor, he found that she was carrying twins. He tells her they are dizygotic twins, meaning that:
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they will look somewhat similar like regular siblings, because they share half their genes.
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_____ refers to the environmental influence on behaviors, traits, and psychological disorders.
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nurture
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Monozygotic twins share _____ of their genes.
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100%
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Which of the following is NOT one of the main methods for understanding how the brain affects behavior?
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watching a person's behavior while they are sleeping
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Children with autism may have impairments in their _____ based on their inability to understand the intention behind the actions of others.
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mirror neurons
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The left hemisphere is specialized for _____ processing.
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language
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Dr. Gardner is doing a study on perception and wants to measure brain activity for cortical structures that are on the outer area of the brain. He can't afford to use equipment that gives good resolution, but really only needs information about action potentials as an indicator of activity, so he decides to use:
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an EEG
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_____ identifies brain activity by detecting a radioactive substance injected into the blood.
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Positron emission tomography (PET)
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Phineas Gage primarily suffered damage to his _____ lobe.
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frontal
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Which of the following methods is the BEST to use to understand the response of an individual neuron to a stimulus?
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single cell recording
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A researcher who wants the most preferred and accurate method of localizing brain activity would be best to buy a(n) _____ machine.
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fMRI
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_____ are neurons in the visual cortex that respond to certain aspects of visual stimuli.
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feature detect
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Split-brain patients have trouble completing some tasks in experiments involving presentation of different images to each eye, because their hemispheres are not able to _____.
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communicate
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Hubel and Wiesel used a device to measure activity of an individual neuron in the _____ lobe of anesthetized cats.
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occipital
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Brain imaging techniques have allowed researchers to discover that an area of the brain called the _____ activates when people look at faces.
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fusiform gyrus
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A(n) _____ is a device used to record electrical activity in the brain.
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EEG
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An area of the brain called the amygdala shows activation when:
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a person sees something emotional
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A split-brain patient is shown a picture of a dog on the left side of a computer screen and a picture of a tree on the right side of a computer screen. When asked to say what object he saw he will report tree and when asked to use his right hand to draw the object he saw he will draw a picture of a _____.
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tree
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Functional magnetic imaging (fMRI) directly measures the:
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activity of activity of oxygenated hemoglobin in the blood in the brain and body.
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Based on what researchers learned from Phineas Gage's accident, a person with general damage to the frontal lobe would likely develop which of the following?
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impairment in decision making abilities
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_____ brain imaging provides information about the basic composition of the brain, while _____ brain imaging provides information about activity going on in the brain.
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structural, functional
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Which of the following is NOT a reason that fMRI is preferred over PET?
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fMRI is more accurate
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Gary had a stroke and is now unable to recognize any of his family members. Gary likely suffered damage to an area of the brain called the _____.
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fusiform gyrus
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Chapter 1
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Chapter 1
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Chapter 2
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Chapter 2
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Chapter 4
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Chapter 4
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Chapter 5
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Chapter 5
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Chapter 6
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Chapter 6
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Chapter 7
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Chapter 7
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Chapter 9
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Chapter 9
