6. Other Sensory Systems

Question 1

Where are the auditory receptors, known as hair cells?

a. In the auditory nerve
b. Along a membrane of the cochlea
c. On the tympanic membrane
d. In the pinna

Answer 1

b. Along a membrane of the cochlea

Question 2

The frequency theory of pitch perception applies to what type of sound?

a. Low-frequency sounds, up to about 100 Hz
b. Medium-frequency sounds, from about 100 to 4000 Hz
c. High-frequency sounds, above 4000 Hz
d. All sounds

Answer 2

a. Low-frequency sounds, up to about 100 Hz

Question 3

Which brain abnormality has been demonstrated in people with amusia?

a. All the axons in the auditory nerve respond equally to every sound.
b. Information from the auditory nerve does not reach the auditory cortex.
c. The auditory cortex is smaller than average.
d. Fewer than average axons connect the auditory cortex to the frontal cortex.

Answer 3

d. Fewer than average axons connect the auditory cortex to the frontal cortex.

Question 4

Absolute pitch is more common among what type of people?

a. People who had a period of auditory deprivation during early childhood
b. People with extensive musical training beginning in early childhood
c. People who learned two languages beginning in early childhood
d. People with many older brothers and sisters

Answer 4

b. People with extensive musical training beginning in early childhood

Question 5

What happens to people after damage to the primary auditory cortex?

a. They become totally deaf.
b. They can identify and localize simple sounds, but they cannot understand speech or enjoy music.
c. Another part of the brain takes over, restoring normal hearing.

Answer 5

b. They can identify and localize simple sounds, but they cannot understand speech or enjoy music.

Question 6

What is meant by a “tonotopic map”?

a. Each location in the auditory cortex responds to a preferred tone, and these areas are arranged in order from low pitches to high pitches.
b. The auditory cortex has axons back and forth to every other part of the cortex and several nuclei of the thalamus.
c. Each neuron in the auditory cortex has a distinctive pattern of responding depending on the location of the source of sound in space.
d. Each cell in the auditory cortex has a “partner” cell in the visual cortex.

Answer 6

a. Each location in the auditory cortex responds to a preferred tone, and these areas are arranged in order from low pitches to high pitches.

Question 7

Infections or bone growth that prevent the middle ear from transmitting sounds properly to the cochlea produce which type of deafness?

a. Nerve deafness
b. Conductive deafness

Answer 7

b. Conductive deafness

Question 8

Many older people have trouble understanding speech in spite of wearing hearing aids, especially under which circumstance?

a. Early in the morning
b. A brightly lit room
c. A noisy room
d. A male voice

Answer 8

c. A noisy room

Question 9

Localizing sounds by intensity differences works best for which pitches?

a. High-frequency sounds
b. Intermediate-frequency sounds
c. Low-frequency sounds

Answer 9

a. High-frequency sounds

Question 10

Which of the following activities would be most impaired after damage to the vestibular system?

a. Reading street signs while walking
b. Detecting changes in the saltiness of foods
c. Memorizing a poem and saying it aloud
d. Tying one’s shoelaces

Answer 10

a. Reading street signs while walking

Question 11

Why can women on average detect thinner grooves with their fingers than men do?

a. Most men have calluses on their fingers.
b. On average, women’s fingers are smaller.
c. Women pay closer attention to the sense of touch than men do.
d. The somatosensory cortex is larger in women than in men, on average.

Answer 11

b. On average, women’s fingers are smaller.

Question 12

what extent does the nervous system maintain separate representations of touch, heat, pain, and other aspects of somatic sensation?

a. Not at all. A single kind of receptor responds to all kinds of somatic sensation.
b. The receptors vary, but all kinds of sensation merge in the spinal cord.
c. The spinal cord maintains separate representations, but the various types merge in the cerebral cortex.
d. Different types of sensation remain separate even in the cerebral cortex.

Answer 12

d. Different types of sensation remain separate even in the cerebral cortex.

Question 13

If a disease damages someone’s myelinated somatosensory axons without damaging the unmyelinated axons, what kind of sensation would the person lose?

a. Temperature
b. Pain
c. Itch
d. Touch

Answer 13

d. Touch

Question 14

Suppose you suffer a cut through the spinal cord on the left side only. For the part of the body below that cut, you will lose pain sensation on the ___ side of the body and touch sensation on the ___ side.

a. right . . . right
b. right . . . left
c. left . . . left
d. left . . . right

Answer 14

b. right . . . left

Question 15

Hurt feelings activate the same brain areas as which sensation?

a. Itch
b. Hearing
c. Pain
d. Olfaction

Answer 15

c. Pain

Question 16

Do placebos relieve pain just by relaxation? And what is the evidence?

a. Yes. People who are already relaxed gain no benefits from placebos.
b. Yes. Placebos are effective only for people who are high in neuroticism.
c. No. A placebo can relieve pain in one body part without affecting another.
d. No. People who take a placebo become even more nervous than before.

Answer 16

c. No. A placebo can relieve pain in one body part without affecting another.

Question 17

Which chemical relieves pain by damaging the mitochondria in heat receptors?

a. Acetaminophen
b. Opiates
c. Cannabinoids
d. Capsaicin

Answer 17

d. Capsaicin

Question 18

Why do many people suffer chronic pain long after an injury has healed?

a. The brain has learned to increase its pain perception.
b. The skin exhausts its supply of histamine.
c. They took morphine too soon after a surgical operation.

Answer 18

a. The brain has learned to increase its pain perception.

Question 19

Which sense has the slowest axons to the brain?

a. Itch
b. Olfaction
c. Taste
d. Hearing

Answer 19

a. Itch

Question 20

Which type of sensation inhibits itch sensations?

a. Olfaction
b. Taste
c. Pain
d. Hearing

Answer 20

c. Pain

Question 21

How long does a taste receptor last?

a. From one meal to the next
b. Two weeks or less, the same as skin cells
c. Approximately a year
d. A lifetime

Answer 21

b. Two weeks or less, the same as skin cells

Question 22

What do the observations about taste adaptation and cross-adaptation imply about taste receptors?

a. The receptors sensitive to one taste are different from those for another taste.
b. The same receptors contribute to all tastes.

Answer 22

a. The receptors sensitive to one taste are different from those for another taste.

Question 23

Umami refers to the taste of which substance?

a. Sulfates
b. Chocolate
c. Fats
d. Glutamate

Answer 23

d. Glutamate

Question 24

Why is it possible for us to taste a wide variety of chemicals as bitter?

a. All bitter substances are chemically similar.
b. We have 25 or more types of bitter receptors.
c. We have a bitter receptor that is versatile enough to detect many types of chemicals.
d. Sweet and sour receptors can detect bitter substances.

Answer 24

b. We have 25 or more types of bitter receptors.

Question 25

Which mammalian species is known to have very few taste receptors?

a. Dolphins
b. Cats
c. Rats
d. Chimpanzees

Answer 25

a. Dolphins

Question 26

How do we manage to smell a wide variety of chemicals?

a. An olfactory receptor varies the amplitude and velocity of its action potentials to indicate the type of odor.
b. The difference in response between the left nostril and the right nostril identifies the odor.
c. The ratio of firing among three types of olfactory receptors identifies the odor.
d. We have hundreds of types of olfactory receptors.

Answer 26

d. We have hundreds of types of olfactory receptors

Question 27

When a new olfactory receptor forms to replace one that died, does it connect to the same site in the olfactory bulb as the previous receptor? If so, how?

a. No, it connects at random with a site in the olfactory bulb.
b. It connects to the correct site because only one neuron in the olfactory bulb has a vacancy.
c. It finds the correct site by chemical attraction.
d. Each axon connects to the nearest neuron in the olfactory bulb.

Answer 27

c. It finds the correct site by chemical attraction.

Question 28

On average, who detects odors better than other people?

a. On average, left-handers detect odors better than right-handers do.
b. On average, older people detect odors better than young people do.
c. On average, women detect odors better than men do.
d. On average, people with Parkinson’s disease detect odors better than other people do.

Answer 28

c. On average, women detect odors better than men do.

Question 29

To what stimulus does the vomeronasal organ respond?

a. Pheromones
b. Pain and temperature
c. Tilt and acceleration of the head
d. Taste

Answer 29

a. Pheromones

Question 30

What is the best-documented example of an effect of pheromones on humans?

a. The smell of a sweaty man increases a woman’s sexual arousal.
b. People tend to be sexually attracted to someone who smells like members of their own family.
c. Women who spend much time together tend to synchronize their menstrual cycles.
d. Men can detect a woman’s sexual interest by pheromones she secretes.

Answer 30

c. Women who spend much time together tend to synchronize their menstrual cycles.

Question 31

What behavioral evidence indicates that synesthesia is real, and not just something that people claim to experience?

a. Some people’s associations match the colors of refrigerator magnets they played with in childhood.
b. Most people change their synesthetic associations from one year to the next.
c. People with synesthesia can find a 2 among 5s, or a 6 among 8s, faster than usual if they have different synesthetic colors, and slower if they have the same color.
d. It is easy to teach someone to develop a synesthesia.

Answer 31

c. People with synesthesia can find a 2 among 5s, or a 6 among 8s, faster than usual if they have different

Question 32

Is a synesthetic color like seeing a real color? If not, how is it different?

a. Yes. It is the same as a real color.
b. No. It is like thinking about the color.
c. No. Someone who synesthetically sees a certain letter as yellow can still see the letter on yellow paper.
d. No. It appears only after the person has stared at the letter or word for a few seconds.

Answer 32

c. No. Someone who synesthetically sees a certain letter as yellow can still see the letter on yellow paper.

Question 33

Through which mechanism do we perceive low-frequency sounds (up to about 100 Hz)?

Answer 33

At low frequencies, the basilar membrane vibrates in synchrony with the sound waves, and each responding axon in the auditory nerve sends one action potential per sound wave.

Question 34

How do we perceive middle-frequency sounds (100 to 4000 Hz)?

Answer 34

At intermediate frequencies, no single axon fires an action potential for each sound wave, but different axons fire for different waves, and so a volley (group) of axons fires for each wave.

Question 35

How do we perceive high-frequency sounds (above 4000 Hz)?

Answer 35

At high frequencies, the sound causes maximum vibration for the hair cells at one location along the basilar membrane.

Question 36

What evidence suggests that amusia depends on special experiences?

Answer 36

Absolute pitch occurs almost entirely among people who had early musical training and is also more common among people who speak tonal languages, which require greater attention to pitch.

Question 37

How is the auditory cortex like the visual cortex

Answer 37

Any of the following: (a) Both vision and hearing have “what” and “where” pathways. (b) Areas in the superior temporal cortex analyze movement of both visual and auditory stimuli. Damage there can cause motion blindness or motion deafness. (c) The visual cortex is essential for visual imagery, and the primary auditory cortex is essential for auditory imagery. (d) Both the visual and auditory cortices need normal experience early in life to develop normal sensitivities.

Question 38

What is one way in which the auditory and visual cortices differ?

Answer 38

Damage to the primary visual cortex leaves someone blind, but damage to the primary auditory cortex merely impairs perception of complex sounds without making the person deaf.

Question 39

What kinds of sounds most strongly activate the auditory cortex?

Answer 39

Most cells respond best to complex sounds that include harmonics. Outside the primary auditory cortex, most cells respond to “auditory objects” that mean something.

Question 40

Which type of hearing loss—conductive deafness or nerve deafness—would be more common among members of rock bands and why?

Answer 40

Nerve deafness is common among rock band members because their frequent exposure to loud noises causes damage to the cells of the ear.

Question 41

Why do many older people have trouble hearing speech in spite of wearing hearing aids?

Answer 41

In some cases the language areas of the cortex have become less responsive. Also, auditory areas of the brain have decreased levels of inhibitory neurotransmitters, and the result is decreased ability to focus attention on one speaker in a noisy environment.

Question 42

Which method of sound localization is more effective for an animal with a small head? Which is more effective for an animal with a large head? Why?

Answer 42

An animal with a small head localizes sounds mainly by differences in loudness because the ears are not far enough apart for differences in onset time to be very large. An animal with a large head localizes sounds mainly by differences in onset time because its ears are far apart and well suited to noting differences in phase or onset time.

Question 43

People with damage to the vestibular system have trouble reading street signs while walking. Why?

Answer 43

The vestibular system enables the brain to shift eye movements to compensate for changes in head position. Without feedback about head position, a person would not be able to correct the eye movements, and the experience would be like watching a jiggling book page.

Question 44

How do jalapeños produce a hot sensation?

Answer 44

Jalapeños and other hot peppers contain capsaicin, which stimulates receptors that are sensitive to heat.

Question 45

In what way is somatosensation several senses instead of one?

Answer 45

We have several types of receptors, sensitive to touch, heat, and so forth, and different parts of the somatosensory cortex respond to different kinds of skin stimulation.

Question 46

What evidence suggests that the somatosensory cortex is essential for the conscious perception of touch?

Answer 46

People are conscious of only those touch stimuli that produce sufficient arousal in the primary somatosensory cortex. Also, cells in the somatosensory cortex respond to what someone experiences, even if it is an illusion.

Question 47

Suppose you suffer a cut through the spinal cord on the right side only. For the part of the body below that cut, will you lose pain sensation on the left side or the right side? Will you lose touch sensation on the left side or the right side?

Answer 47

You will lose pain sensation on the left side of the body because pain information crosses the spinal cord at once. You will lose touch sensation on the right side because touch pathways remain on the ipsilateral side until they reach the medulla.

Question 48

In what ways are hurt feelings similar to physical pain?

Answer 48

Hurt feelings activate the cingulate cortex, just as physical pain does. Also, acetaminophen relieves hurt feelings

Question 49

Why do opiates relieve dull pain but not sharp pain?

Answer 49

.Endorphins block messages from the thinnest pain fibers, conveying dull pain, but not from thicker fibers, carrying sharp pain.

Question 50

How do the pain-relieving effects of cannabinoids differ from those of opiates?

Answer 50

Unlike opiates, cannabinoids exert most of their pain-relieving effects in the peripheral nervous system, not the CNS.

Question 51

How do ibuprofen and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs decrease pain?

Answer 51

Anti-inflammatory drugs block the release of chemicals from damaged tissues, which would otherwise magnify the effects of pain receptors.

Question 52

Why is it preferable to start taking morphine before an operation instead of waiting until later?

Answer 52

The morphine will decrease the barrage of pain stimuli that might sensitize pain neurons

Question 53

Do opiates increase or decrease itch sensations?

Answer 53

Opiates increase itch by blocking pain sensations. (Pain decreases itch.)

Question 54

Suppose someone suffers from constant itching. What kinds of drugs might help relieve it?

Answer 54

Two kinds of drugs might help—histamines or capsaicin—depending on the source of the itch. Theoretically, drugs that block gastrin-releasing peptide might help.

Question 55

Of the following, which one uses an across-fiber pattern code?

a. Flipping a light switch
b. Playing a piano
c. Dialing a telephone number

Answer 55

Dialing a telephone number is an example of an across-fiber pattern code, because the result depends on the combination of numbers. No one of its numbers by itself has a clear meaning.

Question 56

Suppose you find a new, unusual-tasting food. How could you determine whether we have a special receptor for that food or whether we taste it with a combination of the other known taste receptors?

Answer 56

You could test for cross-adaptation. If the new taste cross-adapts with others, then it uses the same receptors. If it does not cross-adapt, it may have a receptor of its own. Another possibility would be to find some procedure that blocks this taste without blocking other tastes.

Question 57

If someone injected into your tongue a chemical that blocks the release of second messengers, how would it affect your taste experiences?

Answer 57

The chemical would block your experiences of sweet, bitter, and umami but should not prevent you from tasting salty and sour.

Question 58

What causes supertasters to be more sensitive to tastes than other people are?

Answer 58

They have more taste buds near the tip of the tongue.

Question 59

In what way do olfactory receptors resemble metabotropic neurotransmitter receptors?

Answer 59

Like metabotropic neurotransmitter receptors, an olfactory receptor acts through a G protein that triggers further events within the cell.

Question 60

What is the mean life span of an olfactory receptor?

Answer 60

Most olfactory receptors survive a little more than a month before dying and being replaced

Question 61

What kind of person becomes most sensitive to a smell after sniffing it repeatedly?

Answer 61

Young adult women become highly sensitive to a smell after sniffing it repeatedly.

Question 62

What is a major difference between olfactory receptors and those of the vomeronasal organ?

Answer 62

Olfactory receptors adapt quickly to a continuous odor, whereas receptors of the vomeronasal organ continue to respond. Also, vomeronasal sensations are apparently capable of influencing behavior even without being consciously perceived.

Question 63

What evidence indicates that people learn their synesthetic associations, at least in some cases?

Answer 63

Some people have letter-color synesthesias that match the colors of refrigerator magnets they played with in childhood.

Question 64

If someone reports seeing a particular letter in color, in what way is it different from a real color?

Answer 64

Someone who perceives a letter as yellow (when it is actually in black ink) can nevertheless see it on a yellow page.