Brain Structure and Functions Test Flashcards
CEREBRAL CORTEX
The outer layer of the brain – higher mental processes and
complex behaviours
CORPUS CALLOSUM
Connects left and right
hemispheres of the cerebral cortex
HIPPOCAMPUS
Long term memory and spatial orientation
AMYGDALA
Responsible for aggression and fear; emotional memory
MIDBRAIN
Co-ordinated movement, sleep and arousal
SPINAL CORD
Relays information between brain and body; some simple reflexes
FOREBRAIN
Upper level structures- higher order thinking processes eg. problem solving and planning
HYPOTHALAMUS
Regulates emotions and ‘instinctive’ drive
BRAINSTEM
Regulates reflex survival responses
PONS
Controls movement, breathing, sleeping, dreams and waking
CEREBELLUM
Perception and cognition,
balance and fine muscle control
MEDULLA
Heartbeat, breathing and other vital bodily functions
HINDBRAIN
The link between the spinal
cord and the brain – includes the brainstem, pons, cerebellum, medulla
RETICULAR FORMATION
Important in the control of arousal in the sleep/wake cycle. Also part of both midbrain and hindbrain.
5 developmental plasticity stages in order
Proliferation Migration Circuit Formation Circuit Pruning (Synaptic) Myelination
Which of the following neuroimaging techniques would provide the most precise information on brain function?
fMRI scan
The brain vs heart debate
proposes that both the heart and brain contribute to human mental processes and behaviour
A phrenologist examined
lumps, bumps and indentations of the skull
The autonomic nervous system is divided into two further branches
the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system
The end of the axon is referred to as what?
terminal buttons
What is the term used to describe information that is sent down the axon in the form of electrical charges?
action potential
When Chantel is writing an essay, the muscle activity she used to guide her pen is dominated by the activity of the ______________ nervous system?
somatic
When you feel you are faced with an emergency or you are frightened or angry, the part of the nervous system that becomes more active is the
sympathetic NS
When a neuron reaches its threshold, what occurs?
action potential
Information received by the receptor cells is sent to what type of neurons and these transmit an afferent message to where respectively?
sensory neurons ; the spinal cord
Lobes and their motor cortexs
what do they do
Frontal Lobe - primary motor cortex (personality, decision-making, brocas area)
Occipital Lobe - primary visual cortex (identifying objects)
Temporal Lobe - primary auditory cortex (hearing, facial recognition, memory, wernicke’s area)
Parietal Lobe - primary somatosensory cortex (touch, temperature, receives information from the 5 senses)
Spatial neglect is commonly associated with damage to which area of the brain?
Right parietal lobe
Which of the following is not a psychological change that may be caused by a severe brain injury to the frontal lobe?
Impulsive behaviour.
Aggressiveness.
Difficulty with voluntary movement and motor activities.
Inability to plan activities and use foresight.
Difficulty with voluntary movement and motor activities.
In adaptive plasticity, the growth of new dendrites to make new neural connections is referred to as?
Sprouting
Which part of the brain is the last to undergo myelination?
Pre-frontal cortex
In adaptive plasticity, what does the process ‘reorganisation’ involve?
A shift in neural connections which alters the function of a particular part of the brain
Our brain reaches half it’s adult size by the age of
6 months
What is the purpose of the cerebral cortex being convoluted?
To increase the surface area to volume ratio so that the cortex fits into the skull and to allow more blood flow, oxygen and glucose to the brain.
The right hemisphere is responsible for speech production and language comprehension.
False
The right hemisphere of the human brain is dominant for which of the following functions?
Spatial ability
Following a car accident, Christine suffered partial paralysis and is unable to move her right arm and hand. Which area of her brain was likely damaged?
Left motor cortex
Emily is stung by a mosquito on her left foot. The pain of the sting will be registered in
The top of her right somatosensory cortex
Images flashed in the left visual field are processed in the right occipital lobe of the brain.
True
Which area of the brain is described as the ‘sensory relay station’ where incoming sensory information is filtered and transferred to the appropriate area of the cortex ?
Thalamus
Which of the following brain structures is not part of the forebrain?
Reticular formation
Which brain region is primarily responsible for regulating vital bodily functions that are essential for survival?
Hindbrain
Sonia is lying on the beach sunbaking. She is feeling quite relaxed and starts nodding off. Sonia’s ___________ has become _______ active which has reduced her level of arousal.
RAS; less
Which of the following responses is the somatic nervous system responsible for?
Sweating after a run
Blinking to a puff of air
Picking up a book
Jumping when you hear a loud noise
Picking up a book
The sympathetic nervous system would be dominant in which of the following examples?
Waiting to receive your ATAR score
The division of the nervous system that automatically returns bodily systems back to a state of calm after heightened activity is the___________ nervous system.
Parasympathetic
Which division of the nervous system transmits messages to initiate voluntary muscle activity?
Somatic
Your door bell rings unexpectedly at 1am, suddenly your heart starts beating faster. Which division of the nervous system would be activated when this happens?
Sympathetic
Alyse stays up late to watch a horror movie. During the movie she becomes very frightened and her fight/flight response is triggered, and then she calms down.
a) Which branch of the autonomic nervous system is responsible for triggering Alyse’s fight/flight response?
b) Describe two physiological responses that Alyse may experience when her fight/flight response is triggered.
c) Explain how these physiological responses aid survival in a life-threatening situation.
Sympathetic Nervous System
Heart rate increases and pupils dilating
Pupils dilate in order to let more light in the see more clearly and your heart beats/pumps faster in order to allow more blood flow around the body faster.
Sensory neurons carry messages to the ___________ nervous system, while motor neurons carry messages away from the ____________ nervous system.
Central; central
A distinction between motor neurons and sensory neurons is that:
Motor neurons carry information away from the CNS, whereas sensory neurons carry information to the CNS.
The role of the dendrite is to:
Detect and receive neural information from neighboring neurons.
Pam is taking part in an experiment that involves sorting beads into two groups while wearing a blindfold. The first part of this task involves Pam picking up each bead and deciding whether it is rough or smooth. The second part of this task involves Pam placing the bead in it’s appropriate group.
a) What type of neuron is responsible for enabling Pam to tell if a bead is rough or smooth?
b) Identify the main function performed by Pam’s central nervous system while she carries out each task.
Sensory Neurons
Task 1: The CNS processes sensory information to tell you whether the bead texture is smooth or rough.
Task 2: The CNS initiates a voluntary motor response to be able to tell her which group the bead belongs to whether smooth or rough.
