Exam 1 Flashcards
(19 cards)
What are some (2) of the problems with the nature vs. nurture dichotomy?
1) The effects of the genetic code is influenced by environmental factors
2) The effect environmental factors is influenced by genes.
Thus there is an interaction between environment and genetic factors
What are two problems with physical vs. psychological dichotomy?
1) the physical brain is related to behavior (suggesting the two are related)
2) animals (assumed to rely on physical brain only) show complex behaviors suggestive of higher order mind functions
What were the results of Mendels research with pea plants?
First cross: 100% brown 0% white
Second cross: 75% brown 25% white
What is produced by meiosis?
Gametes
In learning that having dimples is a dominant dichotomous trait and not having dimples is a recessive trait, suppose we are interested in making conclusions about ones genotype based on his or her phenotype. If an individual shows a dominant phenotype, what conclusion can be made about his or her parents genotype?
At least one parent has a dominant genotype and phenotype for that trait
If an individual shows a recessive phenotype for dimples, what conclusions can be made about his or her parents genotype?
Both parents genotype contains at least one recessive gene for that trait.
No conclusion can be made about his or her parents phenotype.
Describe the components of the genetic code?
4 nucleotide bases (ACTG)
Describe the sex differences in transmission of dominant and recessive sex-linked traits
Dominant traits occur more in females
Recessive traits occur more in males
A heritability estimate represents?
Tells us about the contribution of genetic differences among the participants in a study.
When variability in a population increases, heritability estimate increases.
Why would a neurologist be interested in the function of the cranial nerves?
They provide clues about location, size, and extent of tumors and other kinds of brain pathology.
How are cranial nerves different from other nerves in the PNS?
Most of the nerves of the PNS project from the spinal cord
The 12 pairs of cranial nerves project from the brain
(They leave the CNS from the brain through the skull, not the spinal cord)
What is blocked by the blood-brain barrier?
Large molecules
Low lipid (fat soluble molecules)
What glial cells produce myelin?
Oligodendrocytes in the CNS
Schwann cells in the PNS
What is the function of interneurons?
They don’t conduct signals, instead integrate info within the brain stem
List and define the six directions in the vertebrate nervous system
Anterior- toward the nose end
Posterior- toward the tail end
Dorsal- toward the surface of the back or top of the head
Ventral- toward the surface of the chest or the bottom of the head
Medial- toward the midline of the body
Lateral- away from the midline toward the body’s lateral surfaces
In the spinal cord, describe the location of the gray and white matter
The gray matter (cell bodies) and forms a butterfly inside of the white matter (myelinated axons)
how many cell layers are in the neocortex?describe a structure in the diencephalon with fewer cell layers than the neocortex
6 layer cortex. Pyramidal cells and stellate cells
The hippocampus is not neocortex, instead it is a three layer cortical area that lies in the medial temporal lobe.
What are the three ways that the cerebral cortex can be separated?
1) according to gyri and sulci
2) broadmann’s areas: cytoarchitecture, distribution of cell types across cortical layers
3) according to function
Name the three fissures of the brain and what they separate.
Lateral fissure- separates temporal lobe from frontal parietal
Central fissure- separates frontal and parietal lobe
Longitudinal fissure- separate the right and left hemispheres
