Formative exams Flashcards
What is true about the resting membrane potential?
It depends on the intra- and extracellular K+ concentration
What is true about the early afterhyperpolarization in regards to the action potential?
The early afterhyperpolarization regulates the frequency of action potentials
What can influence the synaptic summation?
A) Synaptic summation depends on the time and space constant
What is true about the location of excitatory and inhibitory synapses?
C) Inhibitory synapses occur frequently on the soma and proximal dendrites
D) Excitatory synapses occur frequently on distal dendrites
What is true about action potential propagation?
A) Its conduction velocity depends on the diameter of the axon
B) Its conduction velocity depends on myelin
What is true about the action potential relative refractory period?
A) The relative refractory period depends on K+ channels
What is important for excitability?
D) Excitability depends on voltage-gated ion channels
What is true about ion channels?
C) Ligand-gated channels occur in cell bodies
D) Leak channels determine the resting membrane potential
What is true about glycine?
B) It is an inhibitory neurotransmitter
C) It occurs in (small) synaptic vesicles
Does dopamine activate ionotropic or metabotropic receptors?
A) Dopamine does not activate ionotropic receptors
How is glutamate inactivated?
B) Glutamate is inactivated by uptake
What disease can be treated with inhibitors of acetylcholine degradation?
D) Inhibitors of acetylcholine degradation can be used to treat Alzheimers disease
What is the precusor of glutamate?
B) Glutamine is a precursor of glutamate
In sensory systems, contrast can be enhanced through which mechanism?
D) Lateral inhibition
In the mammalian somatosensory system, sensory information about touch, vibration, and proprioception travels to the brain via the:
A) Medial lemniscus
What is projected pain?
A) Projected pain is pain projected from a damaged structure in the peripheral or central nervous system.
What causes Allodynia?
D) Allodynia is due to the recruitment of a response to normally subthreshold stimuli.
I.e. Allodynia is felt pain from a stimulus that is not normally painful
Which process(es) contribute(s) to central pain sensitization?
A) Microglial activation.
B) Increased activity in descending excitatory pathways.
C) Removal of magnesium from NMDA receptors.
D) Repeated input from C and/or A-delta fibers.
E) Hyperexcitability in second order neurons.
How do A-delta fibres respond to stimuli intensity? And where do they terminate?
A-delta fibres can alter their rate of firing depending on the intensity of stimuli and terminate in laminae I and V.
What characterizes retinal ganglion cells and their receptive fields?
A) They have on-center and off-center responses.
B) They have antagonistic responses.
C) They detect contrasts not the absolute level of illuminance.
D) Information about increases and decreases in luminance is carried separately to the brain by the two types of ganglion cells.
What characterizes P ganglion cells?
A) They have smaller receptive fields than M ganglion cells.
B) They have smaller diameter axons than M ganglion cells.
C) They convey information about colors.
D) They have smaller cell bodies than M ganglion cells.
E) They innervate layer 3 of the lateral geniculate nucleus.
What are the properties of rods and cones?
Rods: high sensitivity to light;
Cones: high spatial resolution
In the mammalian cochlea, high frequency sounds cause the greatest displacement of:
C) A small portion at the stiff part of the basilar membrane.
D) A small portion at the basal part of the basilar membrane.
What characterizes hair cells in the cochlea?
C) They are tonotopically organized along the basilar membrane.
D) K+ ions play a critical role in the transduction process.
The hair cells in the utriculus and sacculus change their membrane potential as a result of:
A) Linear acceleration
B) Gravitation force.
D) Tilting of the head.
What is involved in the vestibulo-ocular reflex?
A) Semicircular canals.
B) Abducens nucleus.
C) Vestibular nucleus.
D) Oculomotor nucleus.
A decrease in extracellular H+ would decrease the ability to detect which taste?
A) Sour
Where do primary olfactory receptor neurons project to?
A) Primary olfactory receptor neurons have axons that project directly to the brain.
What characterizes the glomerulus in the olfactory bulb?
B) Each glomerulus in the olfactory bulb receives synaptic inputs from the primary olfactory receptor neurons of one particular type.
What are mitral cells?
C) Mitral cells are projection neurons that project to the amygdala.
What type of receptors are used in olfaction?
D) Olfactory stimuli depolarize primary olfactory receptor neurons by means of G-protein-coupled receptors located in the cilia of the receptor neurons.
What characterizes Ia afferents?
A) Ia afferents originate from muscle spindles
C) Ia afferents does not primarily respond to active muscle contraction
What descending pathway is important for finger movements?
The lateral corticospinal tract is important for finger movements
What characterizes the flexion reflex?
B) It is elicited by activation of pain afferents
D) It is polysynaptic
What is true about the central pattern generator for locomotion?
C) Its activity is fine-tuned by afferents from joint receptors
What are examples of central motor programs innate in humans?
A) The flexion reflex
B) The CPG for breathing
C) The CPG for swallowing
What characterizes Purkinje cells?
B) They receive input from parallel fibers
C) They receive input from climbing fibers
D) They are GABAergic
What is true about cerebellar long-term depression?
B) It depends on calcium
C) It depends on NMDA receptors
What is true about the primary motor cortex?
B) It encodes the direction of voluntary movements
What cortical region is particularly important for the generation of sequences of movements?
The supplementary motor area
What neurotransmitter is released by the preganglionic and postganglionic neurons in the parasympathetic division of the autonomic nervous system?
Parasympathetic preganglionic and postganglionic neurons release acetylcholine
Which neurotransmitter(s) are/is released by the preganglionic and postganglionic neurons in the sympathetic division of the autonomic nervous system?
Sympathetic preganglionic neurons release acetylcholine and postganglionic neurons release noradrenaline, except those innervating the adrenal medulla
What makes up the white communicating ramus?
The white communicating ramus consist of preganglionic, myelinated axons
What is the role of the hypothalamus?
A. The hypothalamus receives visceral sensory information via the nucleus of the solitary tract
B. The hypothalamus regulates e.g. metabolism, body temperature, circadian rhythm, mating behaviour and blood osmolarity
C. The hypothalamus can directly affect both parasympathetic and sympathetic preganglionic neurons
D. The hypothalamus can stimulate noradrenergic neurons in the locus coeruleus that project to the prefrontal cortex
What are key regulators in the circadian system?
A. Melatonin
B. Kortisol
C. Insulin
D. GABA
The suprachiasmatic nucleus…
A. is responsible for controlling circadian rhythms
C. receives input from light-sensitive retinal ganglion cells
How does daylight affect the brain?
A. Increases arousal
B. Inhibits melatonin release
C. Entrains the biological night (shifts the rhythm)
What brain process(es) is/are supported during sleep?
A. Synaptic downscaling (reducing total synaptic pressure)
B. Consolidation of memories
C. Clearance of waste products
D. Replay of neural patterns activated during the previous waking period
Which brain areas are part of the cortical network for attentional control?
A. Ventral prefrontal cortex
B. Temporo-parietal cortex
During a delayed response task, successful recall of the food location relies on…
B. continuous neuronal activity in the DLPFC during the delay period.
Which of the following is true for selective attention?
B. It improves responses to stimuli that are in its focus.
C. It can be stimulus-driven or controlled.
Based on a threat imminence framework, which option is TRUE:
B. “Cognitive” fear circuits allow for flexible responses to threatening stimuli
C. Transitions between “cognitive” and “reactive” fear circuits allow for flexible adaption to dynamic threats in the environment.
E. “Freezing” and “fight-or-flight” are coordinated by “reactive” fear circuits.
What is the threat imminence framework?
The Threat Imminence Model suggests a cascade of three different stages depending on the distance (proximity) of the threat.
1) Pre-Encounter Defense Hypervigilance 2) Post-Encounter Defense Increased selective attention Freezing 3) Circa-Strike Defense Active avoidance or escape
What characterizes constructivist emotion theories?
D. Emotions can be best characterized based on continuous dimensions like valence and arousal.
E. Emotions are highly influenced by culture.
The human body responds to stress with:
A. Redistribution of leukocytes
B. Increase of pro-inflammatory cytokines
C. Increased release of HPA axis hormones
Which contributions to the advanced control systems in the brain are specifically associated with the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC)?
A. The DLPFC assembles new rules that guide future behavior, and uphold these rules in short-term memory to shape the connections between stimulus inputs and behavioral outputs.
What is the role of wanting in the reward system?
A. Wanting is mediated by dopamine in the ventral striatum
C. Wanting is similar to craving in drug addiction
An increase in dopamine release in ventral striatum (nucleus accumbens) can signal:
B. An aversive situation
C. A positive prediction error
What causes the absolute refractory period following an action potential?
In neurons, it is caused by the inactivation of the Na+ channels that originally opened to depolarize the membrane.
