peerwise qs Flashcards

(225 cards)

1
Q

An elderly man comes in to the doctor, talking of poor long term memory. He says he thought it was just old age, however after further examination it is discovered that he has Alzheimer’s. How can we decipher between normal cognitive ageing and Alzheimer’s?

A

Alzheimer’s has a steeper rate of decline than normal cognitive ageing

hippocampus function specifically

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2
Q

Hemineglect is common following a stroke, resulting in the neglect of sensory information from one hemisphere. Patients with hemineglect will miss things from one side. For example, leaving the left side of a plate uneaten, or right side of drawing unfinished. When asked which finger is moving they will miss one until it moves ‘into view’. The patient is unaware of this missing sensory information.

Damage to which associated cortex causes ‘neglect’ of incoming sensory information.

A

Posterior parietal cortex

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3
Q

The key distinctions between hemianopia and hemineglect are that

A

the patient is aware of the loss in hemianopia

damage to primary visual cortex = hemianopia

posterior parietal cortex = hemineglect

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4
Q

In a neurobiology lab, a student stimulates a hippocampal neuron repeatedly and observes a lasting increase in synaptic strength. His supervisor explains this phenomenon is crucial to memory formation, especially in the CA3 to CA1 pathway of the hippocampus.

Which mechanism underlies the strengthening of synapses and supports long-term memory formation?

A

Long Term Potentiation

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5
Q

Sanji, a university student is preparing for a culinary exam. He tries to multitask by listening to music, scrolling through social media, and reading his textbook at the same time. After an hour, he realizes he barely remembers anything he read.

Which cognitive factor most likely interfered with his ability to retain information?

A

Cognitive overload

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6
Q

Jason struggles to identify people he knows when he cannot see their hair, jewellry or clothes. What part of his brain’s function is impaired?

A

Fusiform

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7
Q

Jason struggles to identify people he knows when he cannot see their hair, jewellry or clothes. What is this called?

A

prosopagnosia
“facial blindness”

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8
Q

A patient comes in stating that they are an electrician and was on their ladder doing a job when they had a fall. After this accident the patient says that their vision has become impaired, but all other brain functions seem to be normal. Which part of the brain have they most likely fell on?

A

Occipital Lobe

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9
Q

A patients has been asked to draw a picture of a flower. When finished, only the left half of the flower has been drawn. What is the name of this condition? It is caused by damage to which region of the brain?

A

Hemineglect, Posterior Parietal Cortex

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10
Q

A 52 yo man arrives at the hospital. He is unable to recognise people from their faces, although can recognise his wife by her voice and clothing.

Which of the following conditions best explains this?

A

Prosopagnosia

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11
Q

A 60 year old man with a long history of alcohol abuse is brought to the hospital by his wife. She reports that he often forgets recent events and sometimes makes up stories when he can’t remember what happened. He struggles to recall both past and recent information. Lab tests confirm a severe thiamine (vitamin B1) deficiency.

Which of the following brain regions is most likely damaged in this patient?

A

Medial thalamus and mammillary bodies - these structures are primary targets in thiamine deficiency from alcoholism (Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome), explaining both the memory deficits and confabulation.

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12
Q

What test would be used to see fine and soft tissue in the brain?

A

mri

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13
Q

Seren presents with an inability to recall personal experiences, such as the events of a recent family vacation, but can still remember general facts, such as the capital of France. Seres shows a problem with episodic memory, but her semantic memory appears to be intact. Which area of the brain is most likely responsible for this type of memory processing?

A

hippocampus

hippocampus forms declarative/explicit memories ultimately stored in the cortex. tells you where you are in the world

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14
Q

Ben knows that if he behaves while his mother is doing some shopping, she’ll buy him the toy car he’s been wanting.

Dopamine is released to act on the brain so that Ben is motivated to behave and later receive his toy car.

What area of the brain acts to complete the reward circuit?

A

Substantia Nigra

Dopamine regulates reward-related behavior through the mesolimbic dopaminergic pathway by acting on the nucleus accumbens, ventral tegmental area and the prefrontal cortex. Dopaminergic action on the substantia nigra is crucial for motor control, yes, but not for the completion of the reward circuit.

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15
Q

Amy has been looking after her 67 year old father who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease. He constantly loses his spectacles and phone, leaving them in odd places, he tends to wander around the neighbourhood and get lost when he goes on walks, and he suffers from memory loss. These symptoms allude to damage in which part of the brain?

A

hippocampus

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16
Q

A young woman has a rare neurological condition where she experiences intense emotional reactions to neutral visual stimuli, such as seeing a tree and interpreting it as having a face. Which condition does this describe?

A

face pareidolia

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17
Q

Cognitive processes for managing behavior and achieving goals

A

The Executive Function

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18
Q

A patient reports difficulty understanding spoken language. They can speak fluently, but their sentences often lack meaning, and they appear unaware of their language difficulties. Which region of the brain is most likely damaged?

A

Wernicke’s area

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19
Q

A patient with schizophrenia has difficulty concentrating during conversations and reports heightened sensitivity to background noises. Which thalamic structure is most likely involved in this impaired ability to filter sensory input?

A

Pulvinar nucleus

The pulvinar nucleus plays a vital role in sensory gating which is the brain’s ability to filter out irrelevant or distracting sensory input to maintain focus. This gating process is often disrupted in schizophrenia leading to heightened sensitivity to background noise and difficulty maintaining focus.

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20
Q

The arcuate fasciculus connect the Brocas and Wernickes areas of the brain which are both located on the left side where language is most dominant. What type of white matter tract/ fibres is this?

A

association fibres

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21
Q

PTSD is an anxiety disorder caused by very stressful, frightening or distressing events.

Functional neuroimaging of an individual with PTSD shows hyperactivity of which brain area?

A

amygdala - major processing for emotions esp fear

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22
Q

A patient exhibits fluent but nonsensical speech and is unable to comprehend spoken language. Which area of the brain is most likely affected?

A

wernicke’s area

in temporal, understanding language

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23
Q

A patient is unable to speak fluently. They speak in short, effortful phrases but seem to understand spoken language well. What area of the brain is most likely affected?

A

Broca’s

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24
Q

Which brain structure is primarily involved in the storage and retrieval of explicit memories, such as recalling personal experiences and factual information?

A

hippocampus

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25
Korsakoff’s syndrome is primarily associated with irreversible damage to which of the following?
mamillary bodies
26
what is korsakoff's syndrome
severe memory disorder most commonly caused by chronic vitamin B1 (thiamine) deficiency, often due to long-term alcoholism
27
A 58-year-old man with a history of chronic alcohol use comes to the clinic reporting that he is unable to recall recent events or remember new information, despite being able to discuss his past in great detail. His ability to form new memories seems impaired. Which part of the brain is most likely responsible for this issue?
hippocampus (in temporal lobe)
28
Light enters the eyes as photons through the eye and travels along the optic nerve to the brain. The thalamus is known as the sensory relay station of the brain. Which part of the thalamus processes this visual information?
Lateral geniculate
29
If a person has damage to Brodmann area 17, which of the following are they most likely to struggle with?
seeing as 17 is in occipital lobe
30
A patient is unable to recognise individuals from their faces. They can still identify the person by their voice and their clothes. What part of the brain has been damaged?
in fusiform face area in Inferior Temporal Cortex
31
Which of the following best explains the process of retrieval and how it improves retention of long-term memories?
Retrieval moves information from long-term memory into working memory, which strengthens connections
32
A 6-year-old child struggles to understand idioms and does not engage in pretend play. He also prefers to interact with objects over people. These behaviours are most consistent with which of the following conditions?
autizzy
33
During a cognitive assessment, a participant is asked to remember a sequence of spoken numbers and repeat them in the same order. The length of the sequence is gradually increased until the participant can no longer accurately recall it. This task is primarily assessing which function of working memory?
maintenance
34
What is damaged in Korsakoff's syndrome?
medial thalamus
35
A 62-year-old man presents to his physician with his wife, who is concerned about his recent behaviour changes. Over the past six months, the patient has exhibited personality changes, including becoming more impulsive, irritable, and socially inappropriate. He has also shown a lack of empathy toward his family and no longer enjoys activities he used to find pleasurable. Additionally, his speech has become somewhat repetitive, and he struggles to find words during conversations, often using vague terms. His memory is relatively intact, and he can recall events from his past. His wife notes that these changes have been gradual but noticeable. Which of the following types of dementia is most likely to explain these symptoms?
Frontotemporal Dementia - personality
36
Which of the following best describes the role of long-term potentiation (LTP) in synaptic plasticity?
LTP enhances the strength of synaptic connections, improving memory and learning.
37
Which of the following features is most characteristic of Korsakoff’s syndrome?
Severe anterograde amnesia with confabulation - —filling in memory gaps with fabricated or distorted information.
38
Talya is a patient for motor neuron disease. Due to the difficulty regarding an early diagnosis, Talya is diagnosed at a later stage of the disease and she is diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. at this point of diagnosis the disease has caused significant neurodegeneration of both upper and lower motor neurons. Talya presents with symptoms such as dysarthria (difficulty speaking), spasticity and hyperreflexia (exaggerated reflex responses). These particular symptoms indicate a significant loss of upper motor neurons. What part of the brain is affected by the loss of upper motor neurons and results in these symptoms?
motor cortex - contains upper neurons which control voluntary movement, loss of these neurons in this region caused Talya's symptoms
39
Mary has banged one side of her head. She is now having a VERY hard time acknowledging sensory stimuli in one side of her vision, particularly at the periphery. What side of her head has she most likely injured?
right
40
A man presents in A&E having a stroke, his wife and kids come to visit him but he is unable to recognise them. However, when they speak to him and hug him he recognises its his family. The doctor concludes the stroke impaired the fusiform face area meaning he is unable to recognise people by their face. What if the name for this?
Prosopagnosia
41
What is one of the main reasons stress is harmful to prefrontal cortex function in decision-making and cognitive control?
Increases noradrenaline and dopamine, disrupting prefrontal regulation
42
A 26 year old soldier has reported she suffers with persistent nightmares, becoming startled easier and very intrusive memories of her time at combat. A functional MRI scan shows she has hyperactivity in one of her limbic structures that is involved in emotional salience. Which of the following structures is most likely overactive?
amygdala
43
Rayleigh, a 56-year-old man suffered a stroke that primarily affected his hippocampus. Since then, he has difficulty remembering new events and frequently forgets conversations within minutes. However, he can still recall past experiences from his childhood and perform routine tasks like making coffee or driving his car. Which type of memory is most likely impaired in this patient?
episodic memory
44
Which of the following best describes the primary role of cortical association areas in the encoding of sensory information into long‐term memory?
They integrate multisensory inputs to form a coherent, context‐rich percept that can be encoded.
45
The 20th century saw some of the bloodiest wars in history, with millions of soldiers sent to fight and die for their countries. Many of those lucky enough to return home were described as suffering with "shell shock', which later became diagnosed as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in 1980. PTSD is a neurological disorder that results from exposure to significant trauma, and has been widely studied in recent decades to better understand which structures in the brain are responsible for the condition. Neuroimaging PTSD patients has confirmed significant involvement from the amygdala and prefrontal cortex. The actions of the amygdala and prefrontal cortex are what, respectively, in PTSD?
Hyperactive and hypoactive
46
A 27 year old presents after having a fall. They landed on their head, however there appears to be no external damage. The patients cognitive capabilities with sight and behaviour control are all intact, but this patient since the fall has been unable to balance and conduct fine motor skills, and they are unable to recall memories well. Damage to which part of the brain is most likely to cause these symptoms?
cerebellum - motor skills and coordination, emotional, episodic memory
47
The increase in synaptic strength that occurs in Long-term potentiation is due to a modification of the synapse to include
More postsynaptic AMPA receptors
48
A person with bilateral amygdala damage would most likely exhibit:
Reduced fear responses
49
Long term potentiation is when connections between neurons become stronger often due to frequent firing that strengthens synapses. These changes are longlasting and increase the likelihood that neurons fire together. Although this process happens across the brain it is best understood in the hippocampus. Long term potentiation at what synapse in particular is a crucial mechanism for learning and memory?
CA3-CA1 Synapse between CA3 (Schaffer collaterals) and CA1 (Pyramidal cells) important
50
During an appointment, the GP asked Briar to recall their recent experience at the local hospital's A&E, where they met another patient called Harper. What kind of memory would Briar use to recall experiences, which part of the brain is involved and what are the basic principles behind long-term memory formation?
Episodic memory (explicit), hippocampus, the 3-stage model is used in forming long-term principles (encoding sensory information into neuronal activity, storing this memory and then retrieving knowledge of the past experience to help with the new experience)
51
A 25-year-old male named Alex visits a clinic complaining of persistent fatigue, difficulty concentrating, and mood swings. He reports that these symptoms have been affecting his work and personal life. Alex mentions that he has been under a lot of stress at work and has not been sleeping well. He consumes caffeine regularly to stay awake during the day. His medical history is unremarkable, and he does not take any medications.What is the most appropriate initial recommendation for Alex's condition?
Establish a regular sleep schedule
52
Three men, Phil, Alan, and Stu from the hit comedy film Hangover 2009, were out partying and unfortunately, Stu gets attacked by a tiger and the tiger bites some of his brain off. OFF. Stu is alive and well, but he has been acting strangely and impulsively. His personality is different; he has been quite rude and aggressive since the tiger attack. Alan says this is not the Stuie he used to know. Truly heartbreaking. Injury to which part of the brain causes this?
Prefrontal Cortex
53
Riley, a patient who was in the same ward as Briar, was 'on edge' due to being triggered by a reminder of an unfortunate event that occurred in the past. They were also avoiding the doctors and MDT involved in their care. Dr DNA, who was bleeped to help with Riley's care, looked through Riley's patient history, where it is noted that they have PTSD. What does PTSD stand for, what are the symptoms associated with it, and what are the different structural changes in the brain due to it? What is used to treat PTSD?
Post-traumatic stress disorder It is associated with the risk of serious harm or death, and involves the patient being hyperaroused or vigilant, avoiding the trigger and being emotionally numb. The different changes involve an hyperactive amgydala, a hypoactive prefrontal cortex, and an impaired hippocampus. Treatment includes cognitive behavioural therapy and SSRIs.
54
A 55-year-old patient is experiencing severe difficulty with emotional regulation, memory formation, and responding to stressful situations. Upon further examination, the physician suspects dysfunction in the limbic system. Which of the following structures is most likely NOT contributing to the patient's symptoms? amygdala, hippocampus, thalamus, hypothalamus
thalamus The limbic system is crucial for emotional regulation, memory processing, and stress responses. Key components of the limbic system include the amygdala, which processes emotions (especially fear), the hippocampus, which is involved in memory formation, and the hypothalamus, which helps regulate stress and autonomic functions. * The amygdala is involved in processing emotions, particularly fear, and would contribute to the patient's emotional regulation difficulties. * The hippocampus is involved in memory formation, and dysfunction here could explain the patient's memory problems. * The hypothalamus is responsible for stress responses, such as activating the fight-or-flight system, so it plays a role in the patient's symptoms. The thalamus , while essential for sensory relay, does not directly contribute to the core functions of the limbic system and is less likely to be implicated in the patient’s specific symptoms.
55
A student is studying, but knows they need to write the introduction to their essay first, so they switch and start focusing on writing their introduction. Which attention system are they using and what network system are they switching to?
Executive attention system Cinguloopercular network switching from fronto-parietal network
56
A university student studies for an exam late at night and then goes to sleep. The next morning, she recalls the information significantly better than before sleeping. This improvement is primarily due to memory consolidation that occurs during which sleep stage?
Slow- Wave Sleep(SWS; Stage 3 NREM) is essential for the consolidation of declarative (explicit) memory, including facts and knowledge. The hippocampus plays a crucial role in transferring newly learned information to the neocortex during this stage. Meanwhile, REM sleep is more closely associated with procedural (implicit) memory, such as motor learning.
57
What drug is most suitable for the treatment of Parkinson’s Disease?
Levadopa
58
A patient was brought into the ER with a stroke, after recovery the patient has the ability to speak fluent in speech but is unable to understand language. What Broadmann area has been affected?
Brodmann Area 22
59
A 50-year-old man complains of severe memory problems, especially with recent events. He reports that he often forgets conversations and frequently misplaces items. The patient has a long history of alcohol use and has been drinking heavily for the past 20 years. He recently started eating poorly and has had a noticeable decrease in his appetite. On examination, he is disoriented to time and place but is otherwise alert and oriented. Which of the following is the most likely diagnosis?
Korsakoff syndrome
60
A patient with locked-in syndrome can blink vertically but cannot move limbs or speak. The lesion is in the ...
Ventral pons The most common cause of locked-in syndrome is damage to the brainstem, specifically the ventral pons. Damage to the ventral pons disrupts the nerve fibers that carry signals from the brain to the muscles, resulting in paralysis and the inability to speak.
61
During a seminar on cognitive aging, Marcus listens as the lecturer discusses how different mental abilities change over the lifespan. While some processes like reaction time and working memory seem to get slower, Marcus is surprised to learn that not all abilities follow this trend. One area of cognition, in particular, often remains stable—or even improves—with age, thanks to years of accumulated knowledge and life experience. Question: Which of the following does not normally decline with age? working memory processing speed vocab long term memory spatial navigation
vocabulary
62
Timothee Chalamet (LISAN AL GAIB!!!) was riding a sand worm but unfortunately had a stroke. He fell off the sandworm, tumbled through the desert of Arrakis, and hit his head. He faced a severe head injury. When Queen Zendaya asked him what had happened, he could not understand anything she was saying and kept replying in fluent but nonsensical language. Injury to which part of the brain and Brodmann area causes this type of aphasia?
Wernicke’s area, Brodmann area 22
63
64
Jason is walking home late at night when he hears a sudden loud noise behind him. His heart rate increases, and he instinctively feels a sense of fear, even before he fully processes what the sound was. Later, he realised it was just a cat knocking over a bin. Which brain structure is primarily responsible for Ethan’s immediate fear response?
amydgala
65
A region of the brain is responsible for forming explicit memories, important for encoding patterns, required for spatial learning, and is also the site of neurogenesis. What region of the brain is it?
hippocampus
66
Which sensory system transmit information to the cortex without passing through the thalamus?
olfactory
67
A patient suffers damage to their hippocampus, leading to difficulty forming new explicit memories. However, their ability to recall past events and perform learned motor skills remains intact. Which type of memory is most affected by this hippocampal damage?
Declarative Memory - which include facts and events (semantic and episodic memory). Damage to this area results in anterograde amnesia, making it difficult to form new explicit memories, while implicit (procedural) and past memories remain largely unaffected.
68
Jessie is a stroke survivor. After experiencing a stroke, doctors noticed Jessie had some significant behavioural changes including increased impulsivity and inappropriate social behaviour. She was also noted to be more aggressive and apathetic. The doctors wanted to determine what part of her brain was significantly affected by the stroke. They ran tests and found there was no significant memory loss, no problem storing memories, no language issues and no spatial awareness impairment. She also had no trouble interpreting facial expressions and reading emotions. What part of the brain can be concluded as the area affected by the stroke?
prefrontal cortex - area of the brain that regulates social behaviour, impulse control and emotional regulation (impairment was found in Jessie's impulse control and social behaviour)
69
A patient presents with several symptoms: Fluent speech but doesn't make sense Little repetition in speech Has recently had a stroke What is the likely diagnosis for the patient?
Wernicke’s Aphasia
70
Edward Newgate, a 60-year-old man suffers a stroke that affects his right thalamus. Following his recovery, he reports the following symptoms: Reduced sensation in his left arm and leg Difficulty identifying objects by touch on his left hand No significant motor deficits Which of the following best explains the sensory deficits observed in this patient?
Disruption of the thalamic relay to the somatosensory cortex - thalamus acts as a sensory relay station, transmitting sensory signals from the body to the cortex. Since sensory pathways cross at the spinal cord or brainstem (decussation), a stroke in the right thalamus would cause sensory loss on the left side of the body. The motor pathways are unaffected because motor commands primarily involve different thalamic circuits.
71
Sandra has been suffering from Major Depressive Disorder for five years now, what best explains the neuropathology behind this?
prolonged, low intensity firing of presynaptic neuron
72
Adam Sandler, a right-handed man, is brought to the emergency department by his daughter. She reports that after waking up this morning, he began ignoring everything on the right side. He shaved only the left side of his face and could only see the left side of Pac-Man, his co-worker, when they were filming the hit film 'Pixels'. Doctors couldn't bear to see the guy from the Pixels film in this state, so they conducted a neurological exam which showed that his vision is intact, but he does not respond to stimuli presented in the right visual field. They also found that he actually had a stroke in his left parietal lobe, trying to understand how Q*bert ends up giving birth to Q*bert babies at the end of the pixels movie.Which brodmann area(s) is damaged in Adam Sandler's brain?
Areas 5, 7, 39, and 40 These areas make up the posterior parietal cortex, which is essential for spatial attention and awareness. Damage to the left posterior parietal cortex can cause hemineglect, where the patient fails to attend to the right side of their environment.
73
A 45-year-old man is experiencing severe balance problems and uncoordinated movements. His hands shake when trying to perform tasks, and he struggles with activities that require precise control, such as writing or buttoning a shirt. Which brain region is most likely affected?
cerebellum
74
A 72-year-old man is diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease and exhibits difficulty remembering recent conversations while retaining older memories from his childhood. His family also notices that he struggles with learning new information. Which brain structure is most likely affected early in the disease process?
hippocampus
75
What is pareidolia?
Tendency to see patterns in things
76
A 65-year-old patient is brought to the hospital after a stroke. During the exam, the neurologist notices that the patient speaks fluently with clear articulation, but their sentences don’t make sense. When asked simple questions, the answers are fluent but unrelated, showing they have trouble understanding. However, the patient can repeat words accurately. Which part of the brain is likely affected?
Wernicke’s area
77
Which dopaminergic pathway is most closely associated with reward, novelty, and motivation?
Mesolimbic pathway
78
Which of the following is not part of the limbic system? amygdala, corpus callosum, septum, cingulate, hypothalamus
Corpus Callosum
79
A 62-year-old man suddenly collapses at home and is rushed to the emergency department. His family reports that he had been experiencing dizziness, difficulty swallowing, and slurred speech for the past few hours. On neurological examination, the patient has weakness on the right side of his body, including the arm and leg, but his face appears unaffected. He also has loss of pain and temperature sensation on the left side of his body, but sensation on his face remains intact. Additionally, he struggles to maintain balance and exhibits nystagmus (involuntary eye movements) and dysphagia (difficulty swallowing). A CT scan reveals an ischemic stroke affecting a specific region of his central nervous system. Which structure is most likely damaged?
Brainstem The patient presents with crossed neurological signs (right-sided motor weakness but left-sided sensory loss), which is a hallmark of brainstem lesions. The combination of symptoms—weakness, sensory deficits, dysphagia, dizziness, and nystagmus—is highly suggestive of a lateral medullary syndrome (Wallenberg syndrome) caused by a stroke in the posterior circulation (vertebral or PICA artery). The brainstem houses both ascending and descending tracts, as well as cranial nerve nuclei, making it a prime suspect when motor, sensory, and cranial nerve deficits appear together.
80
A 62-year-old female presents to the emergency department with sudden-onset severe headache, nausea, and weakness on one side of her body. She has a history of smoking and poorly controlled hypertension. CT imaging reveals bleeding in the brain. What is the likely cause of her condition?
Haemorrhagic Stroke
81
A researcher is investigating the neural basis of selective attention. Participants are instructed to focus on a specific visual stimulus while ignoring others. Based on the presented material, which brain region is most likely involved in filtering out irrelevant sensory information?
Thalamus
82
A 25-year-old man is admitted to the emergency department after a deep laceration to his forearm from a broken glass bottle. He reports numbness and an inability to move his fingers properly. On examination, the doctor notices that he cannot extend his wrist or fingers, a condition known as "wrist drop." He also has reduced sensation on the back of his hand. A nerve conduction study reveals a significant delay in signal transmission from the forearm to the hand, suggesting damage to the structure responsible for conducting electrical impulses over long distances. Which neuronal structure is primarily affected in this injury?
Axons - This patient’s wrist drop, sensory loss, and delayed nerve conduction strongly suggest damage to the radial nerve, which supplies the extensor muscles of the wrist and fingers. The axons within the radial nerve have been injured, leading to impaired transmission of motor and sensory signals. Axons are the long projections of neurons that carry electrical impulses from the cell body to the target muscles or sensory organs. Damage to axons disrupts this communication, leading to muscle weakness (motor deficit) and loss of sensation (sensory deficit).
83
Jordan, a 28-year-old man, tells his friends he saw a “face” in the folds of his curtain last night. He's amused by it and laughs it off. He mentions that sometimes he sees animal shapes in clouds or hears patterns in random sounds, like a phone vibration that “sounds like music.” His friends joke that he’s just “seeing things,” but he’s otherwise functioning normally, with no distress or impairment. However, during a psychiatric seminar, you learn that this tendency can be more pronounced in certain mental health conditions and might explain some unusual beliefs or experiences. Which of the following best describes Jordan’s experience?
Pareidolia, more pronounced in schizophrenia
84
The thalamus is responsible for relaying sensory information to the cortex, including visual and auditory stimulation. Irrelevant sensory information is filtered out, resulting in "selective attention" - for example, you do not feel your clothes being worn. Schizophrenics often show deficits in sensory gating, as a result of deficits or impairments to which thalamic structure?
The pulvinar nucleus receives and outputs sensory information. It is responsible for cognition gatekeeping
85
A patient with temporal lobe epilepsy has presented with a seizure. The seizure had the following characteristics: Patient had a sense of something being 'different' Appeared overwhelmingly emotional Patient reported smelling scents which were not present at the time What type of seizure is this?
Simple Partial Seizure
86
Which region of the brain is involved in facial recognition and can show reduced activity in those with autism?
Fusiform gyrus
87
During Long Term potentiation, the pre-synaptic axon terminal and post synaptic dendrite become strengthened due to the addition of AMPA-type glutamate receptors. This occurs due to the abundant release of glutamate which saturate AMPA-type receptors and binding to lower affinity NMDA receptors. Binding to the NMDA receptors causes increased expression of AMPA-type glutamate receptors through which ion?
Calcium, this is because calcium acts as transcription factor, and allows fusion of vesicles containing AMPA to fuse with post-synaptic membrane
88
Grid cells form a hexagonal mad of your current position, the more you learn about a space the more cells are recruited. what part of the brain do the cells reside.
Entorhinal cortex - resides in the medial temporal lobe.
89
A woman is admitted to hospital due to a variety of symptoms. She is a chronic alcoholic, she has both anterograde and retrograde amnesia and confabulation. She is diagnosed with Korsakoff syndrome, caused by irreversible damage to the mammillary bodies and one other part of the limbic system. What is the other part of the limbic system that has been damaged?
Thalamus
90
The Proust effect describes the process of how taste or smell can evoke strong memories due to the close connections of the brain's memory centres to the olfactory and gustatory systems. For example, if an event or experience brought on by taste was accompanied or linked to a strong emotional reaction, which part of the brain is that memory most likely to be associated with?
Limbic system - emotional memory
91
Jensen is a lazy man who often forgets to clean out his fridge. In a 3am redbull-inspired urge to deep clean his flat, he opens his fridge to discover his month-old out-of-date milk. It smelt bad, and Jensen felt disgusted. Which area of the brain is associated with this feeling?
Insular Cortex - disgust
92
A patient age 67 is experience the follwiong symptoms as a result of a deteriating temporal lobe: Behavioural disinhibition, Apathy/inertia, Loss of sympathy/empathy, Decline of executive function. What is the name for the disease that fits the description.
Frontotemporal dementia
93
Trish visits Margo at uni. She's been before however, Margo has moved her room around and things are in all different spaces compared to before. Trish still recognises the room and remembers all the things, what cells allow for this to happen?
Place cells
94
A 67-year-old presents after having a stroke. They are able to understand language, but cannot create their own, with disordered grammar and their speech being very repetitive. Damage to which structure is most likely to have caused this?
Brocas area
95
A researcher is studying how sensory information is integrated across different modalities in the brain. The researcher focuses on the association cortices. What role do these cortices play in encoding information?
They integrate and combine information from different sensory modalities
96
Which part of the brain is primarily responsible for the formation of new explicit memories?
Hippocampus
97
Mary has experienced an ischaemic stroke. An ischaemic stroke is where an artery will become blocked, resulting in hypoxia and consequently neuronal cell death. Without knowing the specific cause the Mary's stroke, what type of scan would be used best to assess the cause?
CT scan If arterial blood flow were to be blocked as a result of an ischaemic stroke, areas of the brain affected would be seen to be dark grey in colour.
98
A 45-year-old man is brought to the clinic by his family due to significant memory problems. He has a long history of heavy alcohol use, drinking alcohol daily for the past 15 years. Recently, his family has noticed that he frequently forgets conversations and events that happened just a few hours earlier. He also sometimes makes up stories to fill in gaps in his memory. During the interview, he appears confused and cannot recall details of his medical history, despite being able to remember past events from many years ago. As a result, the man is diagnosed with Korsakoff Syndrome. Korsakoff Syndrome is associated with irreversible damage to... ?
the Mamillary Bodies and medial thalamus
99
Which of the following is NOT considered a type of declarative memory? episodic, semantic, procedural, explicit
Procedural memory
100
A boxer with repeated concussions develops tremors and slowed movements. Autopsy would reveal degeneration in which subcortical structure?
Substantia nigra - contains neurons that produce dopamine, a neurotransmitter essential for smooth, coordinated movement. When these neurons degenerate, dopamine production declines, leading to the motor symptoms of Parkinson's including tremors and rigidity.
101
A patient comes to the hospital having suffered a stroke. You wish to identify whether they have suffered from a haemorrhagic or ischemic stroke. Which of the following would be the best type of imaging to use to determine this?
ct
102
A women is able to remember the date of her daughters birthday and how old she is turning but when asked how the birthday was she was unable to give any details and couldn't remember what happened. what type of memory is impaired in this woman?
Episodic
103
Amy is asked how to get from Fulton House to Wallace. what type of spatial representation would this use?
Allocentric Spatial representation includes both Allocentric and Egocentric Allocentric includes a map of the environment, knowing where an object is compared to another, in this case two buildings. The hippocampus is responsible for Allocentric representation. Egocentric is where you are in the environment, for instance where Amy is compared to Fulton. the Posterior Parietal cortex and Prefrontal cortex is responsible for Egocentric representation.
104
46-year old male reports to the clinic with difficulty making cups of tea, unable to focus on tasks for periods of time and inappropriate behaviour during conversations. Because of this, the resident clinician has deducted that he has damages his working memory. What specific region has the 46-year old male damaged?
The prefrontal cortex is the major site of working memory and damage there results in the 3 mentioned symptoms, among many others.
105
Jake has been diagnosed with schizophrenia and finds it difficult to focus on his friends' conversations in a crowded cafe. Unlike his friends, who effectively filter out background noise and prioritise relevant auditory stimuli, Jake experiences sensory overload and struggles to suppress irrelevant distractions. This impaired ability to regulate sensory input is associated with a deficit in his filtering process. What structure of the brain plays a primary role in sensory gating?
Pulvinar nucleus of the thalamus
106
A 72-year-old man presents with difficulty recalling recent events but has no problem remembering events from his distant past. He also has difficulty retaining new information, such as the names of people he meets and details about places he’s been recently. However, he can still navigate familiar environments and perform learned tasks. Which structure in the brain is most likely affected in this patient?
Hippocampus
107
A young boy named Evan has extreme difficulty focusing in class and is prone to impulsive behaviour. According to his doctor, he can be prescribed a certain drug called Ritalin that will target a specific system in his brain in order to improve his attention in class. What is the system that is being targeted?
Noradrenaline system
108
A 58-year-old man presents to the clinic with difficulty speaking after a recent stroke. He has trouble forming complete sentences and often struggles to get words out, speaking in short, broken phrases. However, he can understand spoken language and follow simple instructions without difficulty. His speech is slow, and he is aware of his communication difficulties. There is no significant problem with his ability to recognise objects or understand written language. Based on this information, is the most likely diagnosis Broca's aphasia or Wernicke's aphasia?
Broca's aphasia
109
Luffy, a 17-year-old boy is found unresponsive after a fight with Kaido. He does not respond to verbal commands, shows no purposeful movement, and has no sleep-wake cycles. Brain imaging reveals low metabolic activity across the cerebral cortex, while the brainstem remains functional. After two weeks, his condition remains unchanged. Which of the following diagnoses best explains his condition? locked in syndrome, vegetative state, delirium, temporal lobe epilepsy, coma
coma
110
Having a bigger hippocampus might logically lead to better ... ?
spatial memory
111
While you sleep your brain is processing the day's events, consolidating memories and clearing out the hippocampus. What stage of sleep does this take place in?
Non-REM sleep
112
Which attentional system is responsible for maintaining an alert state, activated by warnings, and is tested through vigilance tasks?
Alerting
113
A 60-year old woman presents to the clinic with memory loss, poor judgement and feeling lost. MRI scans show significantly reduced brain matter, especially in the hippocampus and cerebral cortices. What is the likely diagnosis?
Alzheimer's Disease
114
A 22 year-old woman has been experiencing intense and vivid dreams where she engages in a lot of physical activity. She is adamant that she is performing the actions in her dream but her husband says she is merely twitching. What is the reason why she cannot fully perform the exact physical actions in her dream yet there is still some movement in her sleep?
Thalamus prevents outgoing motor commands - causes muscle atonia
115
Suzy thinks that she is not very good at visual retaining information, but good at manipulating it. Which tests for working memory could determine whether she is correct (respectively corresponding to each skill)?
1. spacial span forward task and 2. the letter-number sequencing task
116
A 67-year-old man visited the clinic with his wife. His wife explained that he tends to lose his memory, misplaces things in odd places and gets lost frequently. The man is diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Which impairment of the brain are causing these symptoms?
Hippocampus
117
The Papez Circuit is a neural circuit for the control of emotional expression and memory. A patient comes into the hospital with a head injury and but is unable to express their emotions clearly. What structure is likely to be damaged and causing disruption to the Papez Circuit?
Hippocampus - Circuit of Papez links the hippocampus to emotional processing
118
Hippocampal indexing involves: A pattern of neuronal activity from cortex activating a specific subpopulation of neurons in which part of the hippocampus?
CA3
119
Association fibres are white matter tracts connecting cortical areas in the same hemisphere, what imaging technique would be best to view them?
Diffusion Tensor Imaging
120
Which of the following best describes the difference between Broca’s area and Wernicke’s area in language processing?
Broca’s area is involved in speech production, while Wernicke’s area is responsible for language comprehension.
121
which region of the brain is most involved in working memory: dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, roastral prefrontal cortex, dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, ventromedial prefrontal cortex
dorsolateral prefrontal cortex
122
Damage to the posterior parietal cortex can lead to a condition where a patient ignores sensory information from one side of their body. This condition is known as:
Hemineglect
123
Evie loves red apples, she eats them all the time. Her friend gives her a green apple, she has never tried a green apple. once trying it she learns that whilst similar it is slightly different to the red apple and when seeing them for a second time can distinguish that they are different, what is this process called.
Pattern separation: learning to distinguish between similar information. the hippocampus modifies the pattern slightly so that we are able to differentiate between two similar things
124
Taine is a 7-year old boy who presents to his GP with the following symptoms: - Restlessness - Impulsivity - Difficulty concentrating (more so than his peers) The GP suggests he may have issues surrounding response inhibition. What could be Taine's prognosis?
ADHD
125
Abigail has explained she has lost the ability to recognise or interpret specific objects in the from of her but she can still she that there is an object by its colour/movement/shape what bit of Abigail's is probably damaged so that it is causing this?
inferotemporal cortex, located in the temporal lobe, is responsible for object recognition.
126
A 47-year-old patient with a history of chronic alcohol use has developed severe memory impairments, such as difficulty learning new information and recalling recent events. The patient often creates false memories to compensate for the gaps in their memory, a condition known as confabulation. What is the likely diagnosis?
Korsakoff’s Syndrome
127
Which neurotransmitter system is most directly implicated in the hyperarousal symptoms of PTSD?
Noradrenergic
128
A dog runs past jack in the street. he only catches a blurred glimpse of him but can still tell its a dog. what area of the brain allows for this and what is the process called.
Hippocampus, Pattern completion
129
What is the primary function of non-REM (NREM) sleep related to the hippocampus?
Clearance of waste products from the hippocampus
130
A neuroscientist is studying synaptic plasticity in the hippocampus and observes that the strength of synaptic connections between two neurons gradually weakens over time. The neurons exhibit prolonged, low-intensity firing, leading to reduced postsynaptic responses. Based on your knowledge of synaptic plasticity, which of the following mechanisms is most likely contributing to this weakening of synaptic strength?
Decreased expression of AMPA receptors and reduced presynaptic glutamate release
131
A patient has suffered a stroke and requires an urgent brain scan, so they are sent for a CT scan. Why are CT scans the first-line of visualising patients who suffer stroke?
CT scans specialise in viewing brain bleeds, so can visualise stroke easily
132
Geoff sees patterns in everyday objects, such as buildings and floor boards. What is his diagnosis?
Pareidolia
133
A 22-year-old medical student is performing a nerve conduction study in a physiology lab. As part of the experiment, she applies an increasing electrical stimulus to a neuron and observes the changes in membrane potential using an oscilloscope. She notices that when the stimulus is below a certain threshold, no response occurs, but once the stimulus surpasses this threshold, a rapid depolarisation followed by repolarisation occurs, always reaching the same peak voltage regardless of the stimulus strength. Curious about this phenomenon, she then applies a second stimulus immediately after the first ...... ......... but finds that no new response occurs. However, when she waits a few milliseconds, another action potential is successfully generated. Which physiological process best explains these observations?
Action potentials
134
Lily is unable to co-ordinate complex motor activities involving several muscle groups, what is this condition called?
Dysmetria
135
What is the leading cause of Korsakoff syndrome
Chronic alcoholism
136
A 48-year-old man presents with severe headaches, confusion, and occasional seizures. His family say that he was diagnosed late with herpes viral encephalitis and after recovery has had severe memory problems, often forgetting things within seconds even when they are repeated. He often says he feels that he has just "woken up" but can still play the piano well, though he can't remember doing it. Damage to which brain structure is likely causing his memory issues?
Hippocampus
137
In the context of Long-Term Potentiation (LTP), what role do NMDA receptors play?
They allow calcium influx which triggers changes strengthening the synapse
138
Fred has epilepsy. He suffers from the most common type of seizure's in temporal lobe epilepsy. What type of seizures does he have?
Complex partial seizures
139
A 50-year-old man is brought to the neurology clinic by his wife, who reports drastic changes in his personality and behavior over the past few months. He has become increasingly emotionally detached, has difficulty recognising familiar faces, and seems indifferent to previously enjoyable activities. She also mentions that he has episodes of intense fear and panic without any apparent trigger. On further questioning, he exhibits short-term memory loss and frequently repeats himself, forgetting recent conversations. During the neurological examination, he is shown a series of emotional facial expressions but fails to recognise anger and fear. MRI imaging reveals bilateral damage to a key structure deep in the temporal lobes. Which structure is most likely damaged?
Limbic system - responsible for emotion, memory, and behavior, and damage to this system leads to profound changes in personality, emotional processing, and memory. This patient's symptoms, emotional blunting, fear episodes, memory impairment, and facial recognition deficits, strongly suggest bilateral damage to the amygdala and hippocampus, which are critical components of the limbic system.
140
A 42-year-old man presents to the neurology clinic complaining that he frequently perceives faces in inanimate objects, such as clouds and tree bark. He has no history of psychiatric illness, and his cognitive function is otherwise intact. He does not report difficulties recognizing familiar faces but finds these experiences unusual. Which of the following best describes this perceptual phenomenon?
Pareidolia
141
The thalamus carries an important function by performing sensory filtering, processing, and gating. What is the correct combination below including aspects which are ALL mediated by the Thalamus?
Consciousness, Attention, & Working Memory Consciousness - Can be described as the way in which our brain pieces together a coherent picture of our world through sensory stream integration. As such, the thalamus arguably plays a role in how/which sensory streams are integrated. Attention & Working Memory - Both go hand in hand. Attention is mediated by thalamic function, and stimuli only go into working memory with sufficient attention. Short-Term Memory - Whilst not shown, is also mediated by thalamic function, i.e. by batting away irrelevant stimuli. Adaption - Can be described as the way in which our sensory system avoids extreme and persistent sensory input, often by working to produce an inverse effect to the stimuli. This change comes in the form of altered action potentials within specialized sensory neurons, and is interdependent of thalamic input. Pareidolia - The tendency to see patterns in uncanny places, usually faces (Face Pareidolia). Mediated by the Fusiform Face Area Retrieval - Primarily managed by the hippocampus
142
How many manipulation of information be tested cognitively?
Letter-number sequencing task
143
When Jim wakes up after a nights sleep he feels as though he hasn't been able to process yesterdays experiences and consolidate his memories properly. Has Jim had poor quality of Non-REM or REM sleep?
Non-REM
144
There is evidence that hippocampal volume and neurogenesis are reduced in depression; this could be due to an increase in stress, a known risk factor for depression, which also is known to inhibit neurogenesis. What drug is often used to treat depression and is also shown to stimulate neurogenesis?
Fluoxetine
145
Wernicke's area is responsible for understanding language while Broca's area creates language. What is the name of the structure connecting them?
Arcuate Fasiculus
146
A 32-year-old man visits a neurologist due to persistent mood changes, difficulty concentrating, and disrupted sleep patterns over the past six months. He reports feeling fatigued despite getting a full night's sleep, has lost interest in activities he once enjoyed, and experiences episodes of anxiety and low motivation. His appetite has also decreased, and he struggles with feelings of sadness and hopelessness. A neurochemical analysis suggests an imbalance in the chemical signals used for communication between neurons in key brain regions such as the prefrontal cortex and limbic system. The neurologist prescribes a medication aimed at increasing the availability of a specific chemical messenger at the synaptic cleft. Which of the following is primarily responsible for this patient’s symptoms?
Neurotransmitters - Depression is strongly linked to imbalances in neurotransmitters, which are the chemical messengers that allow neurons to communicate.
147
A 67-year-old man suffers a traumatic brain injury after a fall. Following the injury, he cannot recall events from the previous week, including what he had for breakfast or who visited him in the hospital. However, he can still perform learned motor tasks such as tying his shoelaces and playing the piano. Which part of his brain is most likely damaged?
Hippocampus
148
The Digit Span Forward Task is commonly used to assess which cognitive function?
Verbal/Auditory maintenance in working memory
149
The mesolimbic dopamine pathway, crucial for reward, novelty, and motivation, projects from the Ventral Tegmental Area (VTA) to which of the following structures?
Ventral Striatum (Nucleus Accumbens)
150
What is the role of projection fibres in the brain?
Connect cortex to other brain regions
151
Two patients have both experienced strokes and are presenting with different symptoms. Patient A is fairly good at understanding speech from the hospital staff and can recognise what they are saying but is unable to respond effectively. Their speech does not make sense and are frustrated when trying. Whereas Patient B can speak fluently yet the doctors cannot understand what they are trying to get across. The two patients have different disorders, what is the most likely answer?
Patient A presents with Broca's Aphasia and Patient B presents with Wernicke's Aphasia
152
Pavlov conducted an experiment on learnt behaviour whereby a dog was introduced to some tasty dog food which produced the dog to salivate. Noticing this, Pavlov then began to ring a bell when bringing the tasty dog food along, until eventually Pavlov was able to just ring the bell near the dog for it to salivate. What is this famous psychological concept called?
Classical Conditioning
153
what Hz are gamma waves
30-100+ Hz
154
what Hz are beta waves
13-30 Hz
155
13-30 Hz are delta waves
0.5-4 Hz
156
Josh is a 69-year old man who was encouraged to visit his GP by his wife Susan Boyle, as he's been experiencing the following: - Memory loss - Wandering and getting lost - Misplacing and losing objects frequency The GP refers him to neurology, with the susception of Alzheimer's. Which area of the brain is associated with his experienced symptoms?
Hippocampus
157
The substantia Nigra (movement control) and the ventral tegmental area (reward, novelty, and motivation) of the ventral midbrain, inervates the dorsal striatum (nigrostriatal pathway), the ventral striatum (mesolimbic pathway), and the prefrontal cortex (mesocortical pathway). What system is described here?
The dopaminergic system
158
A man named Ruford enters the GP. It is immediately evident that he has trouble walking as he has an unusually wide gait. Whilst standing at reception, the main trunk of his body also constantly moves backwards and forwards. It seems that he is having to do this because the trunk of his body is unstable and so moves to remain straight. Which part of his brain must have been damaged to cause such changes in this man's motor abilities?
Cerebellum
159
Which of these brain areas are associated with the Orienting system? ventral frontal cortex medial parietal cortex fronto parietal junction
ventral frontal cortex and temporo-parietal junction are associated with the orienting system
160
A patient sustains damage to their thalamus. Which of the following sensory modalities is least likely to be affected?
Olfaction (smell)
161
What task is used to test monitoring in working memory?
N-back
162
A 58 year old man is brought to a doctor due to changes in behaviour and cognition over the past year. He has become impulsive, showing inappropriate behaviours, lack of empathy, and little motivation. His memory is intact, but he struggles with tasks at work and has developed unusual eating habits. Which disease is most likely responsible for his symptoms?
Frontotemporal dementia - memory not affected in earlier stages
162
John has chronic alcohol dependency. He struggles to form new memories and struggles to remember things that have happened. To compensate he creates his own version of events that are often fabricated, distorted or false. An MRI shows damage to his mamillary bodies. He is diagnosed with a chronic memory disorder. What is his diagnosis?
Korsakoff syndrome
163
A patient who has experienced significant trauma continues to exhibit intense fear reactions in response to harmless, non-threatening stimuli. Neuroimaging would reveal increased activity in which brain region?
Amygdala
164
One of the ways we can learn is through pavlovian classical conditioning, which area of the brain is responsible for learning this way
amygdala
165
CT (Computerised tomography) scans are often used during emergencies as they are very quick and have great visualisation of bone and blood. They are often used in emergencies where someone has fallen and hit their head or to confirm/rule out a stroke. Which of the following can be seen on a CT scan and is associated with an increase in intracranial pressure due to a haemorrhagic stroke? dark patch, midline shift, no midline shift, normal looking ventricles
Midline shift
166
Knowing that the capital of france is Paris is an example of semantic memory. Where is this type of memory stored?
Hippocampus - both episodic and explicit are here
167
Which brain structure is primarily responsible for the formation of declarative (explicit) memories?
Hippocampus
168
A 72-year-old man suffers a stroke affecting the left temporal lobe. He struggles to recall specific words during conversations but can describe their meaning. He also has difficulty recognising famous voices but can still identify faces. what is affected
Anterior temporal lobe Explanation: The anterior temporal lobe is involved in semantic memory and recognition of unique entities (e.g., famous voices, concepts). His preserved ability to describe meanings but impaired word retrieval could be caused by semantic dementia, which affects anterior temporal structures.
169
A researcher studying dopamine signalling and activity notices that the dopamine neurons in a rat's ventral tegmental area is firing more intensely following an unexpected reward. This neural response to the reward is best explained by which concept?
Reward prediction error
170
Damage to the fornix is most commonly associated with which type of memory impairment?
Anterograde amnesia - crucial for memory formation, and damage to it leads to difficulty forming new memories (anterograde amnesia).
171
A developmental psychologist is investigating factors that influence self-control and long-term decision-making in children. As part of the study, children are presented with a choice: they can receive a small treat immediately or wait a designated period to receive a larger treat. The researcher observes that children from lower-income backgrounds are more likely to opt for the immediate reward, even when they verbally express a preference for the larger future reward. This pattern remains consistent even after controlling for intelligence and cognitive ability. The psychologist considers how environmental stability, trust in delayed rewards, and early-life experiences might shape impulse control and decision-making. Given this experimental setup, which psychological test is most commonly used to assess delay of gratification in children?
Stanford Marshmallow Test
172
Which region of the brain is primarily responsible for the ‘cocktail party effect' on experiences?
thalamus
173
Sensory gating is when irrelevant sensory information can be filtered. This prevents an individual from becoming overstimulated. What disorder shows deficits in this process?
schizophrenia
174
Working memory is managed by the Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex It projects to the Hippocampus to: Encode long term memory Recall memory The area is also part of abstract reasoning What Brodmann areas are within this cortex?
9, 46
175
Anatomically where is the prefrontal cortex in regards to the primary motor cortex?
Rostral
176
which of the following is not a sign of posterior parietal cortex damage? sensory neglect hemiasomatognosia motor neglect movement agnosia conceptual neglect
Movement agnosia is associated with damage to the temporal cortex
177
Jessica is a 52 year old woman who seems unable to form new memories. She has many intact prior memories and has retained the ability to play the guitar. She does not have dementia and seems cognitively able. What part of Jessica's brain may be impaired?
Hippocampus
178
A 72-year-old stroke patient is brought to a neurologist by their family. The patient only eats food from the right side of their plate, fails to dress the left side of their body, and does not acknowledge objects or people on their left side. When asked to lift both arms, they move the right arm normally but rarely move the left arm, despite having no muscle weakness. Based on these symptoms, which brain region is most likely damaged?
Posterior Parietal Cortex
179
Fred is playing football when his shoe lases come undone. He bends down to tie them up and continues with the game. Fred did not have to continuously remember how to tie his shoe lases when he did this. What type of memory is Fred using and what area of the brain are these memories produced in?
procedural and striatum
180
Tom, a university student, is studying for an exam, but finds it difficult to hold multiple pieces of information in his head at once. He also struggles with mental maths and keeping track of conversation topics. Which type of memory is impaired?
working memory
181
A 55-year-old man has attended the clinic with issues handling day-to-day tasks, especially attending to verbal cues. The man says, "I had a little fall and hit the front of my head, that's all. My hands don't work as well in my old age!". With this, the clinician expects damage to Brodmann Area 9 + 46, an issue with the man's working memory. What is the most likely test for the clinician to recommend, regarding working memory?
Digit-Span - the man said he has been having trouble mainly with attending conversational cues. The second most likely test would be the Spatial Span Forward test, which is used alongside the digit-span, this would be used to test the man's spatial memory, potentially why he hit his head in the first place! N-Back and Letter-Number Sequencing are a little more unrelated in this setting. N-Back is used to test attention to stimuli and Letter-Number Sequencing is used to manipulate data.
182
A 23-year-old medical student is asked to memorize a list of words. Later, when recalling the list, she mistakenly includes a word that was thematically related but never actually presented. This phenomenon is best explained by dysfunction in which cognitive process?
Source monitoring - error occurs when a person misreports the origin of a memory. The hippocampus and prefrontal cortex distinguish real versus imagined or related words in recall tasks. This error is common in false memory research.
183
What is the Ventral Tegmental area responsible for and where is it situated in the brain?
Makes dopamine, midbrain
184
A patient has issues with reward, pleasure, motivation, and addiction, which dopamine pathway and subsequent areas of the brain involved in that pathway are impaired?
Mesolimbic dopamine pathway Ventral tegmental area Ventral striatum
185
Which subregion of the entorhinal–hippocampal circuit contains neurons that fire in a regular, hexagonal pattern, providing a metric for spatial navigation?
Medial entorhinal cortex (MEC) - Grid cells whose firing fields form a hexagonal lattice across an environment reside primarily in the medial entorhinal cortex and furnish the brain’s internal coordinate system for navigation
186
James is taking a test where he has to repeat a string of letters and numbers back to the examiner, numbers first in ascending order then letters in alphabetical order. What is this test and which aspect of his working memory does it test?
Letter-number sequencing task testing manipulation of information
187
An elderly woman experiences tremors and issues with speech. A brain scan reveals that the patient has neuronal loss in the substantia nigra. What is the likely diagnosis
Parkinson’s Disease -caused by degeneration of nerve cells in the part of the brain called the substantia nigra, which controls movement
188
Damage to which brain region is most likely to increase utilitarian moral judgements, where decisions favour the greatest overall benefit, even at the cost of harming an individual?
ventromedial prefrontal cortex - crucial for emotional processing in moral decisions. damage to this area reduces emotional aversion to harming others, leading to increased utilitarian choices (e.g: sacrificing one to save many)
189
A 28-year-old man is watching TV when he suddenly hears a loud crash outside. His attention shifts immediately from the screen to the noise. Which brain region is primarily responsible for detecting this "new thing to attend to" and shifting his attention?
Ventral frontal cortex - signals "new thing to attend to", allowing for rapid reorientation of attention temporo-parietal junction helps break attention from the previous focus, while the pulvinar nucleus of the thalamus is involved in initial sensory filtering, helping determine what information is relevant.
190
190
191
A 30-year-old woman presents with a loss of the ability to move her right arm despite no paralysis. She often denies that the arm belongs to her and ignores it when dressing. What is the most likely condition?
Body neglect
192
A patient has a speech difficulty. They struggle to move the muscles in their face, preventing them from speaking. What condition do they have?
Dysarthria
193
At what age do normally developing children typically begin to develop a Theory of Mind?
3-4 years
194
The Amygdala allows someone to recognise fear in other people It is also related to learning about cues - 'whether you should care' A patient presents with bilateral lesions in the temporal lobe hey also show: Reduced fear or docility Visual agnosia Hyperorality What is the likely diagnosis of the patient?
Kluwer-Bucy Syndrome
195
A 45-year-old man was involved in a car accident and suffered a severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). He was unconscious for several hours but eventually regained consciousness in the hospital. Over the next few days, doctors observed that he had difficulty moving his right arm and leg, slurred speech, and slowed cognitive responses. Despite his recovery, he continued to struggle with memory recall, problem-solving, and emotional regulation. A follow-up MRI revealed widespread axonal damage throughout the brain, particularly in the white matter tracts connecting different brain regions. Which type of cell is primarily affected in this patient’s injury?
Neurons - patient’s symptoms are consistent with diffuse axonal injury (DAI), a condition that occurs when the brain undergoes rapid acceleration and deceleration forces, leading to widespread damage to neurons—particularly their axons. Neurons are the primary cells of the nervous system responsible for transmitting electrical and chemical signals between different parts of the brain and body.
196
A 20 year old male has come to A&E after sustaining an injury during a rugby game. After keeping him under observation it is clear he is unable to remember learnt habits such as brushing his teeth. When talking with him he is also unable to distinguish between what is good or bad and shows lack of motivation. Neuroimaging shows a bleed on the mans brain. what region is the bleed most likely to be in?
Striatum
197
Fred is learning something new, what part of the brain signals that there is a new thing to attend to?
ventral frontal cortex signals 'new thing to attend to'
198
A person who has experienced a significant trauma reports persistent re-experiencing of the event, hypervigilance, and avoidance of trauma-related cues. Functional neuroimaging studies in individuals with this condition have often shown hyperactivity in which brain regions?
amygdala
199
Peter has experienced a traumatic brain injury following a car accident, which has impaired his posterior parietal cortex. One of his symptoms is that he is unable to acknowledge the left side of his body is there. What condition is peter likely to have?
hemiasomatognosia
200
Steve's mum believes he is epileptic so she takes him to the hospital. What test are they likely to run to test if he have epilepsy?
EEG - measures electrical activity in cerebral cortex, and detected group of neurons firing together. Epilepsy is the synchronous firing of large groups of neurons
201
Which stage of sleep is reached quicker with alcohol consumption?
NREM3
202
A man and his wife have gone to the GP and he has begun act strangely. The man has started to only eat the food on the right half of his plate. Additionally, he becomes startled when his wife approaches him from his left, and he sometimes only shaves the right half of his face. He seems aware that something is wrong, but explains that he simply doesn't notice when things are on his left. His visual cortex is undamaged. What condition might he have?
Left Hemispatial neglect
203
The default mode network becomes more active when we are not directly involved in a task. There are many brain regions involved with the default mode network, but which of the choices below is NOT associated with its function? medial prefrontal cortex interior parietal lobe posterior cingulate cortex dorsolateral prefrontal cortex
Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex -impulse inhibition and self control.
204
A psychologist is evaluating a patient who was involved in a severe car accident several months ago. Although the patient sustained no physical injuries, they now experience intense anxiety and an involuntary fear response whenever they hear the sound of screeching tires, even in a safe environment. This reaction occurs automatically, despite the patient being fully aware that they are not in danger. The psychologist considers different learning mechanisms that could explain how a previously neutral stimulus (screeching tires) has come to trigger a strong emotional response. Based on this understanding, which of the following mechanisms best explains the patient’s reaction?
Classical conditioning with the amygdala as the key structure
205
What is the difference between electric and chemical signals?
Electric signals travel along neuron's as action potentials Chemical signals travel between neurons as neurotransmitters
206
Anna is showing cognitive defects and when asked to flip her hand back and forth tapping her other hand she was unable to do it in a smooth manner and often tapped it the same way twice in a row. What brain region is likely to be effected?
Cerebellum - not motor cortex as that would be more sig
207
A 40‐year‐old man complains of non‐restorative sleep. Despite falling asleep quickly, he wakes frequently during the night and does not feel refreshed in the morning. Polysomnography reveals a significant reduction in REM sleep. Which of the following cognitive or emotional functions is most likely to be affected by his REM sleep deficiency?
Deficient emotional regulation and memory integration
208
Lily's parents have noticed she struggles with change and prefers sticking to rigid routines. She tends to play with toys by ordering then and spins repetitively. Lily also avoids eye contact, doesn't respond to verbal cues and repeats sounds she hears. What is Lily's diagnosis?
autism
209
Clara (70) presents with progressive deterioration of her behaviour and cognition. She has been shop lifting for the first time in her and life and taken part in out of character sexual risks. Her children report that she does not show care or concern as she used to, is struggling with language and Clara's diet has changed. Although, they do not report many changes in her memory. What is Clara's likely diagnosis?
Frontotemporal dementia
210
Alexy was an ordinary citizen who was law-abiding and liked by their friends and family. However, over the past few months, Alexy has undergone significant behaviour changes, which have been noticed by others. Alexy underwent a routine screening at the local hospital, where the scan discovered a tumour pressing on their prefrontal cortex. What type of scan would be used for this case, and what associated symptoms could Alexy show due to their affected prefrontal cortex?
TR-1 MRI, the elderly patient could exhibit signs of impaired executive function, poor judgement, impulsiveness, and inappropriate social behaviour. They could have persistence of a single thought or action, and lack a sense of order.
211
A person who has experienced a significant trauma reports persistent re-experiencing of the event, hypervigilance, and avoidance of trauma-related cues. Functional neuroimaging studies in individuals with this condition have often shown hyperactivity in which of the following brain regions?
amygdala
212
In the Ascending sensory pathway, a sensory stimulus will travel from the body to the spinal cord, where it will then travel up the spinal cord to the thalamus, and then to the cortex for processing. What is the name given to the third order neurone pathway?
Thalamocortical projections
213
What Hz is beta waves?
13-30 Hz
214
A 57 year old man experienced a stroke and has displayed an inability to maintain an understanding of language, he is still perfectly capable of constructing sentences with no disordered grammar or syntax. What area of the brain is most likely to be damaged and its associated Brodmann's area?
Wernicke's area in Brodmann area 22
215
A student is studying for his psychology exam. While reviewing his notes, he actively tries to associate new information with prior knowledge and visualises related experiences. This process involves areas of the brain such as the hippocampus and the prefrontal cortex, which work together to encode the information into long-term memory by creating stronger neural connections, leading to better retention. Is the process described above true or false?
True - The hippocampus is key for initial memory formation, and the prefrontal cortex helps in associating new data with prior knowledge
216
An experiment performed by Olds and Milner in 1954 involved attaching stimulating electrodes to a structure within the brain of a rat. The rat was able to press a lever that would stimulate the structure that the electrodes were attached to. They found that the rats would deprioritise all other behaviour once they had learned this and would not stop. Similar findings have been shown in humans. Which structure was being stimulated during this experiment?
Medial forebrain bundle
217
is hyperfixation a personality trait in Temporal lobe epilepsy?
no
218
which of the following is the correct order of the structures in the hippocampus (and near the hippocampus)?
Subiculum, CA1, CA2, CA3, CA4, dentate
219
Sarah has an appointment with her GP following a few months of feeling generally down and losing motivation to do the things she use to enjoy (apathy). Sarah is diagnosed with depression and has been prescribed Fluoxetine, an SSRI. SSRIs are known to increase neurogenesis within the adult brain following a few days or weeks of this treatment. Which zone is the most important for the progression of neurogenesis following fluoxetine treatment?
Dentate gyrus
220
A 65-year-old woman is referred to neurology after developing unsteady walking, difficulty balancing, and impaired coordination. She has no memory or speech impairments, but her movements appear clumsy and inaccurate. Which brain structure is most likely damaged?
Cerebellum
221
A patient experiences visual hallucinations and reports difficulty recognizing colors and shapes. Eye exams show no issues with their vision. Which brain area is most likely affected?
Occipital lobe
222
Long-term potentiation (LTP), a cellular mechanism believed to underlie learning and memory, involves the strengthening of synapses through changes that are primarily initiated by the influx of which ion through NMDA receptors?
Calcium (Ca2+)
223
Which brain structure has a reduced size in autism?
Cerebellum