Physiology Flashcards
Which part of the body carries information to and from sense receptors, motor nerves, and skeletal muscles?
somatic nervous system
________ is a functional brain imaging technique that provides information on the functional activities of the brain (e.g. regional cerebral blood flow).
Positron-emission tomography (PET)
______ acts as an excitatory neurotransmitter in many areas of the brain. It plays a role in learning and memory and, more specifically, in long-term potentiation (LTP), a brain mechanism that is believed to be responsible for the formation of long-term memories.
glutamate
Spinal cord injury at the sacral level will cause:
Loss of functioning in the hips and legs
Loss of control in the fingers and hands is caused by damage to
a lower cervical nerve (C6 or C8) or by a combination of damage to a lower cervical nerve and T1 (the first thoracic nerve)
Quadriplegia (loss of functioning in the arms and legs) results from damage at the ____ level
cervical
“Me before you”, Will Traynor was QUADriplegic. he loved Lou. He wanted to hit that CERVIX (sex) (CERVICAL)
Loss of control of the trunk area is caused by damage at the
thoracic level, especially T1-T8.
Lesions to the right (non-dominant) hemisphere would most likely produce:
Indifference or euphoria
A split-brain patient is staring straight ahead when the word “head band” is flashed directly in front of her. The woman will most likely verbally report seeing which of the following?
Band
Split-brain patients are individuals whose corpus callosum has been severed as a treatment for epilepsy. Because her corpus callosum has been severed, the woman will only be able to verbally state what was directly perceived by her left hemisphere, which is what was in the right visual field (i.e. the word “band”).
Damage to what area of the brain may lead to uncontrollable laughter or intense rage and aggression?
hypothalamus
The hypothalamus is involved in regulating hunger, thirst, sex, sleep, body temperature, movement, and emotional reactions. It also maintains homeostasis through its influence on the autonomic nervous system, pituitary gland, and other endocrine glands. Damage to the hypothalamus can cause very intense emotional reactions.
Wernike’s aphasia involves:
Fluent output, impaired repetition, poor comprehension
The term “aphasia” refers to a loss of language functioning as the result of brain impairment. Damage to the temporal lobe may result in Wernicke’s aphasia. Fluent speech that is devoid of content, impaired repetition, and poor comprehension of written and spoken language are symptoms of Wernicke’s aphasia.
This part of the brain transmits sensory information to the appropriate areas of the cortex for all senses except olfaction.
thalamus
The thalamus is located in the subcortical region of the forebrain and acts as a “relay station” for sensory information.
Research conducted in the 1930s found that ablation of the anterior temporal lobes in male rhesus monkeys produced a variety of symptoms including hypersexuality, placidity, oral tendencies, and psychic blindness. This condition is known as _____ syndrome.
Kluver-Bucy
The symptoms described in this question are characteristic of Kluver-Bucy syndrome, due to lesions affecting the hippocampus and amygdala.
Damage to _________ produces expressive aphasia.
Broca’s area is the major motor speech area located in the frontal lobe of the brain. Damage to Broca’s area causes expressive (Broca’s) aphasia which is characterized by difficulties in producing spoken and written language.
: In which functions is the hippocampus involved?
Verbal processing, visual processing, spatial processing, and memory
What structures are contained within the hindbrain?
Pons
Medulla oblongata
Cerebellum
__________ involves right-left confusion, agraphia, and acalculia.
Gerstmann’s syndrome occurs with damage to the left parietal lobe. Gerstmann’s syndrome is characterized by finger agnosia, right-left confusion, agraphia (an inability to write), and acalculia (an inability to preform simple mathematical calculations).
Which of the following brain structures plays a role in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and schizophrenia and is a neuronal pathway that connects the limbic system and prefrontal lobes?
reticular activating system ( RAS )
Which structures are included in the basal ganglia?
Caudate nucleus, putamen, globus pallidus, substantia nigra
The body’s circadian rhythms are controlled by the:
Suprachiasmatic nucleus
The suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) is part of the hypothalamus and acts as the body’s “biological clock” and is responsible for many of the body’s circadian rhythms.
Following a head injury, a woman exhibits dressing apraxia, tactile agnosia, and doesn’t comb the hair on the left side of her head. Which area of her brain has most likely been damaged?
Tactile agnosia, contralateral neglect, and some types of apraxia are caused by damage to certain areas of the PARIETAL LOBE.
What structures make up the limbic system?
amygdala
hippocampus
cingulate cortex
What structures make up the midbrain?
superior/ inferior colliculi
substantia nigra
reticular formation RAS
What structures make up the forebrain in the subcortical structures?
thalamus
hypothalamus
basal ganglia
amygdala
hippocampus
what structures make up the forebrain in the cerebral cortex?
frontal lobes
parietal lobes
temporal lobes
occipital lobes
The development of the human brain involves 5 main stages?
-profileration (2.5 weeks old embryo): new cels are produced inside the neural tube
-migration (8 weeks): immature neurons migrate to their final destination in the brain. Begin to aggregate with other cells to form the structures of the brain
-differentiation: neurons begin to develop axons and dendrites
-myelination: axons of some neurons myelinate. much myelination occurs postnatally
-synaptogenesis: formation of synapses (mostly after birth)
what makes up the peripheral nervous system?
-somatic nervous system
-autonomic nervous system
*parasympathetic nervous system
*sympathetic nervous system
What are the groups that make up the spinal cord?
cervical
thoracic
lumbar
sacral
coccygeal
describe an action potential
Na channels open
+ charged Na ions enter = depolarization
(interior of cell becomes less - )
Na channels close
K channels open
+ K ions leave = repolarization
the action potential operates on the ______ principle. define it
all or none
whenever the stimulation received by a neuron exceeds a given threshold, the resulting action potential will always be the same intensity
_____ involves the release of a neurotransmitter into the synaptic cleft (which is a small gap between the axon terminal of the presynaptic cell and the receptor on the dendrite of the post synaptic cell)
synaptic transmission
_____ is an inhibitory neurotransmitter and plays a role in eating, seizure, anxiety disorders, motor control, vision, and sleep
GABA
degeneration of cells that secrete _____ in the _____ contributes to the motor symptoms of Huntington’s disease
GABA
Basal ganglia
-putamen
-caudate nucleus
(the two are known as the Striatum and the two most affected by H disease)
-substantia nigra
____ syndrome is due to a thiamine deficiency that causes atrophy of neurons in certain areas of the thalamus and the mammillary bodies of the hypothalamus and is usually the result of chronic alcoholism.
Wernicke-Korsakoff
the ___ are important for planing, organizing, and coordinating voluntary movements. these structures are aso involved in several disorders with prominent motor symptoms including ______, _____, _____ and ADHD.
basal ganglia
hUNTINGTON’S
Parkinson’s
Tourettes
tHE AMYGDALA ATTACHES EMOTION TO
MEMORY
damage to the amygdala and temporal lobes can produce _____ syndrome, which is characterized by reduced fear and aggression, psychic blindness, and hypersexuality.
Kluver-Bucy
An inherited form of complete color blindness caused by a lack of functioning in the cone cells is known as ___________.
congenital achromatopsia
Which theory best describes sensation as an exponential function of stimulus intensity?
steven’s law
According to ________, the more intense a stimulus, the greater the need for an increase in stimulus intensity to produce a noticeable difference.
Weber’s Law
_________ determines the relationship between the magnitude of a stimulus and the magnitude of the associated sensation.
Fechner’s Law
Retinal disparity helps to explain:
The use of both eyes to perceive depth or distance
The ___________ are (is) essential for the encoding, storage, and retrieval of long-term declarative memories, with the right and left lobes serving somewhat different functions.
temporal lobes
The temporal lobes are essential for the encoding, storage, and retrieval of long-term declarative memories, with the right and left lobes serving somewhat different functions.
The ____, _____, and _____ play a role in procedural memory (e.g., memory for sensorimotor skills) and implicit (unconscious, nonintentional) memory.
Basal ganglia, cerebellum, and motor cortex
Wernicke’s area and Broca’s area are connected by the ________, and damage to this structure can produce _______ aphasia. This disorder does not significantly affect language comprehension but does result in anomia, paraphasia, and impaired repetition.
arcuate fasciculus
conduction
Individuals with this form of aphasia may be able to say a few words and produce automatic speech (especially emotional exclamations)?
global
_________ is caused by damage to _____ area. Individuals have trouble understanding written and spoken language and generating meaningful language.
Wernicke’s aphasia (also known as receptive, impressive, sensory, and fluent aphasia)
Individuals with ________ are able to talk but have nothing to say and are unable to understand written and spoken language. They can, however, produce automatic responses (such as singing familiar songs) and repeat words, phrases, or sentences spoken by others.
mixed transcortical aphasia
Tactile agnosia, contralateral neglect, and some types of apraxia are caused by damage to certain areas of the _____.
parietal lobe
Damage to the _______ can cause disturbance of auditory sensation and perception, impaired ability to comprehend language, and impaired memory.
temporal lobe
Damage to the ______ leads to vision impairments including blindness, blind spots, visual distortions and visual inattention.
occipital lobe
Which theory of emotion proposes that emotional and bodily reactions to stimuli occur simultaneously as a result of thalamic stimulation of the cortex and the peripheral nervous system?
Cannon-bard
_____ theory stresses the importance of peripheral factors and proposes that emotions represent perceptions of bodily reactions to sensory stimuli.
James Lange
______ theory proposes that emotions are universal but that there are differences in how emotion-arousing events are interpreted or appraised.
Cognitive Appraisal
Schachter and Singer’s two-factor theory (1962) describes subjective emotional experience as the consequence of a combination of _____________ and cognitive interpretation of that arousal and the environmental context in which it occurs.
physiological arousal
Selye’s General adaptation syndrome involves three stages known as ____, ____, and ____.
alarm reaction, resistance, and exhaustion.
A number of studies have confirmed that, of the Type A characteristics, ____ or ______ is most strongly associated with health problems, especially coronary heart disease in males (e.g., Ewart and Kolodner, 1994).
cynical or antagonistic hostility
Language is controlled by the ____ hemisphere
left
electrical stimulation of the lateral hypothalamus would most likely produce:
anger and aggression
lesions to the lateral hypothalamus would most likely produce
placidity
Hans Selye (1956) proposed that during the resistance stage of the general adaptation syndrome, ____ is released by the ____.
cortisol; adrenal cortex
Hans Selye (1956) proposed that during the alarm reaction stage of the general adaptation syndrome, ____ is released by the ____.
epinephrine; adrenal medulla (activating by the hypothalamus)
Hans Selye (1956) proposed that during the exhaustion stage of the general adaptation syndrome, ____ and ____ lose their ability to maintain elevated hormone levels due to _____
pituitary gland and adrenal cortex
prolonged stress
The ___ is involved in memory consolidation and explicit memory
hippocampus
The _____ plays a role in episodic memory, prospective memory, and working memory.
prefrontal cortex
The ____, cerebellum, and motor cortex contribute to procedural and implicit memory
basal ganglia
At the neural level, ____ in the hippocampus is believed to be important for longer-term memory.
long-term potentiation
There is evidence that long term memory depends on increased _____ during the minutes or hours following training.
protein synthesis
When the synthesis of protein or _____ is inhibited at the time of training, long term memory is impaired
RNA
People with Broca’s aphasia usually experience what?
speak slowly and with great difficulty, poor articulation, intact comprehension (they are aware of their issue). They tend to have depression and anxiety.
____ aphasia is caused by lesions that isolate Broca’s area and/or Wernicke’s area from other regions of the brain.
Transcortical
This age range is most likely to experience the least amount of REM sleep.
older adults
Newborns and infants typically spend about twice as much time in _____ sleep as adults.
REM
The development of secondary sex characteristics occurs when the _____ secretes chemicals that stimulate the pituitary gland which, in turn, releases the gonadotropic hormones.
hypothalamus
According to ___ theory, emotions reflect perceptions of bodily reactions (“I’m scared because my knees are shaking.”)
James Lange
the _____ was proposed in 1937 as a neural circuit that mediates the experience and expression of emotion.
Papez’s circuit
The ____ hemisphere governs positive emotions and damage to this area results in ______
left (dominant)
catastrophic reactions (severe depression, paranoia, anxiety, aggression)
The _____ hemisphere mediates negative emotions, and lesions produce _____, emotional lability, and/or undue cheerfulness.
right
indifference and apathy
Electrical stimulation of the amygdala can produce a ______ and/or rage respose
fear
damage to the hypothalamus can result in rage or
uncontrollable laughter
which sleep wave is characterized by deep relaxation and light sleep?
theta waves
What are the sleep waves and their functions?
Beta: being alert, a fully awake state
Alpha: awake, rested, relaxed state
Theta: deep relaxation and light sleep
Delta: deep sleep.
Although hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is effective for eliminating ____, ____, and ____ and reduces the risk for bone loss, there is no clear evidence that it improves _____.
hot flashes, mood swings, and vaginal dryness
sex drive
Research using brain imaging techniques has confirmed that the brain is sexually ____- i.e., that there are sex-related differences in several brain structures including the corpus callosum, hippocampus, and SCN.
dimorphic
The emergence of secondary sex characteristics in puberty is a process that is mediated by the _____ axis.
hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal
As one ascends the ____, the sex hormones become increasingly less important as determinants of adult sexual behavior.
phylogenetic scale
Sleep is divided into 5 stages. During stage 1, ____ waves are replaced by ___ waves, and in stage 2, ___ waves predominate but are interrupted by bursts of ______. Stages 3 and 4 are characterized by large, slow ____ waves. The 5th stage is marked by the presence of _____.
alpha
theta
sleep spindles
delta
rapid eye movements
