The Brain and Eyes

Question 1

Name 3 main areas of the brain

Answer 1

• Cerebellum
• Cerebral cortex
• Medulla oblongata

Question 2

What is the cerebral cortex made up of?

Answer 2

Two cerebral hemispheres

Question 3

What is the role of the cerebral cortex?

Answer 3

Controls senses, intelligence, personality and other high level functions

Question 4

What is the role of the cerebellum?

Answer 4

Controls balance, coordination and movement

Question 5

What is the role of the medulla?

Answer 5

Controls unconscious activities eg. heart rate and breathing rate

Question 6

What are the difficulties with investigating brain function?

Answer 6

• The brain is surrounded by the skull
• Its complex structure means working out which parts of the brain carry out specific functions is difficult
• The brain is extremely delicate

Question 7

What is a CT scan?

Answer 7

Scan where a patient lies on a bed which is passed through a ring of equipment which takes a series of x-rays from different angles which are processed by a computer

Question 8

What is a PET scan?

Answer 8

Scan for locating tumours where a radioactive tracer is injected into the blood and taken in more by cancerous tumours which will be more visible in the following scan

Question 9

What is the cornea?

Answer 9

Curved surface on the eye that reflects light in the direction of the retina

Question 10

What is the iris?

Answer 10

Part of the eye that controls the size of the pupil

Question 11

How does the size of the pupil in an eye affect the amount of light let through?

Answer 11

• In brighter light the pupil is smaller
• In dimmer light the pupil is larger
• The more light let in, the clearer the image
• If there is too much light the retina could get damaged

Question 12

What is the lens in an eye?

Answer 12

Part of the eye that changes the shape to focus the image by directing light towards the retina

Question 13

What is the retina?

Answer 13

Layer of light receptors in the back of the eye that sends signals to the brain to interpret the image

Question 14

What are rod and cone cells?

Answer 14

• Cells in the retina that convert light into the electrical impulses sent to the brain
• Rod cells detect light intensity
• Cone cells detect colour

Question 15

What is short sightedness?

Answer 15

When distant objects appear blurry

Question 16

What is long sightedness?

Answer 16

When nearby objects appear blurry

Question 17

What causes short sightedness?

Answer 17

The lens being too curved

Question 18

What causes long sightedness?

Answer 18

The lens being too flat

Question 19

What are cataracts?

Answer 19

Cloudiness in the lens of an eye due to the buildup of protein

Question 20

How can short sightedness be corrected?

Answer 20

• Using concave contact or spectacle lenses
• Through laser eye surgery to reduce the thickness of the cornea

Question 21

How can long sightedness be corrected?

Answer 21

• Using convex contact or spectacle lenses
• Through laser eye surgery to change the curvature of the cornea

Question 22

What is colourblindness?

Answer 22

The inability to distinguish between certain colours

Question 23

How can cataracts be corrected?

Answer 23

By replacing the eye lens with an artificial one