1.
Which structure is the largest part of the human brain?
2.
Which bundle of nerve fibers is the largest connection between the left and right cerebral hemispheres?
3.
What is the main advantage of the folds of the cerebral cortex?
4.
Which cerebral lobe contains the primary visual cortex?
5.
Which brain structure is especially important for coordinating movement, balance, and motor learning?
6.
Damage to which structure is most likely to directly endanger breathing and heart-rate control?
7.
Which structure plays a major role in homeostasis by regulating functions such as body temperature, hunger, and hormone release?
8.
Most sensory information headed for the cerebral cortex is relayed through which structure?
9.
A neuron carrying information from a skin receptor toward the central nervous system is classified as which type?
10.
Which part of a typical neuron receives most synaptic input from other neurons?
11.
Which part of a neuron normally carries action potentials away from the cell body?
12.
Which cells form myelin around axons in the central nervous system?
13.
What are the gaps between myelinated segments of an axon called?
14.
Which glial cells act as the main resident immune cells of the central nervous system?
15.
Which glial cell type helps regulate the chemical environment around neurons and contributes to the blood-brain barrier?
16.
Compared with the outside of the cell, the inside of a resting neuron is usually:
17.
During the rising phase of a typical neuronal action potential, which ion moves rapidly into the axon through voltage-gated channels?
18.
Which ion movement is chiefly responsible for repolarizing the membrane during a typical action potential?
19.
If a stimulus raises an axon to threshold, what happens to the size of the resulting action potential?
20.
Why does myelin increase the speed of action-potential conduction?
21.
When an action potential reaches a chemical synapse, entry of which ion into the presynaptic terminal triggers synaptic-vesicle fusion?
22.
At a chemical synapse, neurotransmitter molecules normally cross the:
23.
What distinguishes an ionotropic receptor from a metabotropic receptor?
24.
Which neurotransmitter is the major excitatory neurotransmitter in the adult brain?
25.
Which neurotransmitter is the major inhibitory neurotransmitter in the adult brain?
26.
Which enzyme breaks down acetylcholine in the synaptic cleft at the neuromuscular junction?
27.
Which retinal photoreceptors are most important for vision in dim light?
28.
Which retinal photoreceptors provide the most detailed color vision in bright light?
29.
Why does each eye have a normal blind spot?
30.
Visual signals from the retina pass through which thalamic nucleus before reaching primary visual cortex?
31.
In the inner ear, sound vibrations are converted into neural signals primarily by:
32.
Damage to the semicircular canals would most directly impair detection of:
33.
Which pathway carries much of the body's pain and temperature information toward the brain?
34.
Which statement best describes the unusual route of olfactory information?
35.
Which descending pathway is most directly associated with voluntary, skilled movement of the limbs?
36.
A physician taps the patellar tendon and the lower leg extends. Which receptor initially detects the sudden muscle stretch?
37.
The basal ganglia contribute most directly to which function?
38.
Loss of dopamine-producing neurons in the substantia nigra is most closely associated with:
39.
Which nucleus functions as the brain's main circadian clock and receives information about environmental light?
40.
Which combination is most characteristic of REM sleep?
41.
Bilateral damage to the hippocampus would most directly impair the ability to:
42.
Which structure is especially important in detecting emotionally significant threats and learning fear associations?
43.
A patient understands spoken language but speaks slowly and with great effort. Damage is most likely in:
44.
A patient speaks fluently, but the speech lacks meaning and the patient has poor language comprehension. Which area is most likely damaged?
45.
Long-term potentiation (LTP) is best described as:
46.
During brain development, synaptic pruning refers to:
47.
The brain and spinal cord develop primarily from which embryonic structure?
48.
Which statement about the adolescent brain is best supported by neuroscience?
49.
Multiple sclerosis primarily damages:
50.
Myasthenia gravis commonly causes muscle weakness because antibodies interfere with:
51.
Which pair is most characteristic of Alzheimer's disease pathology?
52.
Huntington's disease is most directly caused by:
53.
An ischemic stroke occurs when:
54.
Epileptic seizures are associated with:
55.
L-DOPA can reduce motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease because it:
56.
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) initially increase serotonin signaling mainly by:
57.
Many addictive drugs reinforce drug-taking behavior by affecting dopamine signaling in a reward circuit that includes the:
58.
A researcher wants to measure millisecond-by-millisecond changes in electrical activity recorded from the scalp. Which method is most appropriate?
59.
The signal most commonly measured by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is based on changes in:
60.
In an experiment testing whether sleep duration affects memory-test performance, which variable is the dependent variable?
