​​PSB3002 exam 2 (quizzes 6-9)

Which of the following are true about the direction of information flow in the visual system?

Each eye gets information from both halves (both the left and the right) of the visual field

The optic chiasm is where some visual information crosses over to the contralateral hemisphere (while some other information doesn't cross over)

Information in the left visual field ends up in the right hemisphere

You are a med student studying a case report. A patient is admitted with brain damage due to hypoxia (lack of oxygen) and presents with some specific impairments. Basic visual capabilities are preserved. They can detect when light is in a part of their visual field, and they have normal shape processing, and successfully recognize all the categories of objects they were tested on. If you ask them to look in a particular part of space, though, they can't follow the instruction, and if you ask them to move their hand toward an object you are holding up, while they say they can see it, they can't quite get their hand to the right spot. Which lobe do you conclude has damage?

Parietal

All the visual information coming in from your retinas is sent to all the same areas of your brain for processing.

False

Select the items about receptive fields of neurons in the visual system that are correct.

retinal ganglion cells that synapse on more photoreceptors have larger receptive fields

the retinal ganglion cells with smaller receptive fields are responsible for things like reading very fine print

the receptive fields of retinal ganglion cells in the fovea are smaller; receptive fields of retinal ganglion cells in the periphery are larger

A person with prosopagnosia has difficulty with what:

face recognition

There is only one pathway for visual information in the brain.

False

What is the primary (and first) destination of the axons of most of the retinal ganglion cells? (E.g. where will they synapse on the next neurons in the pathway).

the lateral geniculate nucleus of the thalamus

Why might people who are blind still be able to use some visual information to guide their behavior?

they might have damage to parts of the pathway associated with conscious awareness of visual information, but visual information might still be getting through to other pathways they are not aware of.

A neuron that is orientation-selective would:

fire the most when a specific angle is visible, and fire less (or not at all) in response to different angles

All neurons in V1 receive inputs from both the left eye and the right eye, in equal proportion (e.g. 50/50).

False

Which of these is more accurate about the organization of V1 (primary visual cortex)?

It has all these little processing units responsible for doing different things, like responding to different orientations, textures, etc. All the neurons responsible for monitoring one specific area of space (like part of Chuck Close's nose) live together in the same part of V1, and inside the part where they live, there are some neurons that detect one specific orientation (like "/") and there are other neurons that detect other specific orientations (like "\"). Then, the neurons that are responsible for monitoring other parts of space (like part of Chuck Close's ear) live in a different part of V1.

Humans can see all possible light wavelengths.

False

Transduction means:

converting energy out in the world to a language that neurons speak

Cell A responds to only one exact angle at one exact part of the visual field. Cell B responds to the same angle as Cell A, but also responds to a few similar angles as well, even at slightly different locations. Cell A is a ____ and Cell B is a ____.

simple cell; complex cell.

Which of these properties are true of cones: (read carefully -- select all the correct responses!)

they are responsible for clarity

they are primarily located in the center of the retina

they are responsible for color vision

Which of these cells fires an action potential that is sent directly down the optic nerve? (by direct, I mean without synapsing on another neuron).

retinal ganglion cell

The retina is located at which part of the eye:

the very back (closest to your thalamus)

Your roommate slid a nice warm mug across the table to you on a cold day. You are looking at it and wondering whether it is coffee, tea, or cocoa, and since you like them all, you're thinking about having a sip to warm you up. As you prepare to lift the mug, which bit of information does your ventral stream care more about, in recognizing what's in the mug before you have your first sip?

what color the liquid is

In a soccer match, visual processing of the ball that's coming toward you so that your foot can make contact with it successfully is more of a ____ stream task.

dorsal

You are a neurologist examining a patient and give them two pictures, one of a rectangle the long way (like a truck) and the other of a rectangle the tall way (like a skyscraper). The patient reports that they are the same: they cannot see any difference. You then show the same shapes to the patient, one at a time, and ask them to pretend they are picking up the shape with their hand, and you make note of how they form their hand. You observe that they correctly calibrate their grip to the different shapes, even though they reported that the shapes looked the same. Where do you suspect this patient is having problems?

extrastriate cortex in the ventral stream

Your roommate slid a nice warm mug across the table to you on a cold day. You are looking at it and wondering whether it is coffee, tea, or cocoa, and since you like them all, you're thinking about having a sip to warm you up. As you prepare to lift the mug, which bit of information does your dorsal stream care more about than your ventral stream?

which way the handle is pointing

If you are a neurologist and seeing a patient who had a stroke and is now having trouble with categorizing the objects in front of them (e.g. that's a cube, that's a hammer), which part of their visual system would you suspect the stroke had damaged most

ventral

END OF QUIZ 6

End of Quiz 6

Why is loudness coded in more than one way in the auditory system?

because if rate coding were used for all types of loudness, it would interfere with the way pitch is coded for lower frequency sounds

Damage to which part of auditory association cortex can impair the ability to extract the emotional content of speech?

right

Receptors for the cutaneous senses respond to what:

pressure, vibration, temperature

Which of these types of somatosensory receptors responds to pain?

free nerve endings

Say Cherese is experiencing chronic pain and it is not possible to eliminate the underlying cause of the pain. Her doctors are trying to help diminish her experience of the pain and the emotional suffering it is causing here, even though they know they cannot change the pain sensation itself. What part of the brain are her doctors trying to target? (They are trying to target the brain regions associated specifically with her emotional experience of the pain, and not the regions associated with pain sensations in themselves.)

anterior cingulate cortex

If a group of hair cells in the cochlea is moved in the direction of the longest hair in the bunch, which of these would occur? [ Mark all the correct responses ].

ion channel pulled open

increased rate of action potentials

ions enter channel

Sudden head rotations (with acceleration) are detected in ______, specifically by ____.

a semicircular canal; hair cells

While the retina has a map of the visual world (retinotopic map), there is nothing similar in the auditory system that encodes sound information (like pitch) in an orderly spatial organization.

False

Which of these parts of the auditory system is most analogous to photoreceptors in the visual system (e.g. performs a comparable role)?

hair cells

Say you are a robotics engineer working on robots to be good company for lonely elderly nursing home residents. (This is a real thing!) You are currently trying to design the robot equivalent of cutaneous sensory receptors and you are taking your inspiration from your extensive knowledge of human cutaneous sensory receptors. Your goal is to specifically design sensory receptors that detect the sustained pressure associated with resting a head on a shoulder or holding a hand (as opposed to a sensory receptor that would detect a quick tap on the shoulder, like someone trying to get the robot's attention). Based on what you know about human somatosensation, do you want these receptors to be:

slowly adapting (they fire immediately when they detect pressure, and then keep firing as long as the same pressure stimulus is there)

The concept of labeled lines in neuroscience refers to which of these ideas: (note: when I say kinds or types of "information", think of things like light vs sound vs pressure vs temperature)

in principle, someone could label bundles of axons according to the type of information they carry (if they had the right kind of labeling technology, or a detailed neuroanatomical model). This is because different types of information are detected by different receptors, and sent to the brain along different axons, and that information is kept separate rather than being mingled together before it gets to the brain.

The area of skin supplied by a single spinal nerve is:

a dermatome, and adjacent spinal nerves supply nearby areas of skin.

Which part of the vestibular system starts to respond as you move your head from an upright position to a horizontal position (like a pillow)?

saccule

All kinds of somatosensory information (touch, pressure, pain, temperature, proprioception) takes exactly the same pathway (sequence of regions & tracts) from the periphery (e.g. the skin) all the way up to the brain.

False

You are born with the somatosensory cortex organization you will have throughout your entire life; there is no plasticity in that system

False

What principle of how the auditory system is organized is the reason cochlear implants work?

place coding of pitch information

Match the pathway with the type of information it carries.

spinothalamic tract - temperature & pain; dorsal columns - touch & kinesthesia

If a group of hair cells in the cochlea is moved in the direction of the shortest hair in the bunch, which of these would occur? [ Mark all the correct responses ].

ion channel no longer pulled open

reduced tension on tip link

ions cannot enter channel

Similarly to information from vision and audition, somatosensory information gets sent to specific thalamic nuclei on the way to the rest of the brain.

True

Sound 1 has a low amplitude and a high frequency. Sound 2 has high amplitude and low frequency. Which of these is most plausible?

Object 1 is a flute played quietly so as not to wake someone. Object 2 is the bass from the stereo you can hear from the next car at a stoplight.

Which of these is both correct and an example of place coding of pitch?

the basilar membrane is stimulated closer to the eardrum for a flute, and further away from the eardrum for a sound like an oboe.

Which of the following aspects of information does the auditory system make use of for localizing sound? [ Mark all the correct responses ].

timbre differences

intensity differences

phase differences

You are about to win the Nobel prize due to your recent discovery of a brand new sense you discovered that humans have. Congratulations! This new sense is processed by a specialized organs in our pineal glands and it picks up on all wavelengths of light, not just the visible spectrum -- and we don't experience this sense as seeing light, it's more of a feeling of light instead, because the receptors for this sense are cutaneous - they are in the skin - and then project to the spinal cord and finally the to the new sensory organ in the pineal gland. You found that this new specialized sensory organ in the pineal gland has a topographic organization, consistent with what we saw in the other senses. What would having a topographic organization mean for this new sense?

the spatial organization of neurons in the specialized organ in the pineal gland reflects the spatial organization of the receptors on your skin. neurons detecting full-spectrum light on one finger are nearby to neurons detecting full-spectrum light on another finger, but far away from neurons detecting full-spectrum light on your toe.

Say you are sitting on the floor with your legs criss-crossed and your eyes closed. Which of these types of information reflects proprioceptive sensation?

you know that your left ankle is on top of your right thigh.

END OF QUIZ 7

END OF QUIZ 7

If you are interested in facial movements, which of these tracts should you read about first?

corticobulbar tract, because it serves the cranial nerves

What is the effect of on the basal ganglia loop (the "direct pathway") when the basal ganglia is "at rest"?

the thalmus is inhibited, and therefore does not send excitatory input to motor cortex

No matter how complex, all movements involving your arms and/or legs ultimately involve lower motor neurons in the spinal cord.

True

What happens in the basal ganglia loop ("the direct pathway") when the striatum is activated?

the globus pallidus is inhibited. This removes the inhibition the globus pallidus was supplying to the thalamus, which allows the thalamus to send excitatory input to the cortex.

Which of these things occur at the neuromuscular junction:

action potential of motor neuron causes acetylcholine release and action potential in muscle fiber

Simon is a game from the 80s. The different colors light up in a sequence (say, red->blue->yellow->blue) and you have to remember the sequence and touch the buttons in the right order. Say someone had damage to a part of the motor and this damage made them unable to play Simon, but they could still perform other types of movements normally. Which part of the motor system is most consistent with this profile?

supplementary motor area (SMA)

Which of these is not consistent with motor cortex damage?

complete inability to use a part of the body

Which of these motor system components is involved in error correction, in part by comparing the intended movement with what is actually happening?

cerebellum

____ is associated with difficulty initiating voluntary movements and ____; ____ is associated with uncontrollable involuntary movements and _____.

Parkinsons's, degeneration of dopaminergic inputs to the basal ganglia; Huntington's, degeneration of the basal ganglia

Which statement is true?

muscles only pull

Electrically stimulating the "hand area" in primary motor cortex causes what?

one movement of the contralateral hand

___ is a flexor muscle; ___ is an extensor muscle.

bicep; tricep

Which of these muscle components are involved in detecting sensory information related to proprioception? (hint: think stretch) Mark all correct responses.

Golgi tendon organ

intrafusal muscle fibers

If you are interested in studying movements that occur outside of our conscious awareness, which of these pathways should you start reading about first?

vendromedial pathways

Which of these pathways is most strongly associated with voluntary movements?

lateral pathways

You're at the doctor and they tap your knee to make sure your leg extends. How many synapses did that reflex involve?

1

When the globus pallidus is "at rest", that means it is not firing any action potentials at all.

False

Which of these are associated with waking EEG activity and/or REM sleep?

desynchronized EEG patterns (small amplitude, less visible pattern)

What does it mean that sleep is not passive, in terms of what neurons in vIPOA do?

sleep is not passive because some neurons have to keep firing in order to keep you asleep

Which of these is not a function of sleep?

allowing all your neurons to completely stop firing so the brain can rest

In which stage of sleep does muscle paralysis occur?

REM Sleep

It's a myth that sleep deprivation is a public health concern. It's fine to miss a few hours of sleep regularly and can't possibly cause any problems.

False

Choose all the statements about orexin/orexinergic neurons that are correct:

Orexinergic neurons respond differently if you're hungry versus full.

Orexinergic neurons help you stay awake for longer periods of time, rather than flipping between sleep and wakefulness.

High levels of orexin secretion are associated with alertness/wakefulness (as opposed to sleep)

Say region A and region B mutually inhibit one another. In other words, when region A is active, it sends inhibitory input to region B. And when region B is active, it sends inhibitory input to region A. (This only refers to the connections between these two regions and says nothing about any other inputs that may be involved. Assume region A and region B send the same "amount" of inhibition.) Which of these statements is true? [ select all that apply ]

There are neural circuits regulating transitions in and out of REM sleep that are wired in this way.

There are neural circuits regulating sleep/wake transitions that are wired in this way.

Only region A or region B can be active at any given time. They cannot both be active at the same time.

Choose the chemicals or structures that are involved in promoting sleep (when activated, if a structure, or when released, if neurotransmitter/neuromodulator):

adenosine

vIPOA (ventrolateral preoptic area)

You can tell whether someone is dreaming from their brain activity.

True

END OF QUIZ 8

END OF QUIZ 8

Select the two physiological measures that distinguish some basic emotions from others. (Stick to the ones we discussed in lecture).

heart rate

temperature of skin

The insula is tucked inside the brain between the inferior caudal part of the frontal lobe and the _____?

temporal lobe

Every single aggressive behavior that has ever occurred was preceded by an increase in testosterone.

False

People with emotional facial paresis can _____ on the affected side of face, but cannot ____ on the affected side of the face.

voluntarily move muscles; express genuine emotion

Remember our rat, who learned a pairing between a bell and a electric shock, and then acted afraid in a novel environment when it hear a bell (even when there was no shock). Eventually, after hearing the bell enough times without getting shocked, the rat will stop being afraid of the bell. Why does this happen?

the previous emotional memory is inhibited, but it's not gone

Based on your answer to the preceding question, which of these would you expect to take other people longest to identify, and potentially with lower accuracy?

guilt

Which one of these components of an emotional responses is easiest for other people to see?

behavioral

If a patient is having difficulty recognizing fear in others (without having any other difficulties with recognition), where would you suspect damage?

amgydala

Why is it difficult to "fake" genuine emotional expressions?

different neural circuits are responsible for voluntary facial movements and the involuntary facial movements that occur during genuine emotional expressions

Which of the following behavioral and physiological responses is not associated with central amygdala activity?

decreased histamine secretion

People with volitional facial paresis can _____ on the affected side of the face, but cannot ____ on the affected side of the face.

express genuine emotion; voluntarily move muscles

When mice are exposed to excess serotonin, what happens?

decreased aggression

Which of these brain regions is especially implicated in feeling and perceiving disgust?

insula

Which of these things might be related to why patient S.M. (with bilateral amygdala damage) has trouble recognizing emotions, especially fear?

she doesn't look at people's eyes (unless she is reminded to) and eyes convey a lot of information about emotion

If you bred a line of designer rats lacking vmPFCs, which of these do you think would be impaired/absent/different in these animals?

a conditioned emotional response becoming extinct(no longer being afraid of bell)

Which of these is not considered a basic emotion?

Guilt

Which of these brain regions is most strongly associated with impulse control?

vmPFC

Which of these is a conditioned emotional response?

the mouse freezing in a different box when a bell sounds

People with volitional facial paresis and people with emotional facial paresis have damage to _____ brain structure(s).

Different

Which part of the brain is especially involved in processing different kinds of biological motion, including gaze direction?

superior temporal sulcus

What is one main difference between "common sense" theories of emotion and most modern theories of emotion (including James-Lange, which we talked about in class):

In common sense theories, conscious emotion occurs before (and causes) the somatic/autonomic/endocrine components of an emotional response. In most modern theories, the conscious emotion occurs after and as a result of the components of the emotional response.

Which of these brain regions is not involved in the circuit for species-typical aggressive behaviors?

Reticular formation

Which of these presentations is not consistent with vmPFC lesions?

ability to infer another person's emotions without being aware of seeing them

If someone is displaying an atypical lack of fear responses, what part of their brain might be functioning abnormally?

amygdala

Which of these basic emotions is the amygdala most strongly associated with?

Fear