brain and behavior exam 3

What is the usual sleep pattern for people with depression?

 Early onset of REM and early awakening

What type of depression shows the highest heritability?

 Early-onset depression

How do SSRIs differ from tricyclic antidepressants?

 SSRIs act on just one neurotransmitter.

What do MAOIs do?

 They decrease the breakdown of several neurotransmitters.

What is the disadvantage of using St. John’s wort as an antidepressant?

 It decreases the effectiveness of other drugs.

When someone begins taking an SSRI or a tricyclic antidepressant, how soon are behavioral benefits likely to emerge?

weeks later

Besides increasing neurotransmitter levels, what do typical antidepressant drugs have in common?

 They facilitate neurotrophins.

How does the effectiveness of psychotherapy for depression compare to that of antidepressant drugs?

They are about equally effective, and they have similar effects on the brain.

What is the recommended treatment for seasonal affective disorder?

 Very bright lights every morning

Which of these is a “positive” symptom of schizophrenia?

Delusions

The main evidence for heritability of schizophrenia comes from what type of research?

 Comparisons of twins

According to the two-hit hypothesis, what causes schizophrenia?

 A genetic predisposition plus an environmental impact

Which of these is a likely explanation for the season-of-birth effect?

 Viral epidemics are common in the fall.

Most people with schizophrenia have behavioral anomalies similar to those of people with damage to which brain area?

 Prefrontal cortex

Which of the following observations supports the dopamine hypothesis of schizophrenia?

 Abuse of amphetamine or similar drugs can cause hallucinations and delusions.

Which of these is a common side effect of first-generation antipsychotic drugs?

 Tardive dyskinesia

Antipsychotic drugs are most effective at relieving which symptoms of schizophrenia?

the positive symptoms

According to the glutamate hypothesis, what is the chemical origin of schizophrenia?

 Reduced activity at NMDA receptors in the hippocampus

Why can you move your eye muscles more precisely than your biceps?

 

The eye muscles have a higher ratio of axons to muscle fibers.

How can you move an arm or leg back and forth?

 

Alternate between exciting your flexor and extensor muscles.

You rely on your slow-twitch muscle fibers for which of the following?

 

Slowly walking and talking

What do proprioceptors detect?

Position or movement of a body part

What does a Golgi tendon organ do?

 It detects the tension that results from a muscle contraction.

Where is the primary motor cortex?

 In the frontal cortex, just anterior to the central sulcus

How do the actions of sneezing differ from those of talking and writing?

 They do not depend on the cerebral cortex.

When is the supplementary motor cortex most likely to be active?

During a second or more before a voluntary movement

What does the ant saccade task measure?

 Ability to inhibit an impulse

How do the functions of the lateral and medial corticospinal tracts differ?

The lateral corticospinal tract crosses to the opposite side of the spinal cord and controls precise movements of the extremities, such as hands, fingers, and feet. The medial corticospinal tract controls trunk muscles for bilateral movements such as standing, bending, turning, and walking.

Which of the following produces symptoms that resemble damage to the cerebellum?

Alcohol intoxication

How are the parallel fibers of the cerebellum arranged relative to each other and to the Purkinje cells?

They are parallel to one another and perpendicular to the planes of the Purkinje cells.

What type of learning depends on the basal ganglia?

Learning new habits

According to Libet’s study, what is the order of events in a voluntary movement?

Activity begins in the premotor cortex, a bit later, people are aware of forming an intention, and finally the movement starts

Parkinson’s disease results from loss of axons that release which transmitter?

dopamine

Parkinson’s disease results from loss of axons that originate in which structure?

 Substantia nigra

What type of gene causes Huntington’s disease?

An autosomal dominant gene

Examination of someone’s chromosomes can reveal not only whether the person will get Huntington’s disease, but also what else?

The probable age of onset

What is the main zeitgeber for the human circadian rhythm?

Light

Which brain area generates the circadian rhythm?

 The suprachiasmatic nucleus

If you want to get to sleep on time, what should you avoid?

short-wavelength light, late-evening exposure

After the proteins TIM and PER reach a high level during the day, what causes their level to drop at night?

 High levels of the proteins inhibit the genes that produce these proteins.

Which of these releases melatonin?

 

Pineal gland

A polysomnograph measures EEG and what else?

eye movement

Sleep spindles are associated with which of the following?

memory consolidation

Why is REM sleep also known as paradoxical sleep?

 

It is deep sleep in some ways and light in others.

Why are postural muscles least active during REM sleep?

 

Inhibition from the pons and medulla

When (if at all) is REM most frequent?

 In the later part of the night’s sleep

What does the neurotransmitter histamine do?

 

It increases arousal and alertness.

When is the locus coeruleus most active?

 

During memorable or stressful events

What would happen to the sleep–wake schedule of someone who lacked orexin?

 

Alternation between brief periods of waking and sleeping

The PGO in PGO waves is an abbreviation for what?

 

Pons-geniculate-occipital

Why are we unconscious during sleep?

 

GABA inhibits synaptic spread of information.

Sometimes people cannot move their postural muscles immediately after awakening. Why?

 

Part of the brain is still asleep.

Which of the following often triggers an attack of cataplexy in a person with narcolepsy?

 

Strong emotions

According to the neurocognitive model, why do dreams sometimes make an incoherent or illogical story?

 

Low activity in the prefrontal cortex means poor memory for what just happened.