Brain bee practice

What is another name for bipolar disease?

Manic depression

What sensation does substance P cause?

A burning sensation - found in chillis and capsicum.

What is the literal translation for enkephalin?

Inside the head

Which degenerative brain disease is common in the elderly?

Alzheimers

What are the three colours recognised by the cone cells in the eye?

Red, blue and green

When are your muscles paralysed most during sleep?

During REM sleep

What is a brain disease that affects mostly males - present with tics, repeated muscle movements?

Tourettes

What gland produces cortisol?

Adrenal gland

Name one of the new class of neurotransmitters that are gases

Nitric oxide and/or carbon monoxide.

What do you call transient attacks of paralysis while awake that can be triggered by emotional experiences?

Cataplexy

Besides sound, what do the sense organs of the inner ear monitor?

Head position or head movement or balance and equilibrium

The release of cortisol affects food intake in what way?

Increases food intake

Name the clinical test using callipers that determines the integrity of the sense of touch

The two point threshold test

What neurotransmitter is important for memory and is secreted by the nucleus basalas in the forebrain (clue: its production goes down with mental decline)?

Acetylcholine

Working memory depends to a large part on what part of the cerebral cortex?

Pre-frontal Cortex

A new form of epilepsy treatment electrical stimulation therapy is a pacemaker device that delivers small electrical pulses to the brain via what cranial nerve?

Vagus nerve

During development neurons migrate to their final destination using what as a guidance scaffold?

Radial glia or glial fibre or radial fibre

According to recent research, AIDS dementia is related to secreted HIV products or cell coded signal molecules called what?

Cytokines

Name the first drug found to be useful for treatment of schizophrenia in the 1950s

Chlorpromazine

What part of the brain serves as a synaptic relay station for almost all of sensory information coming into the cerebral cortex?

Thalamus

Name the first pharmacological drug used to treat Nicotine drug addiction

Bupropion

Approximately how many neurons does the brain contain?

100 billion

Name the device that measures brain waves

Electroencephalogram (EEG)

Drugs that relieve symptoms of depression might work by affecting which neurotransmitters?

Serotonin or Norepinephrine

The Greek word for "the branches of a tree" give us the name of what part of a neuron?

Dendrites

Name the brain region affected in Parkinson's patients

Substantia Nigra

The biologic clock is located in what part of the brain?

Hypothalamus

Name the brain disorder named after the famous baseball player, Lou Gehrig.

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

What is a common type of inherited mental retardation?

Fragile X Syndrome

Name the peptide that accumulates in the senile plaques of brains of Alzheimer's patients?

Beta Amyloid

What is the leading preventable cause of mental retardation in children (hint: caused by a drug of

abuse)?

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

The abbreviation PET stands for what brain imagine technique?

Positron Emission Tomography

What do netrins and semaphorins do?

They are signaling molecules that guide the growth cones of axons during development

Name a cognitive disorder associated with chronic alcoholism

Korsakoff's Syndrome

What is the brain region that contains orexin neurons and is important in regulating the sleep cycle?

Hypothalamus

During the process of "paring back" in development many neurons die through programmed cell death. What is the term for programmed cell death?

Apoptosis

Which layer (of the three) during early embryonic development becomes the nervous system?

Ectoderm

Name the receptor that nicotine, the addicting agent in tobacco, acts on.

(Nicotinic) Acetylcholine receptor

What is the most common disease that causes dementia?

Alzheimers

What neurotransmitters do current ADHD medications target?

Catecholamines (dopamine and norepinephrine)

Lithium is a drug that has a mood-stabilizing effect and has been used successfully to treat what disorder?

Bipolar Disorder

Netrin, semaphorin, and ephrin are examples of signaling molecules that help with what during brain development?

Neuronal Migration

Lidocaine and Novocain are examples of local anesthetics that block pain by interfering with the actions of what ion channels in neurons? Name the ion channel.

Sodium channels

Electric-convulsive therapy is used to treat what brain disorder?

Depression or Manic Depression

What lobe in the cerebral cortex is the hypothalamus located in?

Temporal Lobe

Huntington's Chorea is characterised by depletion of which neurotransmitter?

GABA

What do you call chemicals that support the survival of distant groups of neurons?

Trophic Factors

What do you call brain peptides that block pain and cause sleepiness?

Opioides

Stimulating the sympathetic system does what to the blood flow of voluntary muscles?

Increases blood flow

Name the receptors in muscles that must be stimulated in order to activate the stretch reflect

Muscle spindles or stretch receptors

Name the syndrome where the switching mechanism for REM sleep does not work properly

Narcolepsy

Corticoltrophin-releasing factor is released from what part of the brain?

Hypothalamus

What do you call the receptor cells that stimulate the auditory nerve?

Hair cells

What is the name of the enzyme that induces the conversion of ATP to cyclic AMP?

Adenylyl or Adenylyl cyclase

What does the brain imaging technique PET measure?

Blood flow to the brain

What are the two types of epilepsy?

Partial and Generalised epilepsy

Based on animal studies, what are the two safest and most efficient experimental gene transfers vectors?

Lentivirus and Adeno-associated virus

Which substance from which dopamine is synthesised, is an effective treatment for Parkinson's?

Levodopa

What increases the activity of GABA?

Benzodiazepines

Deficiencies in norepinephrine occur in patients with what diseases?

Alzheimers, Parkinsons and Korsakoffs

What are peptides?

Short chains of amino acids that are linked together

What is the brain's own marijuana referred to as?

Endocannabinoids

Approximately how many tastebuds does everyone have?

5,000 to 10,000

What are small protuberances within taste buds known as?

Pipillae

What are tastants?

Chemicals found in foods

What are odorants?

Airborne odor molecules that stimulate the cilia

What is the name of the enzyme that breaks down acetylcholine?

Acetylcholinesterase

What does NMDA stand for?

N-Methyl-D-Asparate

What are the three circuits dopamine is associated with?

Movement, Cognition and Emotion, Regulating the Endocrine system

What was the first peptide to be discovered?

Enkephalin

What is the name of the drug that alter serotonin's actions used to relieve symptoms of depression and OCD?

Fluoxetine

What does FSH stand for?

Follicle-stimulating hormone

What does LH stand for?

Luteinizing hormone

What does cAMP stand for?

Cyclic Adenosine Monophosphate

What is the zone called when neurons stop dividing?

Intermediate zone

What does improper neuronal migration lead to?

Mental Retardation and Epilepsy

What is the acronym for NGF?

Nerve Growth Factor

What do you call an involuntary, fixed muscle response to a particular stimuli?

A reflex

The Greek word meaning to 'clasp together' gives us what neuroscience term?

Synapse

Name the deep brain regions responsible for relaying and filtering sensory information.

Thalamus

Into how many stages is non-REM sleep normally divided?

4 stages

What is the sleep disorder that consists of the airway muscles in the throat to relax to the point of collapse, closing the airway?

Obstructive Sleep Apnea

What is the sleep disorder that occurs when muscles fail to become paralysed during REM sleep?

REM behaviour disorder

What is the neurotransmitter orexin also known as?

Hypocretin

What does VLPO stand for?

Ventrolateral Pre-optic

Which inhibitory neurotransmitters are contained in the ventrolateral pre-optic nucleus?

Galanin and GABA

Damage to the ventrolateral pre-optic nucleus can lead to what sleep disorder?

Irreversible insomnia

Which neurotransmitters do REM-generating neurons produce?

Acetylcholine and Glutamate

Which neurotransmitters do REM-suppressive neurons produce?

Noradrenaline, Serotonin and GABA

Which part of the brain consists of a small group of nerve cells in the hypothalamus that acts as a master clock?

Superchiasmatic Nucleus

What does GABA stand for?

Gamma-amino butyric acid

What does ADHD stand for?

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

What does the imaging technique, SPECT stand for?

Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography

What does the brain imaging technique, MRS stand for?

Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy

What medication is used to treat ADHD patients?

Methylphenidate

What does GHB stand for?

Gamma Hydroxy-butyrate

What does CREB stand for?

cAMP-response element binding