Animal Responses

1. Nervous System Basics

Flashcard #1
Q: What is the central nervous system (CNS)?
A: The CNS consists of the brain and spinal cord.

Flashcard #2
Q: What is the peripheral nervous system (PNS)?
A: The PNS is made up of nerves that connect the CNS to the rest of the body.

Flashcard #3
Q: What does the somatic nervous system control?
A: It controls conscious activities, such as running and playing video games.

Flashcard #4
Q: What does the autonomic nervous system control?
A: It controls unconscious activities, such as digestion.

Flashcard #5
Q: What is the function of the sympathetic nervous system?
A: It prepares the body for action; it is the 'fight or flight' system.

Flashcard #6
Q: What is the function of the parasympathetic nervous system?
A: It calms the body down and promotes 'rest and digest' activities.

Flashcard #7
Q: What do sympathetic nerves do?
A: They increase heart rate by releasing noradrenaline.

Flashcard #8
Q: What do parasympathetic nerves do?
A: They decrease heart rate by releasing acetylcholine.

2. The Human Brain and its Regions

Flashcard #9
Q: What are the five main regions of the human brain?
A: The cerebrum, hypothalamus, pituitary gland, cerebellum, and medulla oblongata.

Flashcard #10
Q: What is the cerebrum and what is its function?
A: The largest part of the brain, responsible for conscious activities like vision, hearing, speech, thinking, and memory.

Flashcard #11
Q: How much of the brain’s mass does the cerebrum account for?
A: About 80%.

Flashcard #12
Q: Into how many lobes is the cerebrum divided?
A: Five lobes.

Flashcard #13
Q: What joins the two cerebral hemispheres together?
A: The corpus callosum, a band of nerve fibres.

Flashcard #14
Q: Which side of the body does the right cerebral hemisphere control?
A: The left side.

Flashcard #15
Q: Which side of the body does the left cerebral hemisphere control?
A: The right side.

Flashcard #16
Q: What is the cerebral cortex?
A: The thin, highly folded outer layer of the cerebrum, also called 'grey matter'.

Flashcard #17
Q: Why is the cerebral cortex highly folded?
A: To increase surface area and allow more neurones and connections.

Flashcard #18
Q: What is found beneath the cerebral cortex?
A: White matter, made of myelinated axons.

Flashcard #19
Q: What is the hypothalamus and where is it found?
A: A region in the middle lower part of the brain, just above the pituitary gland.

Flashcard #20
Q: What does the hypothalamus monitor?
A: The blood flowing through it.

Flashcard #21
Q: What are three main functions of the hypothalamus?
A: Regulating body temperature, osmoregulation, and controlling endocrine functions.

Flashcard #22
Q: How does the hypothalamus regulate body temperature?
A: By monitoring blood temperature and initiating homeostatic responses.

Flashcard #23
Q: How does the hypothalamus help with osmoregulation?
A: By monitoring blood concentration and stimulating the release of ADH if needed.

Flashcard #24
Q: What is the function of the pituitary gland?
A: Produces and releases hormones that regulate body processes or stimulate other glands.

Flashcard #25
Q: What are the two parts of the pituitary gland?
A: The anterior pituitary and the posterior pituitary.

Flashcard #26
Q: What does the anterior pituitary do?
A: Produces and releases its own hormones.

Flashcard #27
Q: What does the posterior pituitary do?
A: Stores and releases hormones produced by the hypothalamus.

Flashcard #28
Q: Where is the cerebellum located and what is its function?
A: Below the cerebrum; it controls motor coordination and balance.

Flashcard #29
Q: Are the actions controlled by the cerebellum voluntary or involuntary?
A: Involuntary (subconscious).

Flashcard #30
Q: Where is the medulla oblongata found?
A: At the base of the brain, where it joins the spinal cord.

Flashcard #31
Q: What are the three centres found in the medulla oblongata?
A: The cardiac centre, vasomotor centre, and respiratory centre.

Flashcard #32
Q: What does the cardiac centre in the medulla control?
A: Heart rate.

Flashcard #33
Q: What does the vasomotor centre in the medulla control?
A: Blood pressure.

Flashcard #34
Q: What does the respiratory centre in the medulla control?
A: Breathing rate.

3. The Endocrine System

Flashcard #35
Q: What hormones does the posterior pituitary gland store and release?
A: ADH and oxytocin produced by the hypothalamus.

Flashcard #36
Q: What is the main function of the anterior pituitary gland?
A: It produces and releases its own hormones.

4. Reflexes

Flashcard #37
Q: What is a reflex?
A: A rapid, automatic response to a stimulus that does not involve conscious processing by the brain.

Blinking Reflex

Flashcard #38
Q: What triggers the blinking reflex?
A: Sensory nerve endings in the cornea are stimulated by touch.

Flashcard #39
Q: What happens after the cornea is stimulated in the blinking reflex?
A: An impulse is sent along a sensory neuron to a relay neuron in the medulla oblongata.

Flashcard #40
Q: How is the blinking reflex completed?
A: Motor neurons send impulses to the orbicularis oculi muscles via the facial nerve, causing the eyelids to close.

Flashcard #41
Q: What is the function of the orbicularis oculi muscle?
A: It contracts to close the eyelids during the blinking reflex.

Flashcard #42
Q: What is the function of the levator palpebrae superioris muscle in blinking?
A: It raises the upper eyelid; during blinking, it is inhibited to allow the eyelid to close.

Knee-Jerk Reflex

Flashcard #43
Q: What initiates the knee-jerk reflex?
A: Stretch receptors in the quadriceps detect muscle stretching.

Flashcard #44
Q: How does the knee-jerk reflex work?
A: The sensory neuron sends an impulse directly to a motor neuron in the spinal cord, which causes the quadriceps to contract.

Flashcard #45
Q: What is the result of the knee-jerk reflex?
A: The lower leg moves forward due to quadriceps contraction.

5. The Fight or Flight Response

Flashcard #46
Q: What triggers the fight or flight response?
A: Nerve impulses arriving at the hypothalamus activate the hormonal and sympathetic nervous systems.

Flashcard #47
Q: How does the pituitary gland contribute to the fight or flight response?
A: It releases ACTH, causing the adrenal cortex to release steroid hormones.

Flashcard #48
Q: What hormone is released by the adrenal medulla during fight or flight?
A: Adrenaline.

Flashcard #49
Q: How does adrenaline affect the heart during fight or flight?
A: It increases heart rate and stroke volume.

Flashcard #50
Q: How does adrenaline affect breathing?
A: It relaxes muscles around the bronchioles, allowing deeper breathing.

Flashcard #51
Q: How does adrenaline affect energy availability?
A: It converts glycogen to glucose, increasing respiration.

Flashcard #52
Q: How does adrenaline affect the skin during fight or flight?
A: It causes arterioles supplying the skin to constrict and erector pili muscles to contract.

Flashcard #53
Q: How does adrenaline affect blood flow to muscles?
A: It dilates arterioles supplying the heart, lungs, and skeletal muscles.

6. Heart Rate Control

Flashcard #54
Q: What is the sinoatrial node (SAN)?
A: A group of cells in the heart that generate electrical impulses causing cardiac muscle contraction.

Flashcard #55
Q: How is heart rate controlled?
A: The medulla oblongata unconsciously controls the rate at which the SAN fires.

Flashcard #56
Q: What receptors detect internal stimuli affecting heart rate?
A: Baroreceptors (pressure) and chemoreceptors (chemical).

Flashcard #57
Q: How does the medulla respond to high blood pressure?
A: Baroreceptors send impulses to the medulla, which sends signals via the vagus nerve releasing acetylcholine to decrease heart rate.

Flashcard #58
Q: How does the medulla respond to low blood pressure?
A: Baroreceptors send impulses to the medulla, which sends signals via the accelerator nerve releasing noradrenaline to increase heart rate.

Flashcard #59
Q: How does the medulla respond to high blood pH?
A: Chemoreceptors detect high pH; the medulla signals via the vagus nerve to decrease heart rate.

Flashcard #60
Q: How does the medulla respond to low blood pH?
A: Chemoreceptors detect low pH; the medulla signals via the accelerator nerve to increase heart rate.

7. Experimental Methods

Flashcard #61
Q: What is the Student's t-test used for?
A: To determine if there is a significant difference between the means of two data sets.

Flashcard #62
Q: When do you reject the null hypothesis using the Student's t-test?
A: When the calculated t-value is greater than the critical value at p < 0.05.

8. Adrenaline and Muscle Response

Flashcard #63
Q: What are the main effects of adrenaline on the body?
A: Increases heart rate and stroke volume, converts glycogen to glucose, affects blood flow, and dilates bronchioles.

Flashcard #64
Q: How does adrenaline affect heart contraction?
A: It causes the heart to contract more rapidly and forcefully.

9. Muscle Structure and Contraction

Flashcard #65
Q: What are muscle fibres?
A: Large bundles of long, multinucleated cells specialized for contraction.

Flashcard #66
Q: What is the sarcolemma?
A: The cell membrane of a muscle fibre.

Flashcard #67
Q: What are transverse (T) tubules?
A: Folds of the sarcolemma that help spread electrical impulses into the muscle fibre.

Flashcard #68
Q: What is the sarcoplasmic reticulum?
A: An organelle that stores and releases calcium ions for muscle contraction.

Flashcard #69
Q: Why do muscle fibres have many mitochondria?
A: To provide ATP required for muscle contraction.

Flashcard #70
Q: Why are muscle fibres multinucleate?
A: They contain many nuclei to support their large cytoplasmic volume.

Flashcard #71
Q: What are myofibrils?
A: Cylindrical organelles within muscle fibres specialized for contraction.

Flashcard #72
Q: What do myofibrils contain?
A: Bundles of thick (myosin) and thin (actin) myofilaments.

Flashcard #73
Q: What are thick myofilaments made of?
A: The protein myosin.

Flashcard #74
Q: What are thin myofilaments made of?
A: The protein actin.

Flashcard #75
Q: What are A-bands (dark bands)?
A: Regions containing thick myosin filaments and overlapping thin actin filaments.

Flashcard #76
Q: What are I-bands (light bands)?
A: Regions containing only thin actin filaments.

Flashcard #77
Q: What are sarcomeres?
A: The short contractile units that make up myofibrils.

Flashcard #78
Q: What is the Z-line?
A: The boundary at each end of a sarcomere.

Flashcard #79
Q: What is the M-line?
A: The line in the centre of the sarcomere, in the middle of the myosin filaments.

Flashcard #80
Q: What is the H-zone?
A: The region within the A-band that contains only myosin filaments.

Flashcard #81
Q: What happens during the sliding filament theory?
A: Actin and myosin filaments slide past each other, shortening the sarcomere and causing muscle contraction.

Flashcard #82
Q: What happens to the bands in the sarcomere as it contracts?
A: The A-band remains the same length, while the I-band and H-zone become shorter.

Flashcard #83
Q: What are some features of myosin filaments?
A: They have globular heads that bind to actin and ATP.

Flashcard #84
Q: What proteins regulate the interaction between actin and myosin?
A: Tropomyosin and troponin.

Flashcard #85
Q: What happens to the actin-myosin binding sites in resting muscle?
A: The binding sites are blocked by tropomyosin.

10. Muscle Contraction Steps

Flashcard #86
Q: What is the first step of how an action potential triggers muscle contraction?
A: The action potential depolarizes the sarcolemma.

Flashcard #87
Q: What is the second step of how an action potential triggers muscle contraction?
A: The depolarization spreads down T tubules to the sarcoplasmic reticulum.

Flashcard #88
Q: What is the third step of how an action potential triggers muscle contraction?
A: This triggers the release of stored calcium ions into the sarcoplasm.

Flashcard #89
Q: What is the fourth step of how an action potential triggers muscle contraction?
A: Calcium ions bind to troponin, causing tropomyosin to move and exposing the actin-myosin binding sites.

Flashcard #90
Q: What role does ATP play during muscle contraction?
A: ATP is required for myosin heads to detach from actin and reattach to a new binding site, enabling repeated contraction cycles.

Flashcard #91
Q: What happens when the muscle stops being stimulated?
A: Calcium ions are actively transported back into the sarcoplasmic reticulum.

11. Neuromuscular Junctions and Muscle Types

Flashcard #92
Q: What is a neuromuscular junction?
A: A synapse between a motor neuron and a muscle fibre, where acetylcholine is the neurotransmitter.

Flashcard #93
Q: What happens if a chemical blocks neurotransmitter release at the neuromuscular junction?
A: It can prevent action potentials in the muscle, potentially affecting muscles involved in breathing.

Flashcard #94
Q: What is skeletal muscle?
A: Voluntary, striated muscle responsible for movement, posture, and maintaining body position.

Flashcard #95
Q: What is involuntary muscle?
A: Non-striated muscle found in the walls of internal organs; it contracts slowly and is not under conscious control.

Flashcard #96
Q: How can muscle contractions be measured electrically?
A: By using electromyography (EMG) to record an electromyogram trace.