Question 1

Your best friends from high school invite you over for pizza and a friendly game of cards. Name six parts of the brain and explain the role each plays during your evening of food, fellowship, and playing cards.

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Question 2

Many axons, especially the larger ones, are insulated with a myelin sheath. Write an essay on the importance of the myelin sheath, making sure to incorporate the following information:
-What kind of cells make up the myelin sheath?
-What does the myelin sheath look like?
-What are two purposes of the myelin sheath?
-What happens when a person experiences the loss of myelin?

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Question 3

In 1848, an explosion near railroad-worker Phineas Gage sent a 3½-foot iron rod through his skull. The iron rod entered his head under the left eye and emerged from the top of Phineas' head. What conclusion do many modern neuroscientists draw from case study?

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Question 4

For years, the conventional assumption in neuroscience had been that neurons in the central nervous system could neither reproduce nor regenerate, but research has proved otherwise. Explain the startling results of studies that have overthrown the conventional wisdom regarding neuronal regeneration.

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Question 5

Endorphin levels can shoot up when an animal or a person is afraid or under stress. Explain why this is adaptive through the development of your own example.

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Question 6

The autonomic nervous system is divided into two parts that work together but in opposing ways. Describe the functions of each part in detail, and create an example which illustrates the activation of one part and then the other.

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Question 7

Describe in detail the two main parts of the nervous system.

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Question 8

What is the difference between "gray matter" and "white matter" in the brain?

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Question 9

Soviet psychologist Alexander Luria studied individuals who had experienced damage to their frontal lobes. What functions of the frontal lobes were illustrated in Luria's work? Describe the startling observations made by Luria as he watched one man light a match and another man plane a piece of wood in a hospital carpentry shop.

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Question 10

Abnormally low levels of serotonin and dopamine have been associated with harmful effects. Explain these effects and describe what psychologists know about this relationship using your knowledge of correlational studies. What might be an easy assumption to make that may not necessarily be accurate?

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Question 11

How does plasticity help blind people?

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Question 12

Describe three activities that are more closely associated with the left hemisphere and three activities that are more closely associated with the right hemisphere of the brain.

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Question 13

Describe the electrical and chemical communication within and between neurons.

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Question 14

Ronald Myers and Roger Sperry wondered what would happen if the two hemispheres of the brain were cut off from one another. In order to explore their research question, they severed the corpus callosum in cats. Describe the aspects of the cats' behaviors that remained normal and the aspects that showed a profound change.

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Question 15

How can scientists study the living brain if it is protected by the skull? The textbook notes several methods for this type of study. Describe the different techniques that have been used to explore the workings of the brain.

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Question 16

Explain the experimental procedure used when split-brain patients were shown composite photographs. Why did the patients claim to notice nothing unusual about the original photographs?

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Question 17

On each cerebral hemisphere, deep fissures divide the cortex into four distinct lobes. Name each of the four lobes and describe the location of each lobe.

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Question 18

Why does the human brain have so many crevices and wrinkles in the cerebral cortex?

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Question 19

What are the names and roles of the four lobes of the cerebral cortex?

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Question 20

Suppose you come across an article on a news website. According to the article, a new study has found anatomical differences between the male and female brain that explain why men and women "don't see eye-to-eye on so many topics." What are some reasons why you should be skeptical of this type of claim?

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Quiz 4: The Brain and Nervous System