Exam 2: The Biological Perspective

In order to study parts of an animal's brain, researchers may sometimes deliberately damage a part of the brain. They accomplish this by placing into the brain a thin insulated wire through which they send an electrical current that destroys the brain cells at the tip of the wire. This technique is called ________.

Most axon terminals contain a number of tiny oval sacs called ________.

Which of the following is NOT one of the three distinct parts of the brain?

The deer waits motionlessly, hidden in the thicket as the band of hunters approach. As they get closer, their dogs bark, picking up the scent of their prey. In a futile effort to escape, the deer bolts. Which of the following most accurately describes the nervous system of the hunted deer at this point?

The part of the hind brain that largely controls breathing, heart rate, and blood pressure is the ________.

Katie has grown up sleeping with a fan running in her room since she was an infant. This provides white noise to drown out the television programs being watched by other family members who were still awake. In an effort to save electricity, her mother has started coming into her room and turning her fan off after she thinks Katie is asleep. However, each time Katie wakes up and asks for the fan to be turned back on. Katie is selectively attending to certain kinds of information in her surroundings, which has been linked to the ________ part of the brain.

Damage to the ________ would result in an inability to identify and comprehend what is seen through the eyes.

Which of the following is a long bundle of neurons that functions as a carrier of messages to and from the brain to the body and is responsible for certain reflexes?

The cortex "wrinkles" as a result of fluid filling the brain over the lifespan.

The area of the frontal lobe that is devoted to the production of fluent speech is ________ area.

"Split Brain" patients are patients who have had ________.

Despite its dangers, a young man continues to take cocaine because of the feeling of euphoria it produces for him. This powerful arousal of his nervous system is probably due to cocaine's ability to:

Since Norma is a split-brain patient, we can infer that she likely has a history of ________.

The part of the autonomic nervous system that is responsible for reacting to stressful events and bodily arousal is called the ________ nervous system.

Which hemisphere of the cerebral cortex is usually dominant in spatial tasks?

A synapse is most important in:

The myelin sheath:

Which of the following is a function of the right hemisphere?

If you were suffering from neurological problems and your neurologist wanted to have a study done of your brain and its electrical functioning, which of the following techniques would be most appropriate?

Involuntary muscles are controlled by the ________ nervous system.