Question 1

What does the term 'rise and fall' of postnatal brain development refer to with respect to brain maturational processes?

Accepted Answer

The 'rise and fall' of postnatal brain development refers to some processes that are additive early in life - the 'rise' -and some processes that are subtractive - the 'fall'. Additive processes include the increase in brain volume during infancy, childhood, and adolescence, where brain volume quadruples in size. Another additive process is dendritic arborization, where increases in dendrites of neurons is found. A related process is synaptogenesis, the increase of synapses. A fourth additive process is myelination, where a fatty sheath called myelin grows around neural fibers, providing a faster transmission of information. The 'fall' processes include a period of loss of synapses - called neural pruning. While early in life, the dendritic arborization occurs, as the infant and young child grows, the density of this forest of dendrites becomes less dense, with neural pathways becoming more formed with faster connections.

Question 2

Which of the following describes the progression of brain region development?

Accepted Answer

A)   Parietal and temporal association cortex, sensorimotor cortex, prefrontal cortex
B)   Prefrontal cortex, sensorimotor cortex, parietal and temporal association cortex
C)   Sensorimotor cortex, parietal and temporal association cortex, prefrontal cortex
D)   Parietal and temporal association cortex, prefrontal cortex, sensorimotor cortex C

Question 3

The first year of life represents an)

Accepted Answer

A)   Slow-to-mature pattern of brain growth
B)   Uneven pattern of brain growth, with sensory regions developing before frontal lobe regions
C)   Equally rapid brain growth in all regions of the cortex
D)   Mostly subcortical development, since cortex starts to grow only in the third year of life B

Question 4

Human face perception seems to be

Accepted Answer

A)   An inborn predisposition to attend to faces, not based on experience
B)   Based on perceptual learning, not built-in at birth
C)   Both a natural predisposition to attend to faces and processes that are based on experience
D)   A natural disposition to attend to faces that is superseded by learned behavior in the first year of life.

Question 5

Studies that investigate the effects of "perinatal" brain damage show that

Accepted Answer

A)   Children rarely recover from it
B)   Children generally make a full and complete recovery from perinatal brain damage
C)   Although children with perinatal brain damage develop most cognitive functions, some complex aspects of cognition, such as language, do not reach typical levels
D)   Children with perinatal brain damage reach typical cognitive levels by age 3

Question 6

How has the advent of neuroimaging techniques changed the way infant and child development is investigated? Brain imaging allows researchers to

Accepted Answer

A)   Measure anatomical changes in the brain during childhood
B)   Observe functionally relevant brain activity in children beyond the growth of the brain anatomically
C)   Use relatively non-invasive measures to investigate myelination of brain pathways
D)   All of the above

Question 7

Object permanence refers to the

Accepted Answer

A)   Ability in infants to keep an object in mind, even if it is hidden and out of view
B)   Ability in infants to perseverate when searching for a lost toy
C)   The permanence of object detection in the visual system in infants under the age of 12 months
D)   Development of object recognition region in infants during the first 6-9 months

Question 8

Much research is focused on the extent to which the brain is "plastic" in childhood, meaning:

Accepted Answer

A)   Superficial
B)   Flexible
C)   Reflexive
D)   Developmentally determined

Question 9

'Cognitive control' refers to processes that

Accepted Answer

A)   Develop gradually throughout childhood and adolescence
B)   Involve regions in prefrontal cortex
C)   Allow a child to learn what aspects of his environment are important to pay attention to, and what aspects are irrelevant
D)   All of the above

Question 10

A teratogen is any agent that causes structural damage in the fetus during pregnancy, typically by exposing the unborn infant to the mother's ingestion of these agents. Examples include:

Accepted Answer

A)   Alcohol, cigarette smoke, and drugs of abuse
B)   Marijuana smoke
C)   Some prescription drugs
D)   All of the above

Question 11

What brain regions develop and mature early in life? Which ones develop later?

Accepted Answer

The answer of What brain regions develop and mature early...

Exam 14: Growing up