Homework #1: Multiple choice: 1. Which of the following statements about the expression of genes in the nervous system is true? a. Every gene in the human genome is expressed in the CNS. b. There are tens of thousands of neuron-specific genes (i.e., genes that are not expressed outside the CNS). c. Most of the genes in the human genome are expressed in the CNS. d. Humans have 100 times more genes than invertebrate animals such as Drosophila. e. Humans have three to four times more genes than mice have. 2. The scientist who shared the Nobel Prize with Camillo Golgi for his anatomical studies of the CNS was a. Allesandro Volta. b. Luigi Galvani. c. Santiago Ramón y Cajal. d. Louis Pasteur. e. Thomas Hodgkin. 3. Which technique first produced unequivocal support for the neuron doctrine of the nervous system (as opposed to the reticular theory)? a. Extracellular electrical recordings b. EEG (electroencephalogram) c. Golgi stain (light microscopy) d. Electron microscopy of nervous tissue e. Acetylcholinesterase staining 4. Which of the following statements about neural and glial cells is false? a. Mitochondria are concentrated at presynaptic terminals. b. The endoplasmic reticulum is concentrated in axons. c. Exocytosis and endocytosis are important for synaptic communication. d. Glial cells rapidly transmit long-range electrical signals. e. Both b and d 5. A neuron that innervates (i.e., makes synaptic contact with) a large number of other neurons a. represents convergent neural signaling. b. represents divergent neural signaling. c. represents massive neural integration. d. must fire at very high frequencies to be useful. e. can fire only at very low frequencies. 6. Which of the following is not an established role for glial cells? a. Integrating information to assist neural computation b. Maintaining the ionic milieu surrounding nerve cells
c. Hastening the propagation of neural impulses d. Assisting synaptic transmission via neurotransmitter uptake e. Providing scaffolds that assist neural development 7. Which of the following type of glial cell myelinates peripheral axons? a. Schwann cells b. Oligodendrocytes c. Astrocytes d. Microglia e. All of the above 8. The technique that first revealed the tremendous diversity of neuronal cell types (numbering in the hundreds or thousands in vertebrate animals) is called a. the Nissl stain. b. the Golgi stain. c. cresyl violet staining. d. fluorescence staining. e. electron microscopy. 9. The type of nerve cell that synapses upon muscles is called a(n) a. dorsal root neuron. b. cranial neuron. c. afferent neuron. d. motor neuron (or motoneuron). e. spinal interneuron. 10. Which of the following is an advantage that intracellular recordings have over extracellular recordings? a. They are technically easier to obtain. b. They can be used in many more parts of the nervous system. c. They can record synaptic and receptor potentials. d. They can record from many neurons at once. e. All of the above 11. Which of the following is not part of the brain? a. Diencephalon b. Cerebellum c. Cerebral hemispheres d. Spinal cord e. Brainstem 12. Antibody staining is used to a. identify neurons expressing specific genes. b. visualize the distribution of specific proteins in the nervous system. c. trace anterograde pathways. d. trace retrograde pathways.
e. reveal structural changes associated with experimental lesions. 13. The structural brain imaging technique that relies on atoms behaving as small magnets is called a. MRI. b. fmri. c. PET. d. SPECT. e. CT. 14. Which of the following statements about language is false? a. A child s failure to develop language results in severe, lifelong deficits. b. Language depends on specialized areas of the temporal and frontal lobes. c. The left hemisphere usually plays a dominant role in semantic processing. d. The right hemisphere usually governs emotional or affective aspects of language. e. Cortical areas used in sign language are largely different from those used in spoken language. 15. The initial discovery that humans possess language-specific cortical areas was a result of a. studies of patients with brain lesions. b. electrophysiological recording experiments. c. early X-ray brain imaging experiments. d. genetic analysis of precursor language areas in non-human primates. e. neuroanatomical tracing experiments. 16. A patient holding a ball in his right hand identifies it as a ball, but when holding it in his left hand he calls it a round thing. This patient most likely a. is a split-brain patient. b. is undergoing the Wada procedure. c. has Wernicke s aphasia. d. has Broca s aphasia. e. has dysarthria. 17. Wilder Penfield, in the course of epilepsy surgery, performed electrical stimulation of cortex for the main purpose of a. avoiding damage to critical brain structures in the course of the surgery. b. eliciting patient verbalizations to ensure that they were not feeling pain. c. mapping language functions in areas that had not previously been studied. d. mapping language functions with greater precision than previously accomplished. e. All of the above 18. In general, which part of the neuron receives synaptic input from other neurons? A. Axons B. dendrites C. cell soma D. node of Ranvier E. none of the above.
19. Which part of the brain listed below contains the substantia nigra? A) hippocampus B) midbrain C) hypothalamus D) cerebellum E) none of the above 20. The post-central gyrus is located in what part of the brain? A) hippocampus B) basal ganglia C) midbrain D) medulla E) none of the above Short answer 1. Name one difference in the language functions of the right and left hemispheres. Name one technique that has been used to investigate cerebral lateralization (hemispheric specialization)? Right hemisphere - Prosody (normal rhythm, stress, tonal variation) Left hemisphere - Comprehension and generation of language Techniques: fmri, Electrical stimulation mapping 2. Where is Broca s area? Wernicke s area? Name one similarity and one difference between Wernicke s aphasia and Broca s aphasia. Broca's area - Left hemisphere, Ventroposterior frontal cortex Wernicke's area - Left hemisphere, Posterior temporal lobe Similarity in aphasias: Lead to language defects not related to muscle control or inability to speak, and not related to ability to hear auditory cues Differences in aphasias: Wernicke's aphasia - Inability to understand spoken language, still able to speak fluently Broca's aphasia: Inability to produce language/words in a coherent fashion. Table 27.1 describes specific features
3. What similarities between sign language and spoken language suggest that they have common neural substrates? Both spoken language and sign languare are localized to the left frontal and temporal lobes. Lesions to these areas resulted in similar aphasias in sign language as in spoken language. Lesions to the right side of the brain do not lead to defects in sign ability. 4. Diagram a neuron and label its components. In what ways are neurons specialized for communication? Do these specializations distinguish neurons from other types of cells? 5. What are the main types of glial cells, and what is the main function of each? Astrocytes: Restricted to the CNS, Maintain proper chemical environment, subsets retain stem cell characteristics, involved in establishing blood brain barrier Oligodendrocytes (CNS) / Schwann Cells (PNS): Myelinate axons Microglia: Derived from hematopoietic precursor cells, remove cellular debris, secrete immune system signaling molecules that modulate inflammation, cell survival or death
6. (B) Look at the diagram on the right. Match the brain structure with the corresponding letter. 1 pt each. 1. brainstem G 2. frontal lobe A 3. thalamus F 4. cerebellum C a f 5. occipital lobe B e c g 6. hypothalamus E d b 7. corpus callosum D