Module 2

Question 1

What percentage of the body’s energy does the brain use?

Answer 1

About 20%

Question 2

What are the three main divisions of the brain?

Answer 2

Cerebrum, Cerebellum, and Brainstem.

Question 3

What does the cerebral cortex consist of?

Answer 3

Grey matter – the cell bodies of neurons.

Question 4

What does white matter contain?

Answer 4

Axons connecting brain areas and the spinal cord.

Question 5

Why is the cortex folded?

Answer 5

To maximise surface area within the skull.

Question 6

What are the main functions of the frontal lobe?

Answer 6

Executive functions, reasoning, planning, inhibition, motor control, and speech production (Broca’s area).

Question 7

What are the main functions of the parietal lobe?

Answer 7

Somatosensory processing (touch), spatial awareness, attention, and linking vision to movement.

Question 8

What are the main functions of the occipital lobe?

Answer 8

Visual processing (V1) – shape, colour, motion.

Question 9

What are the main functions of the temporal lobe?

Answer 9

Auditory perception, language comprehension (Wernicke’s area), memory and emotion (hippocampus, amygdala).

Question 10

What is the role of the amygdala?

Answer 10

Emotion, fear, and arousal.

Question 11

What is the role of the hippocampus?

Answer 11

Learning and forming new episodic memories.

Question 12

What condition results from hippocampal damage?

Answer 12

Anterograde amnesia – inability to form new memories.

Question 13

What is Broca’s area responsible for?

Answer 13

Speech production.

Question 14

What is Wernicke’s area responsible for?

Answer 14

Language comprehension.

Question 15

What connects the two cerebral hemispheres?

Answer 15

Corpus callosum.

Question 16

What did the Phineas Gage case reveal?

Answer 16

The frontal lobe controls personality and executive behaviour.

Question 17

What did Wilder Penfield discover?

Answer 17

Mapped motor and sensory cortices using electrical stimulation (homunculus).

Question 18

What are the two divisions of the peripheral nervous system?

Answer 18

Somatic (voluntary) and Autonomic (involuntary).

Question 19

What are the two branches of the autonomic nervous system?

Answer 19

Sympathetic (fight-or-flight) and Parasympathetic (rest-and-digest).

Question 20

What is the main function of the cerebellum?

Answer 20

Coordination, balance, and fine motor learning.

Question 21

What is the main function of the motor cortex?

Answer 21

Initiation and execution of voluntary movement.

Question 22

What is the sense of agency?

Answer 22

Awareness that your own actions caused an event (why you can’t tickle yourself).

Question 23

What is a persistent vegetative state?

Answer 23

Cortex damaged, brainstem intact; autonomic functions remain, but no awareness.

Question 24

What is locked-in syndrome?

Answer 24

Conscious and aware but unable to move; cortex and brainstem intact.

Question 25

What are the three main parts of a neuron?

Answer 25

Dendrites, cell body (soma), and axon.

Question 26

What is the function of dendrites?

Answer 26

Receive incoming signals from other neurons.

Question 27

What is the function of the axon?

Answer 27

Sends signals to other neurons.

Question 28

What is the role of myelin?

Answer 28

Insulates axons and speeds up neural transmission.

Question 29

Which cells produce myelin?

Answer 29

Oligodendrocytes.

Question 30

Which disease involves myelin loss?

Answer 30

Multiple sclerosis.

Question 31

What is resting potential?

Answer 31

Approximately -70 mV; the inside of the neuron is more negative than the outside.

Question 32

What maintains resting potential?

Answer 32

Sodium–potassium pump (3 Na⁺ out, 2 K⁺ in).

Question 33

What triggers an action potential?

Answer 33

When membrane potential exceeds threshold voltage.

Question 34

What happens during depolarisation?

Answer 34

Na⁺ channels open and sodium enters the cell.

Question 35

What happens during repolarisation?

Answer 35

K⁺ channels open and potassium exits the cell.

Question 36

What is the all-or-none principle?

Answer 36

Action potentials either occur fully or not at all; strength depends on firing rate, not size.

Question 37

What is a synapse?

Answer 37

The junction where a neuron communicates with another neuron.

Question 38

How is a signal transmitted across a synapse?

Answer 38

Neurotransmitters released from presynaptic terminal bind to postsynaptic receptors, opening ion channels.

Question 39

What stops neurotransmitter signalling?

Answer 39

Reuptake or enzymatic breakdown.

Question 40

What does dopamine do?

Answer 40

Involved in movement and reward; reduced in Parkinson’s disease; treated with L-DOPA.

Question 41

What does serotonin do?

Answer 41

Regulates mood; increased by SSRIs and MAOIs.

Question 42

What are EPSPs and IPSPs?

Answer 42

Excitatory postsynaptic potentials (depolarisation) and inhibitory postsynaptic potentials (hyperpolarisation).

Question 43

What determines if a neuron fires?

Answer 43

The total (summed) excitatory and inhibitory input at the axon hillock.

Question 44

What is a reflex arc?

Answer 44

A sensory neuron directly activates a motor neuron to produce an automatic response.

Question 45

What is a lesion study?

Answer 45

Examines behavioural deficits following brain damage.

Question 46

What does single-neuron recording measure?

Answer 46

Action potentials from individual neurons; high spatial and temporal precision.

Question 47

What does EEG measure?

Answer 47

Electrical activity on the scalp; excellent temporal but poor spatial resolution.

Question 48

What does ERP stand for and measure?

Answer 48

Event-Related Potential; averaged EEG responses to specific stimuli.

Question 49

What is the N170 component?

Answer 49

An ERP component (~170 ms) linked to face recognition processing.

Question 50

What does fMRI measure?

Answer 50

Blood-oxygen-level changes (BOLD signal) as an indirect measure of brain activity.

Question 51

What is PET used for?

Answer 51

Mapping neurotransmitters or receptor activity using radioactive tracers.

Question 52

What is reverse inference?

Answer 52

Incorrectly inferring mental state from brain activity (brain scans ≠ mind reading).

Question 53

What is a 'grandmother cell'?

Answer 53

A neuron that fires selectively to a specific person or concept (e.g., Jennifer Aniston cell).

Question 54

What is the spreading activation model?

Answer 54

Activation of one concept spreads to related ones (e.g., fire engine → red → siren).

Question 55

What is neuroplasticity?

Answer 55

The brain’s ability to change structure and function through experience.

Question 56

What is neurogenesis?

Answer 56

The formation of new neurons, mainly in the hippocampus and olfactory bulb.

Question 57

What is synaptogenesis?

Answer 57

The formation of new synaptic connections between neurons.

Question 58

What is Hebb’s Law?

Answer 58

Neurons that fire together wire together.

Question 59

What is long-term potentiation (LTP)?

Answer 59

Long-lasting strengthening of synaptic connections, underlying memory formation.

Question 60

What did Elbert et al. (1995) find?

Answer 60

Musicians have enlarged sensory cortex areas for fingers used in playing.

Question 61

What did Nudo et al. (1996) find?

Answer 61

Motor cortex reorganisation and recovery after damage with rehabilitation in monkeys.

Question 62

What did Sadato et al. (1996) find?

Answer 62

Visual cortex in blind individuals becomes active while reading Braille.