Psychology 427: Physiological

Spring 2001- Exam 3

Name _______________________________

Multiple Choice [worth 2 points each]

  1. Axons release __________ at junctions with skeletal muscles.

    2. a. many different nerotransmitters

    b. dopamine

    c. norepinephrine

    d. acetylcholine

  2. Sleep spindles and K-complexes are most characteristic of which sleep stage?

    3. a. stage 1

    b. stage 2

    c. stage 3

    d. stage 4

  3. What is one possible explanation for why most dreams are not remembered?

    4. a. There is little brain activity of any kind during REM sleep.

    b. The reticular formation is active during REM sleep.

    c. The locus coeruleus is inactive during REM sleep.

    d. Dreams are unconscious.

  4. If someone marks lines across a floor, Parkinson’s patients:

    5. a. can step across each line more easily than simply walking along an unmarked floor.

    b. can better count while walking than if the floor is unmarked.

    c. find it more difficult to walk.

    d. cannot walk backwards.

  5. What is it called if an animal’s body temperature stays the same as that of the

    6. environment?

    a. homeostatic

    b. homeothermic

    c. poikilothermic

    d. hypovolemic

  6. In order to elicit movement, the motor cortex:

    7. a. has direct connections to the muscles.

    b. sends axons to the brainstem and spinal cord.

    c. controls isolated movement in a single muscle.

    d. relies on feedback from individual muscle fibers.

  7. What are the dreamlike experiences at the onset of sleep that are difficult to distinguish

    8. from reality?

    a. hypnagogic hallucinations.

    b. idiopathic hallucinations.

    c. occipital illusions.

    d. pseudo-psychedelic visions.

  8. The part of the cortex which is most active during preparations for a movement and less

    9. active during movement itself is the:

    a. premotor cortex

    b. somatosensory cortex.

    c. inferior temporal cortex

    d. tabes dorsalis

  9. If you have trouble with rapid, ballistic movement sequences that require accurate

    10. timing, you probably have suffered damage to the:

    a. reticular formation.

    b. cerebellum

    c. hippocampus

    d. hypothalamus

  10. Why did mammals evolve a body temperature of 37 degrees Celsius?

    11. a. They benefit from a high temperature because they seldom need to cool themselves

    by much.

    b. Most protein bonds begin to break at this temperature.

    c. Their body proteins are stable only at 37 degrees Celsius or above.

    d. It is the only way they can detect changes in the temperature of the environment.

  11. An air traffic controller in Montreal survived the stress of a radar shutdown thanks to the

inhibitory effects of the neurotransmitter:
    1. serotonin
    2. dopamine
    3. Ach
    4. GABA
    5. Norepinephrine
  1. The best way to predict whether a person will be afflicted by Huntington's disease is to

make use of:

    1. standardized intelligence tests.
    2. measures of motor performance.
    3. an electroencephalograph.
    4. DNA testing.

 

  1. Until recently, psychologists believed that infant rats were incapable of many behaviors

during the first three weeks of life. What did the experimenters do which changed this

belief?

a. tested the infant rats in an environment that was warmer.

b. used different food reinforcers.

c. used females as well as males.

d. tested the young with their mothers present.
  1. An important prenatal factor associated with criminal activities found in two studies

    2. implicated the mother’s:

    a. cigarette smoking

    b. alcohol intake

    c. age

    d. diet

  2. What do many human adults consume in their diets that differs significantly from most

    3. other adult mammals?

    a. proteins.

    b. raw foods.

    c. carbohydrates.

    d. milk

  3. J. Allan Hobson's theory is that dreams result from bursts of neural activity originating

from the:

    1. brainstem
    2. sensory cortex
    3. frontal cortex
    4. occipital cortex
  1. The first digestive site that absorbs a significant amount of nutrients is the:

    2. a. mouth b. stomach

    c. duodenum d. vagus

  2. People with a striking loss of emotions usually suffer from damage to the:

    3. a. occipital lobe

    b. suprachiasmatic nucleus

    c. lateral hypothalamus

    d. prefrontal cortex

  3. Which evidence is most detrimental to the James-Lange Theory of emotion?

    4. a. Sometimes people have trouble reporting what they are feeling.

    b. Changes in arousal are reported as changes in emotions.

    c. Quadriplegics experience emotions.

    d. Some people feel stronger emotions than others do.

  4. Leptin is produced by:

a. the paraventricular nucleus.

b. body fat.

c. neuropeptide Y.

d. orexin A.

 

Fill-in-the-blank(s) with the appropriate word(s) [worth 3 points each]

The proprioceptor that detects stretch in a muscle is called a ______________________. The proprioceptor that detects intense contractions in muscles is called the _____________________.

People suffering from narcolepsy often show this symptom, which is characterized by the person wilting and falling, conscious but paralyzed. This is known as _______________________.

The synapse where motor neuron axon meets a muscle fiber is called the _________________________.

The preoptic area of the hypothalamus is critical to regulation of ____________________.

After a meal the level of ______________ rises and excess glucose is stored. After going without food, _______________ is released, which reconverts _________________ to glucose for use as an energy source.

The chemical CCK acts on the brain to change two different behavioral responses. It decreases ________________ but increases _________________.

 

Short Answer [worth 5 points each] Answer only 3 of the following.

  1. What is the cause of Parkinson’s disease and what are the symptoms? (Bonus: describe some

    2. of the promising treatments.)

  2. Name three physiological and three behavioral mechanisms for regulating temperature.
  3. Explain the role of the suprachiasmatic nucleus and what external stimulus primarily influences it. (Bonus: What specific problems are associated with this area and this stimulus?)
  4. Why would a drug like Valium be prescribed for anxiety? What effects does it have and how

does it produce these effects in the brain?

Essay [worth 15 points]

Answer only 1 of the following. You should write a detailed answer of at least 8-12 sentences.

  1. Explain the relationship between stress and the ANS and the HPA axis. Describe some of the negative consequences related to these stress responses.
  2. Explain the differences between osmotic thirst and hypovolemic thirst. What evokes each and what is the body’s response to each type of thirst?
  3. Describe the REM sleep stage. What brain mechanisms are involved? What are some of the assumed functions of REM?

Bonus: Discuss the idea of "Scapegoat Biology." What kinds of behaviors in particular have been subject to this? (worth up to 5 points)