Biology Test Neuroscience Fundamentals 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which neurotransmitter is primarily responsible for the 'fight-or-flight' response and is released from the adrenal medulla?
- Dopamine
- Serotonin
- Epinephrine (Correct answer)
- Acetylcholine
Correct answer: Epinephrine
Epinephrine (adrenaline) is released from the adrenal medulla during stress, triggering the sympathetic fight-or-flight response.
Question 2: The blood-brain barrier is primarily formed by which cell type?
- Microglia
- Astrocytes (Correct answer)
- Oligodendrocytes
- Ependymal cells
Correct answer: Astrocytes
Astrocyte end-feet wrap around brain capillaries and, together with tight junctions between endothelial cells, form the blood-brain barrier.
Question 3: Long-term potentiation (LTP) is most closely associated with which receptor type?
- GABA-A
- Nicotinic acetylcholine
- NMDA glutamate (Correct answer)
- Muscarinic acetylcholine
Correct answer: NMDA glutamate
NMDA receptors act as coincidence detectors and are essential for the synaptic strengthening that underlies LTP and memory formation.
Question 4: Which lobe of the cerebral cortex contains the primary somatosensory cortex?
- Frontal lobe
- Occipital lobe
- Temporal lobe
- Parietal lobe (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Parietal lobe
The primary somatosensory cortex (S1) is located in the postcentral gyrus of the parietal lobe and processes touch, pressure, and pain.
Question 5: What is the approximate resting membrane potential of a typical neuron?
- +40 mV
- -70 mV (Correct answer)
- 0 mV
- -40 mV
Correct answer: -70 mV
At rest, a neuron maintains approximately -70 mV inside relative to outside, maintained chiefly by the sodium-potassium ATPase pump.
Question 6: Which part of the brain is the primary relay station for sensory information traveling to the cortex?
- Hypothalamus
- Basal ganglia
- Thalamus (Correct answer)
- Cerebellum
Correct answer: Thalamus
The thalamus acts as the central relay hub, directing sensory signals from the body to the appropriate cortical areas for processing.
Question 7: Demyelinating diseases such as multiple sclerosis primarily impair which property of nerve conduction?
- Neurotransmitter release
- Saltatory conduction speed (Correct answer)
- Resting membrane potential
- Ion channel expression
Correct answer: Saltatory conduction speed
Myelin enables saltatory conduction by allowing the action potential to jump between nodes of Ranvier; its loss dramatically slows or blocks signal propagation.
Biology Test Neuroscience Fundamentals 2
Which neurotransmitter is primarily responsible for the 'fight-or-flight' response and is released from the adrenal medulla?