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Psychology 110 Exam 2
N/A
40
Psychology
Undergraduate 3
05/15/2011

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Term

Why does the fovea provide the clearest most detailed visual information?

Definition

receptors are tightly packed there

Term
The direct flow of neural information through the retina is
Definition
rods, bipolar cells, ganglion cells, cones
Term

The fact that there are 3 types of cones in the retina that respond best to different wavelengths of light provides support for

Definition
the trichromatic theory of color vision
Term
An on-center receptive field
Definition
is formed by lateral inhibition
Term
A simple cell receptive field in the visual cortex 
Definition
could arise from the summation of inputs from neurons with overlapping on center receptive fields in the lateral geniculate nucleus
Term
The three major “streams” of visual processing in the cerebral cortex are:
Definition
motion, shape, color
Term
if you record the responses of neurons in a column perpendicular to the cortical surface in the primary visual cortex, you would find that
Definition

neurons have similar orientation preferences

Term
In an experiment you perform surgery on an animal at birth to close the animal’s left eye, and then open it when the animal is an adult. What would you expect to observe when recording the primary visual cortex (VI)? 
Definition
very few neurons in visual cortex would respond to the left eye
Term
In an experiment you perform surgery on an animal at birth to close both eyes for an equal length time.  You then open the eyes so you can examine the responses of neurons in primary visual cortex (VI).  You would observe:
Definition
an approximately equal number of neurons would respond to each eye
Term
The observation that the properties (such as ocular dominance or orientation selectivity) of neurons are much more able to change in response to changes in input activity in a very young animal, as oppose to an adult animal is a manifestation of 
Definition
the critical period
Term
In the lateral geniculate nucleus, the projection of the _______ cells is segregated from the projection of the ________ cells
Definition
magnocellular, parvocellular
Term
A major way that sounds are localized is by differences in the time of arrival of sound to the two ears (interaural time difference.)  This presents a problem: sounds that are directly in front of the head and those directly behind have the same interaural time differences, and thus would be perceived as being in the same location. How can the auditory system resolve this ambiguity?
Definition
the pinna affects sounds from the front and back differently
Term
Complete destruction of which of the following could cause blindness:
Definition
all of the above ( primary visual cortex, the retina, the optic nerve, the lateral geniculate nucleus)
Term

There is a somatotopic representation (ie and orderly map of somatosensory information) in the following structures:

Definition

the somatosensory cortex

Term
A major neurotransmitter substance responsible for transmission of buring pain sensation in the spinal cord is
Definition
substance P
Term
While chopping vegetables, you are distracted and accidentally chop off you left middle finger; unfortunately, it falls out the window and cannot be recovered. Overtime, stimulation of both your left index and ring fingers lead to sensation of touch on the “phantom” finger. What do you hypothesize has happened?
Definition
the areas of cortex responding to your intact fingers have expanded into the region that used to respond to the amputated finger
Term
The observation that amount of pain (either more pain or less pain) that you feel is dependent on other non-pain stimuli is called
Definition
gate theory
Term
Two sensory systems that use specialized hair cells to transform mechanical energy into electrical potentials for sensation and perception are:
Definition
Auditory and Vestibular
Term
The observation that specific sound frequencies cause activation of hair cells on specific parts of the basilar membrane is called:
Definition
place coding
Term
Different sound frequencies activate corresponding regions of auditory cortex such that the cortex responds best to low frequencies in one region and to progressively higher frequencies as you move along the cortex. This is an example of:
Definition
a tonotopic map
Term
The middle ear bones (ie malleus, incus, stapes) serve
Definition
to amplify sounds
Term
in order to localized sounds in space, your brain compares three types of information between the two ears. The are:
Definition
time of arrival, loudness, phase
Term
Taste information from the tongue and mouth is directly sent to the ____ in the medulla
Definition
nucleus of the tractus solitarious
Term
Taste information has very strong effects on various ingestive behaviors, such as swallowing and salivation. This is primarily due to
Definition
connections from the taste centers to central pattern generators in the medulla
Term
The mammalian olfactory system is different from other mammalian sensory systems, such as vision of audition, because
Definition
it has many hundreds or thousands of receptor subtypes
Term
Different patterns of olfactory glomeruli are activated by different odors, and example of 
Definition
population coding
Term
An aardvark uses its tongue as a tactile organ to probe for and capture its prey (mostly ants.) You would expect that the representation of the tongue (ie the area of cortex that responds to tongue stimulation) in aardvark primary somatosensory cortex would generally be
Definition
large compared to other areas
Term
The three primary categories of mechanosensation are
Definition
somatosensation, proprioception, vestibular sensation
Term
You are assessing a patient who has had a stroke (ie damage to the brain. The patient is able to perform most movements normally, but has difficulty with fine motor control of his right hand, the most likely site of the damage is:
Definition
left motor cortex
Term
The system that senses the position of your joints and tension in your muscles and tendons is called
Definition
proprioception
Term
A movement that is not subject to correction by sensory feedback is called a(n)
Definition
ballistic movement
Term
Muscule contraction is directly triggered by intrafiber ______ release
Definition
calcium
Term
The neurotransmitter at the vertebrate neuromuscular junction is
Definition
acetylcholine
Term
One way that the force of muscle contraction can be increase is
Definition
by increasing the number of muscle fibers activated
Term
the scratch reflex in most animals occurs at a fixed frequency and has a fixed, rhythmic pattern of movements; the generation of this reflex is an example of: 
Definition
a central pattern generator
Term
The main output neurons in the cerebellar cortex are inhibitory and called the
Definition
Purkinje cells
Term
Parkinson’s disease is caused primarily by the loss of _____ containing cells in the substantia nigra of the basal ganglia.
Definition
dopamine
Term
Cells in the primary motor cortex have direct projections to:
Definition
spinal motorneurons
Term
Single neurons in motor cortex:
Definition
are less well tuned for direction of motion than population of motor cortical neurons
Term
One likely role of the basal ganglia is:
Definition
to inhibit unwanted movements
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