APA Biological Psychology and Neuroscience 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which neurotransmitter is primarily associated with the regulation of mood, sleep, and appetite?
- Dopamine
- Serotonin (Correct answer)
- Acetylcholine
- GABA
Correct answer: Serotonin
Serotonin (5-HT) plays a major role in regulating mood, sleep, and appetite, and its dysregulation is linked to depression and anxiety disorders.
Question 2: The blood-brain barrier primarily functions to:
- Regulate blood pressure in the brain
- Protect the brain from harmful substances in the bloodstream (Correct answer)
- Facilitate oxygen delivery to neurons
- Control neurotransmitter reuptake
Correct answer: Protect the brain from harmful substances in the bloodstream
The blood-brain barrier selectively restricts the passage of substances from the bloodstream into the brain, protecting neural tissue from toxins and pathogens.
Question 3: Action potentials in neurons follow the all-or-none principle, which means:
- A neuron fires at full strength once threshold is reached, or not at all (Correct answer)
- All neurons in a pathway fire simultaneously
- A neuron fires only when all synaptic inputs are excitatory
- Neural firing strength is proportional to stimulus intensity
Correct answer: A neuron fires at full strength once threshold is reached, or not at all
The all-or-none principle states that a neuron either fires at full strength when threshold is reached or does not fire; stimulus intensity is coded by firing rate, not action potential magnitude.
Question 4: Which brain structure is most critically involved in the formation of new explicit (declarative) memories?
- Amygdala
- Cerebellum
- Hippocampus (Correct answer)
- Thalamus
Correct answer: Hippocampus
The hippocampus is essential for consolidating new explicit memories, as demonstrated by patient H.M., who lost the ability to form new declarative memories after bilateral hippocampal removal.
Question 5: Myelin sheaths surrounding axons primarily serve to:
- Increase the speed of neural transmission (Correct answer)
- Provide direct nutrients to the neuron cell body
- Prevent action potentials from occurring at the nodes of Ranvier
- Store and release neurotransmitters
Correct answer: Increase the speed of neural transmission
Myelin sheaths insulate axons and enable saltatory conduction—the jumping of action potentials between nodes—dramatically increasing neural transmission speed.
Question 6: The process by which a neurotransmitter is transported back into the presynaptic neuron after release is called:
- Reuptake (Correct answer)
- Enzymatic degradation
- Autoreception
- Diffusion clearance
Correct answer: Reuptake
Reuptake is the primary mechanism by which neurotransmitters are removed from the synapse, with transporter proteins returning them to the presynaptic terminal for recycling.
Question 7: Which lobe of the cerebral cortex is primarily responsible for processing visual information?
- Frontal lobe
- Parietal lobe
- Temporal lobe
- Occipital lobe (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Occipital lobe
The occipital lobe, located at the posterior (back) of the brain, contains the primary visual cortex (V1) and is dedicated to processing visual information.
APA Biological Psychology and Neuroscience 1
Which neurotransmitter is primarily associated with the regulation of mood, sleep, and appetite?