BAPSY Biological Basis of Behavior 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which brain imaging technique measures blood oxygenation levels to infer neural activity?
- EEG
- PET scan
- fMRI (Correct answer)
- MEG
Correct answer: fMRI
fMRI (functional MRI) uses the BOLD signal, which reflects changes in blood oxygenation, to map brain activity.
Question 2: Myelin sheaths surrounding axons primarily function to:
- Generate action potentials at the axon hillock
- Increase the speed of electrical signal transmission (Correct answer)
- Synthesize neurotransmitters for release
- Regulate synaptic receptor sensitivity
Correct answer: Increase the speed of electrical signal transmission
Myelin insulates axons and enables saltatory conduction, dramatically increasing the speed of nerve impulse transmission.
Question 3: Which division of the autonomic nervous system is most active during a 'fight-or-flight' response?
- Somatic nervous system
- Parasympathetic division
- Sympathetic division (Correct answer)
- Enteric nervous system
Correct answer: Sympathetic division
The sympathetic division activates the fight-or-flight response by increasing heart rate, dilating pupils, and redirecting blood to muscles.
Question 4: The resting membrane potential of a typical neuron is approximately:
- -70 mV (Correct answer)
- +40 mV
- 0 mV
- -120 mV
Correct answer: -70 mV
A neuron at rest maintains a membrane potential of approximately -70 mV due to differential ion concentrations and selective permeability.
Question 5: Damage to the Broca's area in the left frontal lobe typically results in:
- Inability to comprehend spoken language
- Difficulty producing fluent speech (Correct answer)
- Loss of long-term memory formation
- Visual agnosia and object recognition failure
Correct answer: Difficulty producing fluent speech
Broca's area is critical for speech production; damage causes Broca's aphasia, characterized by slow, effortful, non-fluent speech.
Question 6: Which neurotransmitter is primarily involved in the reward pathway and is implicated in addiction?
- Serotonin
- GABA
- Dopamine (Correct answer)
- Acetylcholine
Correct answer: Dopamine
Dopamine is the primary neurotransmitter in the mesolimbic reward pathway, and dysregulation of this system underlies many addictive behaviors.
Question 7: The endocrine system communicates with target organs primarily through:
- Electrical signals along nerve fibers
- Chemical messengers transported via the bloodstream (Correct answer)
- Direct cell-to-cell contact
- Gap junctions between adjacent cells
Correct answer: Chemical messengers transported via the bloodstream
Endocrine glands secrete hormones directly into the bloodstream, which carries them to distant target organs bearing specific receptors.
