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Neuroscience Flashcards

7 cards from real NBME practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.

Read the first 7 Neuroscience flashcards as text

  1. A patient presents with a dilated, non-reactive pupil and ptosis of the right eye with the eye deviated down and out. Which cranial nerve is most likely compressed?

    Answer: Cranial nerve III (oculomotor)

    CN III palsy causes ipsilateral ptosis, dilated unreactive pupil (parasympathetic fibers run on outside), and 'down and out' eye deviation due to unopposed SO and LR action.

  2. A patient with a cerebellar lesion on the right side is most likely to show deficits on which side of the body?

    Answer: Right side only

    The cerebellum coordinates ipsilateral limb movements because cerebellar pathways cross twice (net ipsilateral), so right cerebellar lesions cause right-sided ataxia.

  3. Stimulation of the direct pathway of the basal ganglia results in which of the following?

    Answer: Facilitation of movement via disinhibition of the thalamus

    The direct pathway (striatum→GPi/SNr) inhibits GPi, disinhibiting the thalamus and facilitating cortical activation and movement.

  4. A patient is quadriplegic and anarthric but can move his eyes vertically and blink voluntarily. He is fully conscious. Which structure is most likely damaged?

    Answer: Ventral pons

    Locked-in syndrome results from ventral pontine lesions (often basilar artery occlusion) that destroy the corticospinal and corticobulbar tracts while sparing the ARAS and vertical gaze center in the midbrain.

  5. A patient presents with inability to close the right eye, drooping of the right corner of the mouth, and loss of taste from the anterior two-thirds of the right tongue. Where is the lesion?

    Answer: Right facial nerve nucleus or nerve (LMN lesion)

    LMN CN VII palsy causes complete ipsilateral facial paralysis (including forehead) plus taste loss from anterior 2/3 tongue via chorda tympani; UMN lesions spare the forehead.

  6. A patient with multiple sclerosis develops left eye adduction failure on attempted right lateral gaze, with nystagmus of the abducting right eye. Which structure is demyelinated?

    Answer: Left medial longitudinal fasciculus (MLF)

    Internuclear ophthalmoplegia (INO) results from MLF demyelination; the ipsilateral (left) eye fails to adduct on contralateral gaze, and the abducting eye shows nystagmus.

  7. Damage to Wernicke's area results in which type of aphasia?

    Answer: Fluent aphasia with poor comprehension

    Wernicke's aphasia (posterior superior temporal gyrus, dominant hemisphere) produces fluent but paraphasic speech with severely impaired comprehension and repetition.