BCS 110: Unit 2 Exam
10/19/2021
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Last Name __________________________
First Name __________________________
Answer all 50 of the following questions. Circle completely or write clearly
only one answer per question.
The duration of the exam is 75 minutes.
Good luck!
1) In comparison to the scotopic system, the photopic system has
A) more receptors in the retina
B) higher sensitivity to light
C) greater neural convergence
D) stronger lateral inhibition
E) none of the above
2) The basilar membrane vibrates most strongly to _____ pure tones at its apex, and it
is the activity of _____ hair cells that increases the motion of the membrane.
A) low frequency; inner
B) low frequency; outer
C) high frequency; inner
D) high frequency; outer
3) Which somatosensory receptor type signals that you have just received a light tap
on the shoulder?
A) Merkel
B) Pacinian
C) Meissner
D) Ruffini
4) Which of the following pairs of sensory systems use opposite methods of both
signal transduction and transmission?
A) gustation-vision
B) vision-olfaction
C) olfaction-audition
D) audition-gustation
5) A patient has difficulty moving the toes on their left foot. You suspect damage to the
______ side of the spinal cord at ______.
A) contralateral, one level
B) ipsilateral, one level
C) contralateral, multiple levels
D) ipsilateral, multiple levels
6) Sensory systems often process information in a push-pull fashion: that is, when one
neuron is stimulated by a given stimulus, its corresponding partner is inhibited, and
vice versa when the stimulus is changed to its opposite. Push-pull processing is
evident in the central nervous system of which of the following senses?
A) auditory
B) olfactory
C) vision
D) somatosensory
E) gustatory
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7) In the visual system, parvocellular is to magnocellular as
A) left is to right eye
B) black-and-white is to color
C) on-center is to off-center cells
D) small is to large receptive fields
E) none of the above
8) Scene analysis is the process by which the human auditory system organizes
sounds into perceptually distinct sources. Which property of a sound source is
computed first, and to which stream does it contribute?
A) identity, dorsal
B) identity, ventral
C) location, dorsal
D) location, ventral
9) The excess of movement
by _____ through the basal ganglia.
isease is caused
A) a decrease in activity in the D1 pathway
B) an increase in activity in the D1 pathway
C) a decrease in activity in the D2 pathway
D) an increase in activity in the D2 pathway
10) In response to photons of light in the center of their receptive field, off-center bipolar
cells become _____ permeable to _____ ions.
A) less, sodium
B) more, sodium
C) less, potassium
D) more, potassium
For the sets below, match each phrase on the left with a single corresponding response
on the right. Write your answer on the line in front of the number. Some responses
may be used multiple times, others not at all.
With regard to sensory receptors: initial transduction mechanism and ion that ultimately
carries the vast majority of the current (in or out) (answers graded independently)
Mech
Ion
(A-D)
(J-N)
____
____
11) smelling a flower
____
____
12) feeling pain from a fall
____
____
13) looking at a painting
____
____
14) tasting a sour lemon
____
____
15) maintaining balance
Mechanism
Ion
A) enter through open
channels
J) calcium
B) push open ion
channels
C) pull open ion
channels
D) activate G-protein
K) potassium
L) chloride
M) sodium
N) hydrogen
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With regard to sensory and motor pathways through thalamic nuclei: structures in the
ascending pathway and cortical target lobe (responses graded independently)
Path
Lobe
(A-F)
(J-M)
____
____
16) ventral anterior
____
____
17) dorsomedial
____
____
18) ventral posterior
____
____
19) medial geniculate
____
____
20) ventral lateral
In Path
Target lobe
A) semicircular canals
B) inferior olive
C) retina
D) olfactory bulb
E) globus pallidus
J) temporal
K) frontal
L) occipital
M) parietal
F) superior olive
With regard to the information carried in different spinal cord pathways:
_____ 21) playing piano
_____ 22) making you look
_____ 23) reducing sensation of a paper-cut
_____ 24) knowing that your arm is raised
_____ 25) bending down at the waist
With regard to structure/function relationships in sensory and motor systems:
_____ 26) non-distorted, labeled-line sensory
cortex
_____ 27) ability to make a requested
movement
_____ 28) relays (not makes) motor
correction signals
_____ 29) depth perception
_____ 30) sense of taste
_____ 31) exteroception
_____ 32) mirror neurons
_____ 33) sets overall plan of action
_____ 34) audiovisual speech perception
(multisensory McGurk effect)
_____ 35) votes on specific set of instructions
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With regard to structure/dysfunction relationships in sensory and motor systems:
_____ 36)
_____ 37) loss of smell
_____ 38) abnormal gait (walking)
_____ 39) blindness
_____ 40) inability to taste/vomit
41) The receptive fields of layer IV simple cells are roughly ______ in shape, and
driven by inputs from ______ eye(s).
A) circular, one
B) circular, two
C) rectangular, one
D) rectangular, two
42) A neurological patient has selective bilateral damage to her ventral visual streams.
It is likely that she has
A) no difficulty describing the color of an object.
B) great difficulty describing the location of a visual target in space.
C) no difficulty reaching out and grabbing an object under visual control.
D) great difficulty seeing in dim illumination.
43) A fast motor unit consists of a motor neuron and all of the _____ fibers it
innervates _____ blood vessels.
A) extrafusal, near to
B) extrafusal, far from
C) intrafusal, near to
D) intrafusal, far from
44) Sensory receptors may or may not have axons that project into the CNS. Of the
following receptor types (pain, touch, vision, olfactory, and temperature), how
many lack axons?
A) one
B) two
C) three
D) four
E) five
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45) The somatosensory system is characterized by systems having both fast and slow
receptors, which are sensitive to initial and on-going stimulation, respectively.
Which of the following systems is an exception to this rule?
A) balance
B) touch
C) muscles
D) joints
E) pain
46) Olfactory and gustatory receptors are similar in some ways, but different in other
ways. How do olfactory receptors differ from gustatory receptors?
A) They are replaced regularly.
B) They express one type of receptor protein.
C) They respond to many stimuli.
D) They are organized in a random (ie. not chemotopic) manner.
E) None of the above
47) The sensory receptors of the vestibular system do not respond to
A) sudden head tilt (i.e., looking up)
B) head tilt that is maintained for over a minute
C) sudden head rotation towards one side (i.e., looking to the right)
D) body rotation that is maintained for over a minute
48) The neurons with the longest neurons in the human body are part of the _____
system.
A) touch
B) pain
C) motor
D) balance
49) A patient visits the doctor complaining of visual disturbances. Upon examination, it
is determined that the patient is experiencing a complete loss of vision for stimuli in
the periphery of visual space (i.e., they can see fine looking only straight ahead).
The site of damage is most likely to be at which point in the visual pathway?
A) optic nerve
B) optic chiasm
C) optic track
D) optic radiation
50) Association cortex is at the top of the hierarchy for _____.
A) the sensory systems
B) the motor system
C) both sensory and motor systems
D) neither sensory nor motor systems
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