Chapter 2: Neuroscience and Biological
Foundations
Testing your knowledge of idioms and other
vocabulary
Here are some more American idioms, words used with figurative meanings, and other vocabulary
items that you may not be familiar with. Match each item in column A with the appropriate
meaning given in column B. If you are unsure, look at the sentence context given below.
Remember that words may have different meanings in different contexts. The meanings given here
are appropriate for the contexts from your textbook, but in different contexts the words in question
might have different meanings. Answers are given on page 10.
COLUMN A
COLUMN B
a. to hold in place
b. analogous
c. to boost
1. many; a great number
2. to summarize, to conclude
3. to stop something from moving out of its
position
4. to accomplish; to complete
5. occasional or miscellaneous work
6. to raise; to increase
7. approximately
8. similar; alike
9. to explain
10. to receive information by hearing it or
seeing it
11. to make different from
12. to absorb
13. having permanent and unchanging
connections
d. to take up
e. in sum
f. to take in
g. hard wired
h. odd jobs
i. a host of
j. to carry out
k. roughly
l. to account for
Sentence context
a. These neurons are held in place and supported by glial cells (from the Greek for
“glue”). (p. 52)
b. They found that the morphine was taken up by specialized receptors in areas of the
brain linked with mood and pain sensations. (p. 57)
c. As Chapter 14 discusses, antidepressant drugs, like Prozac and Zoloft, work by
boosting levels of available serotonin. (p. 57)
d. However, the brain may not be as “hard wired” as we once believed. (p. 61)
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e. According to historical records by his physician, Gage never again held a job equal
to that of foreman. He supported himself with odd jobs and traveled around New
England, exhibiting himself and the tamping iron, and for a time he did the same at
Barnum Museum. (p. 72)
f. As this case study and other research show, the frontal lobes are intimately
involved in motivation, emotion, and a host of other cognitive activities. (p. 72)
g. What accounts for these differences? (p. 86)
Reviewing your knowledge of English grammar
As you have no doubt learned, regular verbs in the past tense in English require an -ed ending,
which signals that the action took place in a previous time, not in the present. Present tense verbs,
on the other hand, do not need an -ed ending. They refer to a present time or express an event
which we believe to be always true or unchanging.
Compare:
Past time:
In 1848, Phineas Gage suffered a bizarre accident when an explosion
happened at his work place. As a result of the explosion, an iron rod
entered his skull and pierced his frontal lobe. Phineas recovered
physically from this accident, but his personality changed forever.
Present time: From the case study of Phineas Gage, it appears that the frontal lobe
controls much of our individual personality and defines our ability to
make decisions. We now know that the frontal lobe helps us to plan
and change actions.
Read the paragraph below and decide if the verbs need an -ed ending (that is, if they show
a past action) or if they refer to the present time period. Add the -ed endings where
necessary. When you are finished, you may check your answers in the answer key section.
Many psychologists believe___ that the temporal lobes affect___ the emotional
behavior of human beings. They base___ this belief on ongoing research with cats
and monkeys. In 1939, for example, Kluver and Bucy remove___ both the
temporal lobes of monkeys. As they expect___, the monkeys act___ completely
different after surgery. They demonstrate___ very flat emotional behavior and
show___ no fear of snakes, even though before the surgery they act___ terrified
of snakes. Today we believe___ that the temporal lobes (along with the other
cortical lobes) connect___ to the other areas of the brain, including the subcortical
areas.
Finding key information
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In this chapter, the authors present critical information about the nervous system and the
brain. In doing this, they often divide up the information they are presenting into
subgroups. We call this kind of organizational method classification. Usually, the authors
first indicate the various subgroups of the class they are discussing. They then give
additional information about each subgroup.
Read the section on pages 53 that describes the basic parts of the neuron. Fill in the chart.
When you are finished, you may check your answers in the answer key section.
DENDRITES
CELL BODY
(SOMA)
AXON
MYELIN SHEATH
Definition/Description Definition/Description Definition/Description
Definition/Description
Function
Function
Function
Function
Examining structural clues
Authors often use language that indicates the classification of items to signal that things fall into
different classes or groups. Study the following observations about the language of classification.

In classification, there is often a clear list of the groups being discussed.
Just as no two people are alike, no two neurons are exactly alike, although most
share three basic features: dendrites, the cell body, and an axon.

The language may indicate the number of classes into which the items fall.
The nervous system has two major divisions, the Central Nervous System (CNS),
which processes and organizes information, and the Peripheral Nervous System
(PNS), which serves primarily as a relay system getting information to and from
the CNS.

The sentence often contains a passive verb construction.
The autonomic nervous system is itself further divided into two branches, the
sympathetic and parasympathetic.

Classifications are usually written using the present tense.
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The brain evidently produces its own naturally occurring chemical messengers that
elevate mood and reduce pain, as well as affect memory, learning, blood pressure,
appetite, and sexual activity.
Locate 5 sentences in chapter 2 in the book that contain the language of classification and write
these sentences in the spaces provided below. Study your sentences to see if they use similar
language to the language noted above.
1. _____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
2. _____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
3. _____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
4. _____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
5. _____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
Answer key
Testing your knowledge of idioms and other vocabulary
a. 3;
b. 8;
c. 6;
d. 10;
e. 2;
f. 12;
g. 13;
h. 5;
i. 1;
j. 4;
k. 7;
l. 9;
Reviewing your knowledge of English grammar
Many psychologists believe that the temporal lobes affect the emotional behavior of
human beings. They base this belief on ongoing research with cats and monkeys. In
1939, for example, Kluver and Bucy removed both the temporal lobes of monkeys.
As they expected, the monkeys acted completely different after surgery. They
demonstrated very flat emotional behavior and showed no fear of snakes, even
though before the surgery they acted terrified of snakes. Today we believe that the
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temporal lobes (along with the other cortical lobes) connect to the other areas of the
brain, including the subcortical areas.
Finding key information
DENDRITES
Definition/Description:
branching neuron
structures; look like
leafless branches of a
tree
Function: receive
neural impulses from
other neurons and
convey impulses
toward the cell body
CELL BODY (SOMA)
Definition/Description:
the part of the neuron
that contains the cell
nucleus and other
structures that help
the neuron carry out
its functions
Function: contains the
biochemical machinery
that keeps the neuron
alive
AXON
MYELIN SHEATH
Definition/Description: a Definition/Description: a
long, tubelike structure layer of fatty insulation
wrapped around the
axon of some neurons
Function: conveys
impulses away from the
neuron’s cell body
toward other neurons or
to muscles or glands
Function: increases the
rate at which nerve
impulses travel along
the axon
Examining structural clues
Answers will vary.
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