HumBio Study Questions
2002 4A Midterm
These are merely thought questions; they are not all–encompassing. The exam covers material through Thursday, April 25, 2002. You are responsible for material presented in lecture, PSOH, Silverthorn and Summit. The goal is for you to integrate your understanding of the many topics we have covered so far this quarter. A great way to study for this exam is to look at the old midterm and be ready to play around with the concepts and mechanisms in new, hypothetical situations. Try coming up with some test questions of your own to try thinking along such lines. We also recommend working in groups and tackling these study questions together—go find some classroom with a white board and draw everything up there, trace all the pathways together and do some HumBio bonding. Of course, read all your notes carefully, and review the reading as well. Best of luck studying—see you at 8:50am on Monday!
1.Your body tightly regulates many parameters. Why is this necessary? How does your body regulate such parameters? How do feedback and homeostasis relate to each other? What four physiological components are required for feedback systems? Describe a feedback system you have studied.
2.Although the nervous system is complex, many principles can be identified. How is the nervous system organized/categorized? You have studied input, processing and output types of neurons -- how do each of these relate to the CNS and PNS? How do the brain and brainstem differ in function? What is the purpose of topographic mapping? What is the significance of the relationship between the neuraxis of the brain and complexity of function?
3.The neuron is the fundamental unit of the nervous system. How is the neuron unique from other cells? Describe the different kinds of neurons, the different parts of a neuron, and the significance of those differences. What establishes resting potential? What is the significance of concentration and charge gradients? What is threshold? What is the significance of variable permeabilities? Compare and contrast action vs. graded potentials. What is summation? What is saltatory conduction? How is it related to multiple sclerosis?
4.Biologists use the Nernst and Goldman Equations to describe a neuron's ionic composition. Compare and contrast these two equations.
5.Compare and contrast the transmission of signals within one neuron and between two neurons, including the roles of ion channels, neurotransmitters, neuromodulators and drugs. In what ways are chemical synapses advantageous to other connections between cells?
6.What is the role of development in the neural synaptic network, as discussed in Professor McConnell's lecture? Where do neurons come from? How do axons find their targets? What pathways do they use? How does refinement of synaptic connections occur?
7.You are walking barefoot across the dorm lounge when you have the misfortune of stubbing your big toe on a misplaced piano bench that some a cappella group moved while they were rehearsing there last night. You yank back your foot, scream in pain, and then hop around the room cursing a cappella. Trace the circuit from initial sensory input to final motor output, identifying neuron types and waystations.
8.All the sensory systems possess big similarities and differences to one another. How might such similarities have come about? Compare and contrast vision, audition, olfaction, taste and touch in terms of form of energy, receptor cell, receptor structure, receptor transduction pathway, neurotransmitters, graded vs. action potential, second–order cells, mapping, etc.
9.What is visual transduction? What are the steps? How does amplification play a role? Contrast baseline conditions with activated conditions.
10.What is the anatomy of the visual system? What are the cells that make up the visual system? Trace the path of a light signal from when it enters the eye to where you consciously perceive seeing something, including all brain structures and nerve pathways. What does a receptive field represent and how does it respond to different stimuli? What is the purpose of having receptive fields?
11.There are two classes of photoreceptors: rods and cones. Why did two different classes arise? Compare and contrast rods and cones in terms of size, function, location, etc. How do we perceive color? How do we adapt to continued light or darkness?
12.You are watching your baby niece for the evening and decide to take her out for a drive in the car. As you start the engine, your niece starts to cry! How does your brain process the different properties of the sound from the car vs. the sound from your niece? What are Fourier components? Trace a sound from outside your ear to where you consciously perceive hearing something, including all structures and pathways. What is the function of each structure? How does the vestibular system differ from the auditory system? What may be the purpose in having them physically connected?
13.How do we act on our environment? What is the pathway/hierarchy of motor control? What is the anatomy and cellular components of motor control? Compare and contrast the three types of movement. What is the advantage in having different circuits available? What is the role of feedback in muscle movement? Compare and contrast muscle spindle fibers/cells with Golgi tendon organs. What is coactivation?
14.Lesions to different locations in the nervous system may lead to widely disparate symptoms, as shown in Professor Graber's lecture. Contrast focal lesions to diffuse damage. What is fMRI? How is it generated? What are its strengths and weaknesses as a diagnostic instrument?
15.Consider the locations in which different processes of learning and comprehension are localized in the brain, as discussed in Professor Gabrieli's lecture. Identify the relationship between type of learning, time frame of learning, and the intensity of activity in certain brain locations.