PSC 135 EXAM QUESTIONS WITH VERIFIED SOLUTIONS LATEST UPDATE 2026
1) Cognitive neuroscience is best described as studies of - Answers the biological bases of higher
mental function.
2) Cognitive neuroscience research utilizes methodological techniques from - Answers a.
neuroscience.
b. cognitive psychology.
c. neurology/neuropsychology.
d. computational modeling.
---> all of the above.
3) Once it was clear to scholars that the brain gave rise to behavior and cognition, the following brain
structure was first thought to be most important - Answers ventricles
4) Philosopher Rene' Descartes was a dualist. He believed that - Answers The interaction of the soul
with the brain enables cognition.
5) The lesion analysis method used in studies of human brain function primarily involves - Answers
testing patients with brain damage to identify cognitive brain mechanisms
6) Phrenologists of the nineteenth century believed that the pattern of bumps on the skull could
indicate the psychological makeup of individuals because - Answers None of the above.
7) Localization of mental functions in the brain is an idea that gained support from - Answers Paul
Broca's studies of patients with language disorders.
8) In the early 20th C, Karl Lashley articulated the concept of - Answers The principle of mass action.
9) Korbinian Brodmann used ________ techniques to document 52 regions of the brain that differed
in ________ - Answers tissue staining / cytoarchitectonics
10) Each of Brodmann's areas maps precisely onto a known cognitive, sensory or motor function,
thereby defining the functional organization of the brain - Answers False
11) Brodmann used histology, behavior and cellular recordings to parcellate the brain into 52 regions -
Answers False
12) Broca's patient "Tan" had brain damage in the left inferior frontal cortex, which in him led to
problems with - Answers Speech production
13) Wernicke's patient had brain damage in the left posterior temporal and inferior parietal lobes,
which led to problems with - Answers Language understanding
14) The difference between gray matter and white matter is that gray matter refers to ________,
whereas white matter refers to ________ - Answers neuronal cell bodies / axons
15) The two main divisions of the nervous system are the _____ - Answers central and peripheral
nervous systems.
1) All of the following are advantages of a folded cerebral cortex EXCEPT: - Answers a) ---> the need
for blood vasculature in the cortex is eliminated.
the following are:
b. neural conduction time between regions is reduced.
c. neurons are brought into closer three-dimensional relationships.
d. more cortical surface can be packed into the skull.
17) The temporal lobe likely bears this name because - Answers it lies beneath the area of the scalp
where hair grays with age.
18) The central sulcus is an anatomical landmark that separates the ________ lobe from the
________ lobe - Answers frontal / parietal
19) The Sylvian fissure separates the ______lobe from the ______lobe - Answers temporal / frontal
20) The _____are the crowns of the folded cerebral cortex, while the ____ are the crevices between
the crowns - Answers gryri/sulci
1) All of the following terms refer to the same cortical region that processes visual input EXCEPT:
primary visual cortex = striate cortex= area 17 = V1 - Answers a. striate cortex.
b. area V1.
C --> Heschl's gyrus.
d. Brodmann's area 17.
e. None of the above
, 22) Neurosurgeon Wilder Penfield mapped the human cerebral cortex using - Answers Electrical
stimulation
23) The map of the sensory surface of the body on the cerebral cortex can be represented using a -
Answers Homunculus
24) Points in the visual field that are close together are ____ in the primary visual cortex. - Answers -
Primary visual cortex small receptive field sizes, point by point mapping, retinotopic mapping is this.
Showed audiograph of animal study while they ejected radioactive into their blood. Topographic
mapping of world on visual structures.
Things that are close out in the world are close together in the V1 = retinotopic mapping
close together
25) Following a focal brain injury, a patient shows great difficulty in discriminating tones that differ in
frequency. Which area of the cortex is most likely affected? - Answers The superior temporal lobe
26) It is better to think about _________ when trying to understand the organization of brain
functions - Answers distributed brain systems
27) The central nervous system is composed of - Answers Brain and spinal cord
28) In the human brain, caudal refers to the inferior (ventral) surface of the brain, because it is in the
direction of the tailbone - Answers False
29) If you wanted to view a slice of the brain that contains both hemispheres, the frontal lobes, and
the occipital lobes, what orientation would you need? - Answers Horizontal
30) Parts of the brain where neural activity is relatively high are characterized by - Answers elevated
regional blood flow.
31) You have are interested in a neuron in the occipital lobes that you believe is responsible for
processing information about color. What type of neurophysiological technique would allow you to
assess this hypothesis in a living animal? - Answers Single-cell recording
32) The term ________ is used to describe the situation in which Patient Group 1 is impaired on task X
and unimpaired on task Y, and Patient Group 2 is impaired on task Y and unimpaired on task X -
Answers double dissociation
33) A patient has an injury to the parietal lobe and has a selective deficit in processing information
about the spatial location of visual stimuli. You hypothesize that this region of the brain is distinct in
function from other visual areas in the occipital lobe, in which you suspect color information is
processed. In order to establish the difference between the two functions and brain regions, you
would need to find another person who had damage to the_______ - Answers occipital lobe and had
only a color perception deficit.
34) The technique known as ________ can be used to induce virtual (temporary) lesions in humans -
Answers TMS (transcranial magnetic stimulation)
35) The best tool for studying the timing of brain activity is _________. - Answers EEG
(electroencephalography) and MEG (magnetoencephalography)
36) The best tool for studying the location(s) of brain activity is _________ - Answers fMRI (functional
MRI)
37) Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) is a method for _________ - Answers tracing white matter tracts in
the brain
38) EEG recordings reflect _______ - Answers the activity of large populations of neurons
39) EEG recordings are primarily characterized by their _____ - Answers frequency of oscillation
40) EEG recordings can only be made from the surface of the scalp - Answers False
41) EEG recordings are only useful in studies of healthy persons - Answers False
42) You can do EEG recording on a dog - Answers True
43) You cannot do EEG recordings in a fish, because they do not have EEG. - Answers False
EEG stands for electrical picture gram, of the brain, fish have brains
YOU CAN DO IT ON A FISH F
44) fMRI is a method to detect magnetic fields emitted by the active brain - Answers False
45) Understanding changes in brain blood flow is useful in neuroscience only to understand whether
the whole brain increases or decreases activity during mental processing - Answers False
46) TMS permanently damages brain tissue, and therefore can only be used in patients who already
have neurological problems - Answers False
1) Cognitive neuroscience is best described as studies of - Answers the biological bases of higher
mental function.
2) Cognitive neuroscience research utilizes methodological techniques from - Answers a.
neuroscience.
b. cognitive psychology.
c. neurology/neuropsychology.
d. computational modeling.
---> all of the above.
3) Once it was clear to scholars that the brain gave rise to behavior and cognition, the following brain
structure was first thought to be most important - Answers ventricles
4) Philosopher Rene' Descartes was a dualist. He believed that - Answers The interaction of the soul
with the brain enables cognition.
5) The lesion analysis method used in studies of human brain function primarily involves - Answers
testing patients with brain damage to identify cognitive brain mechanisms
6) Phrenologists of the nineteenth century believed that the pattern of bumps on the skull could
indicate the psychological makeup of individuals because - Answers None of the above.
7) Localization of mental functions in the brain is an idea that gained support from - Answers Paul
Broca's studies of patients with language disorders.
8) In the early 20th C, Karl Lashley articulated the concept of - Answers The principle of mass action.
9) Korbinian Brodmann used ________ techniques to document 52 regions of the brain that differed
in ________ - Answers tissue staining / cytoarchitectonics
10) Each of Brodmann's areas maps precisely onto a known cognitive, sensory or motor function,
thereby defining the functional organization of the brain - Answers False
11) Brodmann used histology, behavior and cellular recordings to parcellate the brain into 52 regions -
Answers False
12) Broca's patient "Tan" had brain damage in the left inferior frontal cortex, which in him led to
problems with - Answers Speech production
13) Wernicke's patient had brain damage in the left posterior temporal and inferior parietal lobes,
which led to problems with - Answers Language understanding
14) The difference between gray matter and white matter is that gray matter refers to ________,
whereas white matter refers to ________ - Answers neuronal cell bodies / axons
15) The two main divisions of the nervous system are the _____ - Answers central and peripheral
nervous systems.
1) All of the following are advantages of a folded cerebral cortex EXCEPT: - Answers a) ---> the need
for blood vasculature in the cortex is eliminated.
the following are:
b. neural conduction time between regions is reduced.
c. neurons are brought into closer three-dimensional relationships.
d. more cortical surface can be packed into the skull.
17) The temporal lobe likely bears this name because - Answers it lies beneath the area of the scalp
where hair grays with age.
18) The central sulcus is an anatomical landmark that separates the ________ lobe from the
________ lobe - Answers frontal / parietal
19) The Sylvian fissure separates the ______lobe from the ______lobe - Answers temporal / frontal
20) The _____are the crowns of the folded cerebral cortex, while the ____ are the crevices between
the crowns - Answers gryri/sulci
1) All of the following terms refer to the same cortical region that processes visual input EXCEPT:
primary visual cortex = striate cortex= area 17 = V1 - Answers a. striate cortex.
b. area V1.
C --> Heschl's gyrus.
d. Brodmann's area 17.
e. None of the above
, 22) Neurosurgeon Wilder Penfield mapped the human cerebral cortex using - Answers Electrical
stimulation
23) The map of the sensory surface of the body on the cerebral cortex can be represented using a -
Answers Homunculus
24) Points in the visual field that are close together are ____ in the primary visual cortex. - Answers -
Primary visual cortex small receptive field sizes, point by point mapping, retinotopic mapping is this.
Showed audiograph of animal study while they ejected radioactive into their blood. Topographic
mapping of world on visual structures.
Things that are close out in the world are close together in the V1 = retinotopic mapping
close together
25) Following a focal brain injury, a patient shows great difficulty in discriminating tones that differ in
frequency. Which area of the cortex is most likely affected? - Answers The superior temporal lobe
26) It is better to think about _________ when trying to understand the organization of brain
functions - Answers distributed brain systems
27) The central nervous system is composed of - Answers Brain and spinal cord
28) In the human brain, caudal refers to the inferior (ventral) surface of the brain, because it is in the
direction of the tailbone - Answers False
29) If you wanted to view a slice of the brain that contains both hemispheres, the frontal lobes, and
the occipital lobes, what orientation would you need? - Answers Horizontal
30) Parts of the brain where neural activity is relatively high are characterized by - Answers elevated
regional blood flow.
31) You have are interested in a neuron in the occipital lobes that you believe is responsible for
processing information about color. What type of neurophysiological technique would allow you to
assess this hypothesis in a living animal? - Answers Single-cell recording
32) The term ________ is used to describe the situation in which Patient Group 1 is impaired on task X
and unimpaired on task Y, and Patient Group 2 is impaired on task Y and unimpaired on task X -
Answers double dissociation
33) A patient has an injury to the parietal lobe and has a selective deficit in processing information
about the spatial location of visual stimuli. You hypothesize that this region of the brain is distinct in
function from other visual areas in the occipital lobe, in which you suspect color information is
processed. In order to establish the difference between the two functions and brain regions, you
would need to find another person who had damage to the_______ - Answers occipital lobe and had
only a color perception deficit.
34) The technique known as ________ can be used to induce virtual (temporary) lesions in humans -
Answers TMS (transcranial magnetic stimulation)
35) The best tool for studying the timing of brain activity is _________. - Answers EEG
(electroencephalography) and MEG (magnetoencephalography)
36) The best tool for studying the location(s) of brain activity is _________ - Answers fMRI (functional
MRI)
37) Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) is a method for _________ - Answers tracing white matter tracts in
the brain
38) EEG recordings reflect _______ - Answers the activity of large populations of neurons
39) EEG recordings are primarily characterized by their _____ - Answers frequency of oscillation
40) EEG recordings can only be made from the surface of the scalp - Answers False
41) EEG recordings are only useful in studies of healthy persons - Answers False
42) You can do EEG recording on a dog - Answers True
43) You cannot do EEG recordings in a fish, because they do not have EEG. - Answers False
EEG stands for electrical picture gram, of the brain, fish have brains
YOU CAN DO IT ON A FISH F
44) fMRI is a method to detect magnetic fields emitted by the active brain - Answers False
45) Understanding changes in brain blood flow is useful in neuroscience only to understand whether
the whole brain increases or decreases activity during mental processing - Answers False
46) TMS permanently damages brain tissue, and therefore can only be used in patients who already
have neurological problems - Answers False
