NSC Exam Questions with 100%
Complete Solutions (Latest Update)
What connects the two hemispheres of the brain? - Answer-cerebral commissures
What is the procedure that separated the two brain hemispheres? - Answer-
commissurotomy
Aphasia - Answer-brain damage-induced deficit in the ability to produce or comprehend
language
What did Broca discover in his research? - Answer-He discovered that all the aphasic
patients that he saw had damage to their inferior prefrontal cortex. This became known
as "Broca's Area"
What is apraxia? What causes it? - Answer-the inability to perform certain movements
when requested our of context (even though they may be physically able to perform
them
Almost always caused by left-hemisphere damage
What is the theory of cerebral dominance? What thinking did it lead to? - Answer-One
hemisphere (usually the left) assumes a dominant role in controlling complex cognitive
and motor functions
This was supported by the fact that aphasia and apraxia are both caused by damage to
the left hemisphere
It led to people referring to the left hemisphere as the "dominant hemisphere" and the
right as the "minor hemisphere"
What are three tests used to assess the lateralization of the brain besides lesioning the
brain? - Answer-1) sodium amytal test
2) the dichotic listening test
3) functional brain imaging
sodium amytal test - Answer-injection is given through the carotid artery which
anesthetizes that hemisphere of the brain, allowing the function of the other side to be
assessed
Neurosurgeons will use it to see which side of the brain is responsible to language
dichotic listening test - Answer-three pairs of spoken digits are played into both ears
simultaneously (e.g. 1,3,6 in the right and 2,4,8 in the left)
,They have found that people report hearing more of the digits played in their right ear
What is the difference between dextrals and sinestrals with brain lateralization? How do
we know? - Answer-Dextrals almost always have language lateralized to the left, and
sinestrals usually do, but it is more variable
We have conformed this from Na amytal tests
Are males' brains more lateralized than females? - Answer-The evidence is mixed.
Males have been seen to suffer more consequences from unilateral strokes, but
functional brain imaging has not been able to show increased lateralization
What is the largest cerebral commissure? - Answer-corpus callosum
What 3 things did Meyers and Sperry do to restrict visual info to only one eye? -
Answer-1) they cut the corpus callosum
- this prevents the hemispheres from communicating
2) the cut the optic chiasm
- this prevents signals from the nasal hemiretina from crossing over
3) they blindfolded one eye
- this blocked both visual fields in that eye
What did Meyers and Sperry find was produced in cats when the optic chiasm was cut?
- Answer-scotoma (an area of blindness)
What did Meyers and Sperry find in they experiment with cats? What was their
conclusion? - Answer-They found that, in the control group, the cats were unaffected
when the eye patch was switched to the other eye. However, the cats went back to zero
if their optic chiasm and corpus callosum has been severed
They concluded from this that they corpus callosum transfers info between the two
hemispheres.
What is a common treatment for severe seizures? - Answer-commissurotomy of the
corpus callosum
If an apple was shown in the left visual field of a split brain patient, how could they
identify it? How could they not identify it? - Answer-The patient would be unable to
verbally identify the apple because the right hemisphere is not involved in speech.
Therefore, they would say that they didn't see anything.
However, they could reach under the table and identify a matching object with their left
hand, because it is also controlled by the right hemisphere
, What is cross-cuing? Give an example - Answer-Cross-cuing is where the two brain
hemispheres can communicate indirectly through an external route.
Ex) if a split brain patient is shown either red, or green in their left visual field, they
perform no better than chance at guessing the color. However, if they pick the wrong
color, their right hemisphere initiates a frown or some other negative response because
it knows the verbal response was incorrect, which prompts the left hemisphere to
change its response
What is the helping-hand phenomenon - Answer-In some experiments, split-brain
patients are shown two different things in each visual field and told to grab the object
that was shown. The patient tries to grab what was seen by the left hemisphere with the
right hand, the right hemisphere sees it and thinks a mistake is being made, so the left
hand reaches out and tries to stop the other hand.
What is the chimeric figures test? - Answer-Split brain patients are shown a picture of
two different peoples' faces combined to make one face. The patient is then asked to
describe what they see, and they claim to see a normal, complete face based on the
half from the right visual field (left hemisphere). Basically, both hemispheres see
normal, complete pictures of faces, rather than the combination
What is a Z lens? How is it used? - Answer-A Z lens is a contact lens that is opaque on
one half, so split brain patients can look at visual stimuli for longer than 0.1 seconds and
not have signals go into the other visual field.
The Z lens can be used to allow patients to assess complex visual stimuli like text, or
even auditory stimuli. The latter works because a patient may hear an auditory
command like "pick up the green ball" but then they are only able to see the different
colors with one visual field due to the Z lens
Can the hemispheres of split-brain patients ever communicate? Give evidence for or
against - Answer-Yes. Patients who are shown an emotional image in their left visual
field (right hemisphere) can often verbally respond with the correct emotional response
when asked.
What is the most lateralized of all brain functions? - Answer-Language
Language sounds, speech, reading, writing, and verbal memory are all primarily
lateralized to the ______ hemisphere - Answer-Left hemisphere
Facial recognition, geometry, recognizing geometric patterns, and mental rotations of
shapes are all primarily lateralized to the _____ hemisphere - Answer-Right hemisphere
Recognizing emotional facial expressions and expressing emotional content is primarily
lateralized to the _____ hemisphere - Answer-Right
Complete Solutions (Latest Update)
What connects the two hemispheres of the brain? - Answer-cerebral commissures
What is the procedure that separated the two brain hemispheres? - Answer-
commissurotomy
Aphasia - Answer-brain damage-induced deficit in the ability to produce or comprehend
language
What did Broca discover in his research? - Answer-He discovered that all the aphasic
patients that he saw had damage to their inferior prefrontal cortex. This became known
as "Broca's Area"
What is apraxia? What causes it? - Answer-the inability to perform certain movements
when requested our of context (even though they may be physically able to perform
them
Almost always caused by left-hemisphere damage
What is the theory of cerebral dominance? What thinking did it lead to? - Answer-One
hemisphere (usually the left) assumes a dominant role in controlling complex cognitive
and motor functions
This was supported by the fact that aphasia and apraxia are both caused by damage to
the left hemisphere
It led to people referring to the left hemisphere as the "dominant hemisphere" and the
right as the "minor hemisphere"
What are three tests used to assess the lateralization of the brain besides lesioning the
brain? - Answer-1) sodium amytal test
2) the dichotic listening test
3) functional brain imaging
sodium amytal test - Answer-injection is given through the carotid artery which
anesthetizes that hemisphere of the brain, allowing the function of the other side to be
assessed
Neurosurgeons will use it to see which side of the brain is responsible to language
dichotic listening test - Answer-three pairs of spoken digits are played into both ears
simultaneously (e.g. 1,3,6 in the right and 2,4,8 in the left)
,They have found that people report hearing more of the digits played in their right ear
What is the difference between dextrals and sinestrals with brain lateralization? How do
we know? - Answer-Dextrals almost always have language lateralized to the left, and
sinestrals usually do, but it is more variable
We have conformed this from Na amytal tests
Are males' brains more lateralized than females? - Answer-The evidence is mixed.
Males have been seen to suffer more consequences from unilateral strokes, but
functional brain imaging has not been able to show increased lateralization
What is the largest cerebral commissure? - Answer-corpus callosum
What 3 things did Meyers and Sperry do to restrict visual info to only one eye? -
Answer-1) they cut the corpus callosum
- this prevents the hemispheres from communicating
2) the cut the optic chiasm
- this prevents signals from the nasal hemiretina from crossing over
3) they blindfolded one eye
- this blocked both visual fields in that eye
What did Meyers and Sperry find was produced in cats when the optic chiasm was cut?
- Answer-scotoma (an area of blindness)
What did Meyers and Sperry find in they experiment with cats? What was their
conclusion? - Answer-They found that, in the control group, the cats were unaffected
when the eye patch was switched to the other eye. However, the cats went back to zero
if their optic chiasm and corpus callosum has been severed
They concluded from this that they corpus callosum transfers info between the two
hemispheres.
What is a common treatment for severe seizures? - Answer-commissurotomy of the
corpus callosum
If an apple was shown in the left visual field of a split brain patient, how could they
identify it? How could they not identify it? - Answer-The patient would be unable to
verbally identify the apple because the right hemisphere is not involved in speech.
Therefore, they would say that they didn't see anything.
However, they could reach under the table and identify a matching object with their left
hand, because it is also controlled by the right hemisphere
, What is cross-cuing? Give an example - Answer-Cross-cuing is where the two brain
hemispheres can communicate indirectly through an external route.
Ex) if a split brain patient is shown either red, or green in their left visual field, they
perform no better than chance at guessing the color. However, if they pick the wrong
color, their right hemisphere initiates a frown or some other negative response because
it knows the verbal response was incorrect, which prompts the left hemisphere to
change its response
What is the helping-hand phenomenon - Answer-In some experiments, split-brain
patients are shown two different things in each visual field and told to grab the object
that was shown. The patient tries to grab what was seen by the left hemisphere with the
right hand, the right hemisphere sees it and thinks a mistake is being made, so the left
hand reaches out and tries to stop the other hand.
What is the chimeric figures test? - Answer-Split brain patients are shown a picture of
two different peoples' faces combined to make one face. The patient is then asked to
describe what they see, and they claim to see a normal, complete face based on the
half from the right visual field (left hemisphere). Basically, both hemispheres see
normal, complete pictures of faces, rather than the combination
What is a Z lens? How is it used? - Answer-A Z lens is a contact lens that is opaque on
one half, so split brain patients can look at visual stimuli for longer than 0.1 seconds and
not have signals go into the other visual field.
The Z lens can be used to allow patients to assess complex visual stimuli like text, or
even auditory stimuli. The latter works because a patient may hear an auditory
command like "pick up the green ball" but then they are only able to see the different
colors with one visual field due to the Z lens
Can the hemispheres of split-brain patients ever communicate? Give evidence for or
against - Answer-Yes. Patients who are shown an emotional image in their left visual
field (right hemisphere) can often verbally respond with the correct emotional response
when asked.
What is the most lateralized of all brain functions? - Answer-Language
Language sounds, speech, reading, writing, and verbal memory are all primarily
lateralized to the ______ hemisphere - Answer-Left hemisphere
Facial recognition, geometry, recognizing geometric patterns, and mental rotations of
shapes are all primarily lateralized to the _____ hemisphere - Answer-Right hemisphere
Recognizing emotional facial expressions and expressing emotional content is primarily
lateralized to the _____ hemisphere - Answer-Right
