FINAL ACTUAL EXAM Question with Verified
Correct Detailed Answers Latest 2025
What is saltatory conduction? --- correct answer ----saltatory conduction is
the "jumping" of an action potential between the unmyelinated nodes of
ranvier
What happens at a synapse? --- correct answer ----When a nerve impulse
reaches the synapse at the end of a neuron, it cannot pass directly to the
next one. Instead, it triggers the neuron to release a chemical
neurotransmitter. The neurotransmitter drifts across the gap between the
two neurons.
What is a neurotransmitter? --- correct answer ----a chemical substance
that is released at the end of a nerve fiber by the arrival of a nerve impulse
and, by diffusing across the synapse or junction, causes the transfer of the
impulse to another nerve fiber, a muscle fiber, or some other structure.
What is the synaptic cleft? --- correct answer ----the space between the
synaptic terminal and the motor end plate
What are meninges? --- correct answer ----membranes that surround the
brain and spinal cord
what are the layers of meninges? --- correct answer ----dura mater,
arachnoid mater, pia mater
What are ventricles? --- correct answer ----four interconnected cavities that
,lie in the cerebral hemispheres and brainstem. filled with CSF and are
continuous with the central canal of the spinal cord.
what is the function of the spinal cord? --- correct answer ----•Center for
spinal reflexes.
• Conduit (pathway) for impulses to and from the brain.
what is a simple reflex? --- correct answer ----A simple, automatic response
to a stimuli
Enables us to respond quickly to stimuli that could
harm us (knee-jerk reflex is an example)
what functional neurons are involved in a simple reflex? --- correct answer
----motor and sensory neurons
What are ascending tracts? --- correct answer ----spinal tracts that conduct
sensory information to the brain
what are descending tracts? --- correct answer ----spinal tracts that
conduct motor commands from the brain via motor neurons and they reach
muscles and glands
What are the lobes of the brain? --- correct answer ----frontal, parietal,
occipital, temporal, insula
What are fissures? --- correct answer ----deep grooves in the brain
what are convolutions? --- correct answer ----The folds of the cerebrum for
more surface area
what are sulci? --- correct answer ----shallow grooves
,what are the basic functions of the cerebrum? --- correct answer ----- Major
processing center of the brain.
- associated with reasoning, planning, parts of speech, movement,
emotions, and problem solving. controls voluntary muscle movements.
Functions of the frontal lobe --- correct answer ----voluntary motor
functions, concentration, verbal communication, decision making, planning,
personality
functions of temporal lobe --- correct answer ----- sensory areas that are
responsible for hearing
- interpret sensory experiences and remember visual scenes, music, and
other complex sensory patterns.
- sense of smell
functions of occipital lobe --- correct answer ----visual processing
functions of parietal lobe --- correct answer ----perception of stimuli
related to touch, pressure, temperature, pain
functions of the insula lobe --- correct answer ----- sensory area for taste
- hard to study because of how deep it is within the cerebrum.
- fMRI scans suggest that the insula serves as a cross roads for
translating sensory information into the appropriate emotional
response.
What is the basal ganglia? --- correct answer ----a group of structures
linked to the thalamus in the base of the brain and involved in coordination
of movement.
What is the diencephalon? --- correct answer ----- thalamus, hypothalamus,
, epithalamus
- posterior forebrain
- located between the cerebral hemispheres and superior to the brainstem
what is the hypothalamus? --- correct answer ----A built-in thermostat and
appetite center and relays messages to the thalamus
what is the function of the hypothalamus? --- correct answer ----- the
hypothalamus is responsible for visceral functions such as hunger/body
weight, thirst, and sex drive
- heart rate & arterial blood pressure
- body temp
- sleep and wakefulness
- production of neurosecretory substances that stimulate pituitary
gland to release hormones that help regulate growth, various glands,
and influence reproductive physiology
- control of movements/glandular secretions for stomach and intestines
What is the thalamus? --- correct answer ----Sensory "relay station."
Sensory info. such as visual/auditory information evaluated here
what is the function of the thalamus? --- correct answer ----- sensory relay
station. smell is the only sense that bypasses the thalamus
- channels sensory impulses to appropriate regions of the cortex for
interpretation
Where is the pituitary gland located? --- correct answer ----sella turcica of
the sphenoid bone
Where is the optic nerve located? --- correct answer ----- medial to the fovea
centralis
- diencephalon