CBNS 121 Midterm Exam Questions and Answers Latest Update 2025-2026
What is the normal development of the cerebral cortex called? - Answers Inside out
development
What is inside out development? - Answers neurons generated later will migrate farther than
neurons generated earlier
What are the stem cells of the cerebral cortex? - Answers Radial glia
Where are GABA+ cells generated? - Answers the MGE
What type of migration do GABA+ use? - Answers tangential migration
What controls the restriction of progenitor cells? - Answers Extrinsic and intrinsic factors (FGF,
BMP, CNTF)
Function of NFIA - Answers glial promoting transcription factor that is both necessary and
sufficient for the induction of astrocyte genes and represses neurogenesis in progenitor cells
What does the combination of nkx2.2 and Olig1/2 result in? - Answers the creation of
oligodendrocytes by repressing motoneuron fate (repressing Neurog2)
What is the importance of neurogenin, D1l, Hes1? - Answers they must all be present in EQUAL
quantities to maintain the progenitor cells
What does the combination of Notch/Hes5 result in? - Answers promotes a glial fate
What is the Spemann-Mangold Organizer? - Answers a piece of the dorsal lip or blastopore that
produces a signal that changes the cellular behavior of the other tissues around it
What sends the signal to promote dorsal differentiation? - Answers the ectoderm
What is the point of initiation of gastrulation? - Answers when a small invagination forms in the
blastula (called the blastopore)
What produces most of the neurons and glia of the PNS? - Answers the neural crest
What creates the primitive streak? - Answers an invagination of the mesoderm that occurs
during gastrulation
What becomes the neural plate and later, the neural tube? - Answers the ectoderm above the
primitive streak
What is the default fate of the ectoderm cells? - Answers neural tissue
How do noggin, follistatin, and chordin function? - Answers inhibit BMP signaling
, What is the function of Shh, BMP/Wnt in controlling the polarity of the spinal cord? - Answers
Shh and BMP/Wnt set up opposing gradients that controls the polarity AND the amount of
tissue that becomes dorsal, ventral, and intermediate cell fates
What is the signaling molecule that is sufficient to make neural crest markers be expressed? -
Answers Wnt and BMP
What needs to be inhibited to get fates other than neural? - Answers Noggin, follistatin, chordin
What is dpp? - Answers the Drosophila homolog of BMP
Function of atonal - Answers proneural gene that is involved in the internal chordotonal sensory
organs and eye
Function of Sox2 - Answers blocks the effect of neural inducing factors and inhibits nervous
system formation
Function of achaete scute (Asc) - Answers involved in the segregation of of the neuroblasts
from other cells
Function of Sox15 - Answers expressed prior to neural induction and when overexpressed can
cause neural differentiation
Function of Zic1, Zic3 - Answers transcription factors required for neural plate to form
Function of Msx1, slug, snail - Answers genes specifically expressed in dorsal neural tube that
are important for neural crest induction
Function of Hox genes - Answers determine the segmentation and innervation of the
rhombomeres
Function of retinoic acid - Answers regulates Hox gene expression and promotes posterior fate
Function of Dkk (dikkompf) - Answers important in formation of the forebrain and anterior head
structures
What kind of fate does Wnt and BMP promote? - Answers dorsal fate
Histogenesis - Answers the generation of neurons and glia during development
Activators - Answers induce neural tissue with anterior characteristics (BMP inhibitors, FGF
signaling)
Transformers - Answers required to transform a portion of neural tissue to more posterior
structures and regulate the expression of transcription factors that cross repress each other
(RA, Wnt)
Functions of Dkk and cerberus - Answers inhibit Wnt (posterior signals) to help form the head
What is the normal development of the cerebral cortex called? - Answers Inside out
development
What is inside out development? - Answers neurons generated later will migrate farther than
neurons generated earlier
What are the stem cells of the cerebral cortex? - Answers Radial glia
Where are GABA+ cells generated? - Answers the MGE
What type of migration do GABA+ use? - Answers tangential migration
What controls the restriction of progenitor cells? - Answers Extrinsic and intrinsic factors (FGF,
BMP, CNTF)
Function of NFIA - Answers glial promoting transcription factor that is both necessary and
sufficient for the induction of astrocyte genes and represses neurogenesis in progenitor cells
What does the combination of nkx2.2 and Olig1/2 result in? - Answers the creation of
oligodendrocytes by repressing motoneuron fate (repressing Neurog2)
What is the importance of neurogenin, D1l, Hes1? - Answers they must all be present in EQUAL
quantities to maintain the progenitor cells
What does the combination of Notch/Hes5 result in? - Answers promotes a glial fate
What is the Spemann-Mangold Organizer? - Answers a piece of the dorsal lip or blastopore that
produces a signal that changes the cellular behavior of the other tissues around it
What sends the signal to promote dorsal differentiation? - Answers the ectoderm
What is the point of initiation of gastrulation? - Answers when a small invagination forms in the
blastula (called the blastopore)
What produces most of the neurons and glia of the PNS? - Answers the neural crest
What creates the primitive streak? - Answers an invagination of the mesoderm that occurs
during gastrulation
What becomes the neural plate and later, the neural tube? - Answers the ectoderm above the
primitive streak
What is the default fate of the ectoderm cells? - Answers neural tissue
How do noggin, follistatin, and chordin function? - Answers inhibit BMP signaling
, What is the function of Shh, BMP/Wnt in controlling the polarity of the spinal cord? - Answers
Shh and BMP/Wnt set up opposing gradients that controls the polarity AND the amount of
tissue that becomes dorsal, ventral, and intermediate cell fates
What is the signaling molecule that is sufficient to make neural crest markers be expressed? -
Answers Wnt and BMP
What needs to be inhibited to get fates other than neural? - Answers Noggin, follistatin, chordin
What is dpp? - Answers the Drosophila homolog of BMP
Function of atonal - Answers proneural gene that is involved in the internal chordotonal sensory
organs and eye
Function of Sox2 - Answers blocks the effect of neural inducing factors and inhibits nervous
system formation
Function of achaete scute (Asc) - Answers involved in the segregation of of the neuroblasts
from other cells
Function of Sox15 - Answers expressed prior to neural induction and when overexpressed can
cause neural differentiation
Function of Zic1, Zic3 - Answers transcription factors required for neural plate to form
Function of Msx1, slug, snail - Answers genes specifically expressed in dorsal neural tube that
are important for neural crest induction
Function of Hox genes - Answers determine the segmentation and innervation of the
rhombomeres
Function of retinoic acid - Answers regulates Hox gene expression and promotes posterior fate
Function of Dkk (dikkompf) - Answers important in formation of the forebrain and anterior head
structures
What kind of fate does Wnt and BMP promote? - Answers dorsal fate
Histogenesis - Answers the generation of neurons and glia during development
Activators - Answers induce neural tissue with anterior characteristics (BMP inhibitors, FGF
signaling)
Transformers - Answers required to transform a portion of neural tissue to more posterior
structures and regulate the expression of transcription factors that cross repress each other
(RA, Wnt)
Functions of Dkk and cerberus - Answers inhibit Wnt (posterior signals) to help form the head
