NSC 302 - Exam 1 Questions with Correct Answers Rated A+
Anterior (rostral) - Answers front of brain
Posterior (caudal) - Answers toward the tail
Dorsal - Answers Top/up/back
Ventral - Answers Bottom/down/belly side
Lateral - Answers away from the midline
Medial - Answers toward the midline
4 elements of the CNS - Answers Cerebrum, cerebellum, brain stem, spinal cord
Dorsal root spinal nerve - Answers Carries afferent (sensory) info into the spinal cord
Ventral root spinal nerve - Answers Carries efferent (motor) information from the spinal cord
Dorsal root ganglia - Answers clusters of sensory neuron cell bodies outside the spinal cord
Are the dorsal root ganglia in the somatic or visceral peripheral nervous system? - Answers Somatic
Somatic PNS - Answers The part of the peripheral nervous system that innervates the skin, joints, and
skeletal muscles.
Visceral (autonomic) PNS - Answers Neurons which innervate the internal organs, blood vessels, and
glands; sympathetic division prepares body for action; parasympathetic division prepares body for rest.
Cranial nerves - Answers 12 nerves from brain stem, mostly innervate the head, some from CNS and PNS
3 meninges (from dorsal to ventral) that surround the brain - Answers Dura mater (hard), Arachnoid
membrane, pia mater (soft)
ventricles of the brain - Answers canals and caverns in the brain that contain cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)
Choroid plexus - Answers specialized tissue in ventricles that secretes CSF
Where is CSF reabsorbed? - Answers Subarachnoid space or lymphatic system
CLARITY Visualization Technique - Answers replace lipids in brain with transparent liquid, allows view of
non-lipid structures
CT (computed tomography) - Answers scan a series of X-ray photographs taken from different angles
and combined by computer into a composite representation of a slice of the brain's structure. Quick,
cheap, easy. Does not provide detail
, MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) - Answers Measures how hydrogen atoms respond to perturbations
of strong magnetic field. Signals are mapped by computer to create imagery. More detailed than CT, no
X-irradiation, image from any angle. Time consuming and noisy.
DTI (diffusion tensor imaging) - Answers Detects movement of water molecules in white matter
pathways. Measures connectivity of different parts of the brain, shows where communication is lacking.
PET (positron emission tomography) - Answers Radioactivity creates dynamic image, but very expensive
and resolution is not great
fMRI (functional MRI) - Answers A technique for revealing bloodflow and, therefore, brain activity by
comparing successive MRI scans. fMRI scans show brain function.
3 layers of neural tube and what they become - Answers Endoderm (inside), mesodermal
(muscles/bones), ectoderm (CNS + PNS)
How neural tube forms - Answers Neural plate —> neural groove —> neural tube
What is CNS made from? - Answers Neural tube
What is PNS made from? - Answers neural crest
3 primary brain vesicles - Answers prosencephalon (forebrain), mesenchephalon (midbrain),
rhombencephalon (hindbrain)
3 parts of the forebrain - Answers Telencephalon (cerebral hemispheres, olfactory bulbs, basal
telencephalon), diencephalon (thalamus, hypothalamus), optic vesicles
White Matter Structures of the Forebrain - Answers corpus callosum, cortical white matter, internal
capsule (axons from thalamus to cortex /vice versa pass through here)
Hypothalamus - Answers lies below thalamus, controls autonomic nervous system, balances rest/digest
and fight/flight
Cerebral cortex - Answers Part of forebrain, analyzes sensory input and commands motor output
Thalamus - Answers Part of the forebrain, acts as gateway to the cortex (message stays the same but the
thalamus "words" it differently for other parts of the brain to better understand). Info flows both to and
from cortex through thalamus
midbrain structure-function relationship - Answers axons descending from cortex to brain stem and
spinal cord, conduit of info from spinal cord to forebrain/vice versa (sensory system, movement control)
tectum - Answers part of midbrain, made of superior colliculus (receives sensory info from eye) and
inferior colliculus (receives sensory info from ear)
Anterior (rostral) - Answers front of brain
Posterior (caudal) - Answers toward the tail
Dorsal - Answers Top/up/back
Ventral - Answers Bottom/down/belly side
Lateral - Answers away from the midline
Medial - Answers toward the midline
4 elements of the CNS - Answers Cerebrum, cerebellum, brain stem, spinal cord
Dorsal root spinal nerve - Answers Carries afferent (sensory) info into the spinal cord
Ventral root spinal nerve - Answers Carries efferent (motor) information from the spinal cord
Dorsal root ganglia - Answers clusters of sensory neuron cell bodies outside the spinal cord
Are the dorsal root ganglia in the somatic or visceral peripheral nervous system? - Answers Somatic
Somatic PNS - Answers The part of the peripheral nervous system that innervates the skin, joints, and
skeletal muscles.
Visceral (autonomic) PNS - Answers Neurons which innervate the internal organs, blood vessels, and
glands; sympathetic division prepares body for action; parasympathetic division prepares body for rest.
Cranial nerves - Answers 12 nerves from brain stem, mostly innervate the head, some from CNS and PNS
3 meninges (from dorsal to ventral) that surround the brain - Answers Dura mater (hard), Arachnoid
membrane, pia mater (soft)
ventricles of the brain - Answers canals and caverns in the brain that contain cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)
Choroid plexus - Answers specialized tissue in ventricles that secretes CSF
Where is CSF reabsorbed? - Answers Subarachnoid space or lymphatic system
CLARITY Visualization Technique - Answers replace lipids in brain with transparent liquid, allows view of
non-lipid structures
CT (computed tomography) - Answers scan a series of X-ray photographs taken from different angles
and combined by computer into a composite representation of a slice of the brain's structure. Quick,
cheap, easy. Does not provide detail
, MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) - Answers Measures how hydrogen atoms respond to perturbations
of strong magnetic field. Signals are mapped by computer to create imagery. More detailed than CT, no
X-irradiation, image from any angle. Time consuming and noisy.
DTI (diffusion tensor imaging) - Answers Detects movement of water molecules in white matter
pathways. Measures connectivity of different parts of the brain, shows where communication is lacking.
PET (positron emission tomography) - Answers Radioactivity creates dynamic image, but very expensive
and resolution is not great
fMRI (functional MRI) - Answers A technique for revealing bloodflow and, therefore, brain activity by
comparing successive MRI scans. fMRI scans show brain function.
3 layers of neural tube and what they become - Answers Endoderm (inside), mesodermal
(muscles/bones), ectoderm (CNS + PNS)
How neural tube forms - Answers Neural plate —> neural groove —> neural tube
What is CNS made from? - Answers Neural tube
What is PNS made from? - Answers neural crest
3 primary brain vesicles - Answers prosencephalon (forebrain), mesenchephalon (midbrain),
rhombencephalon (hindbrain)
3 parts of the forebrain - Answers Telencephalon (cerebral hemispheres, olfactory bulbs, basal
telencephalon), diencephalon (thalamus, hypothalamus), optic vesicles
White Matter Structures of the Forebrain - Answers corpus callosum, cortical white matter, internal
capsule (axons from thalamus to cortex /vice versa pass through here)
Hypothalamus - Answers lies below thalamus, controls autonomic nervous system, balances rest/digest
and fight/flight
Cerebral cortex - Answers Part of forebrain, analyzes sensory input and commands motor output
Thalamus - Answers Part of the forebrain, acts as gateway to the cortex (message stays the same but the
thalamus "words" it differently for other parts of the brain to better understand). Info flows both to and
from cortex through thalamus
midbrain structure-function relationship - Answers axons descending from cortex to brain stem and
spinal cord, conduit of info from spinal cord to forebrain/vice versa (sensory system, movement control)
tectum - Answers part of midbrain, made of superior colliculus (receives sensory info from eye) and
inferior colliculus (receives sensory info from ear)
