This lobe of the cerebral cortex is generally reponsible for executive and higher cognitive function.
The frontal lobe.
Polymodal
True or false? The amygdala plays an essential role in processing rewarding stimuli
True
These ion channels are professional mechanosensors.
Piezo ion channels
What is one behavioral assay for studying sociability in rodents?
Social preference test (Present the animal with a choice of interacting with a social target or a non-social target)
This cortical lobe of the brain houses the hippocampus, and so is important for memory and general sensory integration.
The temporal lobe.
These specialized skin sensory receptors respond to vibration and pressure
Pacinian corpuscles
Which neuromodulator has been found to have an important role in social interactions?
Dopamine
What are two examples of complex behaviors that fruit flys demonstrate?
Freezing response to a looming stimulus; group freeze response; courtship; aggression
What is the difference between optogenetics and chemogenetics?
Optogenetics utilizes light as a way to manipulate neural activity, while chemogenetics involves the use of synthetic drugs and designer receptors
This synaptic protein acts as a ______ sensor and helps facilitate the release of neurotransmitter from synaptic vesicles.
Synaptotagmin; Calcium
A neuron with a large diameter and greater degree of myelination will conduct action potentials _______ (faster or slower?) than a neuron with small diameter and little to no myelination.
Faster
The basal ganglia is located in the ______.
Forebrain
What is the difference between luminance detection and orientation detection?
Detecting light vs. dark and detecting the orientation in space that the stimulus is located
Based on the results from one of our JC papers, how does the vagus nerve regulate the systemic immune response?
Stimulation of the vagus nerves acts as a "brake" on the systemic pro-inflammatory response and maintains homeostasis
Stimulation of this metabotropic receptor coupled with this alpha subunit inhibits adenyl cyclase.
GPCR; G alpha i
Receptive fields are _______ and are typically organized in a _______ fashion.
(location of the stimulus will either promote or inhibit firing)
How do the hippocampus and amygdala work together in the limbic system?
By attaching valence to memories (generating emotional memory)
In a group of Drosophila melanogaster, freezing (cessation of motion) acts as a signal of ______ and movement acts as a signal of ______.
Danger; Safety
Once an action potential reaches a chemical synapse, _____ channels open, beginning the cascade that leads to ______ release.
Voltage-gated Ca2+ channels; neurotransmitter
This phenomenon results from overlapping receptive fields and increases perception of stimuli at edges and borders
Lateral inhibition
True or false: Dopamine signaling in the mesolimbic pathway is simply encoding a rewarding stimulus.
False; dopamine signaling is more complex than only representing a reward! It is also ties to motivation and expectations of reward
Dopamine from the substantia nigra _____ the direct motor pathway and ____ the indirect motor pathway, leading to overall promotion of movement.
activates; inhibits