Chemical
Messengers
Messengers
This neurotransmitter is strongly associated with pleasure, reward, motivation, and movement.
Dopamine
Which endocrine gland produces hormones that are important in regulating metabolism?
Thyroid gland
Which lobe is primarily associated with visual processing?
Occipital lobe
What is the small gap between two neurons across which neurotransmitters travel?
Synaptic cleft
A patient has difficulty understanding spoken language after a brain injury. Which area would be a likely site of damage?
Wernicke's area
Often called the neurotransmitter associated with calming effects, this chemical helps regulate mood, sleep, and appetite. Low levels are associated with depression and anxiety.
Serotonin
A person eats a meal containing a large amount of carbohydrates. Their blood sugar rises, and the body releases a hormone to help regulate it.
Which hormone is involved?
Insulin
A patient develops severe problems with balance and coordinated movement following a brain injury. The hippocampus is therefore the most likely damaged structure.
FALSE — The cerebellum would be a more likely candidate.
What is the term for the rapid change in a neuron's membrane potential that allows an electrical signal to travel along the axon?
Action potential
Broca's area is primarily associated with understanding spoken language.
FALSE — Broca's area is primarily associated with speech production.
After taking a medication that increases the activity of an inhibitory neurotransmitter, a person becomes noticeably calmer and less physically tense. Which neurotransmitter is most likely involved?
GAMMA-AMINOBUTYRIC ACID (GABA)
Maria is about to give a major presentation. Her heart begins beating faster, she becomes more alert, and she suddenly feels a burst of energy.
Which hormone is most directly associated with this immediate response?
Epinephrine (Adrenaline)
Which part of the brain is responsible in the regulation or controls the production of Melatonin?
HYPOTHALAMUS
A neuron is receiving several incoming signals. Its membrane potential changes until it reaches the minimum level needed to trigger an action potential.
What is this minimum level called?
Threshold
A patient develops resting tremors, muscle rigidity, and slowed voluntary movement.
Which disease is most likely associated to these symptoms?
Parkinson's disease
A person has unusually high activity of an excitatory neurotransmitter, potentially causing excessive neuronal activation. Which neurotransmitter could be involved?
Glutamate
Hormones travel only through neurons to communicate with their target cells.
FALSE — hormones are released into the bloodstream and travel to target tissues.
The Limbic System is a complex network of interconnected structures located deep within the brain, that regulates emotions, relay sensory information, long-term memory, basic behavioral drives, and survival instincts.
Question: What are the Four (4) core components of the Limbic System?
Amygdala, Hippocampus, Hypothalamus, Thalamus
There are two (2) ions that are involved in the depolarization and the repolarization phase. What are these ions?
Sodium (Na) - Depolarization phase, primarily enters the neuron
Potassium (K) - Repolarization, primarily leaves the neuron
This is a neurological condition that impairs a person's ability to recognize familiar faces, including those of friends, family members, or even their own reflection. This is otherwise known as "Face Blindness".
PROSOPAGNOSIA
What determines whether a neurotransmitter will have an excitatory or inhibitory effect on a receiving neuron?
Depends on the RECEPTOR it binds to.
A student says, “Epinephrine and cortisol are basically the same because both are stress hormones.”
Is this statement accurate? Explain the difference.
Not exactly. Epinephrine is strongly associated with the immediate fight-or-flight response, while Cortisol is associated with the longer-term stress response.
A patient suffers a traumatic brain injury. After the injury, the patient can still perform many basic physical tasks but becomes noticeably impulsive, socially inappropriate, poor at decision-making, and dramatically different in personality.
Which lobe of the brain is most likely damaged?
Frontal lobe
A student accidentally steps on a sharp object. Sensory receptors detect the painful stimulus. The signal travels toward the spinal cord, where neurons process the information and eventually send a command to the leg muscles.
Question: Identify the sequence of neuron types involved.
Sensory neuron → interneuron → motor neuron
After having his left leg amputated, Carlos repeatedly reports feeling as though his missing foot is still present. He sometimes describes sensations such as tingling, pressure, or even pain in the foot that is no longer physically there.
Question: What phenomenon is Carlos experiencing?
Phantom Limb Phenomenon