Neurobiology E50 Midterm Review Questions

1a. What is the basis of the communicating system?

1b. How many estimated neurons and how many
supporting (glial) cells does the brain contain?
1c. What are neurons specialized for? What is the basic
term for this?

a. Neuron
b. 100 billion neurons & several times as many glial
cells
c. Elecltrical signaling over long distances btwn other
neurons. Intercellular communication.

2a. What parts do neurons have that other cells of the

body also have?
2b. What do you see when you stain neurons with Nissl
substance and what do these stained parts do? What
does this imply?
2c. What happens when you stain glial cells with Nissl?
2d. Are cytoskeletal elements proteins too? What do
they do?
3a. What do dendrites do and where do they arise from?
3b. What is the axon hillock?
3c. What kind of dendrites do most neurons have
structurally?
3d. What dendrites the site of? What are they specialized
for?
3e. What is the info carried along the axon in the form
of? Where does AP reach?
3f. Do all neurons have axons? How do they send info?

a. Plasma membrane, nucleus, cytoplasm, and

organelles
b. A lot of ER, which is where proteins are made.
Indicates neurons make lots of proteins
c. They don't get stained as much
d. Yes. They are neurofilaments that help keep
appendages intact; scaffolding

4. What is a golgi stain? What part gets stained?

5a. What are neuroglial cells?
5b. Ratio of glial to nerve cells?
5c. Do neuroglial cells participate directly in electrical
signaling?
5d. What do glial cells do when brain injury results?
6. What are the 4 functions of glial cells?

7. What are the 3 types of glial cells in the CNS and

outside?
8a. Function of astrocytes?

8b. Where are astrocytes restricted to?

8c. What can you stain with to show appendages of
astrocytes?
9a. Function of oligodendrocytes? Equivalent in PNS?
9b. Do they have dendrites?

a. They send and receive info from other neurons.

Arise from neuronal cell body.
b. Where AP are fired from.
c. Multiple dendrites that are usually short and highly
branched
d. Site of contact with other nerve cells. Specialized
for receiving info
e. Self-regenerating electrical info called AP. Reaches
end of axon, synaptic boutons.
f. No. Transmit info locally.
stain is absorbed by very few neurons so not dendrite and
cell body (black center).
a. Non-neuronal cells that have no axons.
b. 3 to 1
c. no
d. Brain injury results in loss of neural cells and thus,
holes. Glial cells divide a lot and fill up the holes
and repairs them with scar tissue.
1) Maintain the ionic milieu of nerve cells by keeping
important ions (K+, Na+, Ca2+, Mg+) at the right
concentrations.
2) Modulate rate of nerve signal propagation by covering
axon with lipid for better transmission
3)Modulate synaptic action by controlling NT uptake
4) Aiding in recovery from neural injury
Astrocytes (no counterpart outside), Oligodendrocytes
(Schwann Cells PNS), Microglial Cells (macrophages outside
CNS)
a) Provide approp chemical env for neuronal signaling,
supports around neuron, and fills in holes in brain from
injury (replaces damaged tissue with scar tissue).
b) Restricted to brain & spinal cord.
c) Glial fibrular protein
a) form myelin around some axons. Schwann cells in PNS
b) no

10a. What are microglial cells? What are they similar to?
10b. Where do they arise from?
11a. What is a neuropil?
11b. What do processing circuits combine into?

12a. Medial?
12b. Lateral?
12c. Proximal?
12d. Distal?
12e. Superficial?
12f. Deep?
12g. Ipsilateral?
12h. Contralateral?
12i. Cephalic/Cranial/Superior?
12j. Caudal/Inferior?
12k. Ventral/Anterior?
12l. Dorsal/Posterior?

a) Help repair neural damage by surveilling for infection

and then use macrophages to remove & repair .
Macrophages.
b) Immune system
a) A neural circuit made up of dense matrix of axons,
dendrites, and their connections
b) Processing circuits combine into systems serving broader
functions (visual system etc)
a. Towards middle
b. Toward the sides
c. Center of body
d. Outer edges of body (ie toes)
e. On skin
f. Inside skin
g. Same side of sagittal plane
h. Opposite side of sagittal plane
i. Towards head
j. Towards feet
k. front of spinal cord (animal, towards stomach/chest)
l. back (humans & animals)

13. Label the following diagram. D is the cut most often used in the _____?

Label diagram on right:

A) _______________, _______________
B)_______________, _______________
C)_______________, _______________
D)_______________, _______________
E)_______________
F)_______________
G)_______________
H)_______________
K)_______________
L)_______________

14. What are the 7 basic parts of the CNS? Label the
following from 1-7. What is 8?
1________________________(__________)
2________________________
3________________________
4________________________
5________________________
6________________________
7________________________
8_________________________

What is this structure?

___________________________

*22a

____________________ *See 20g

15a. What does the Pons do and what is its relationship

with cerebellum?
15b. What about the medulla?
15c. Between what two things and the brain hemisphere
are there lots of communication between?
16a. How much of the brain does the cerebral
hemisphere weigh? Do other animals, non-mammals,
especially have cerebral hemispheres?
16b. How thick is the outer rind of the cerebral
hemisphere? What is it called
16c. Evolutionarily, where is it advantageous to have
control center? Humans grew it where? What about
some mammals?
16d. Evolutionarily, how are older and newer brain parts
organized structurally? Why?
16e. What does the cerebral hemisphere cover,
evolutionarily?
16f. What is oldest part of brain?
16g. What does the cortex contain? How are these things
situated structurally?
16h. What is the significance of the answer to 16g with
respect to white and gray matter?
16i. What are Gyri? Sulci? Fissures?
17a. Evolutionarily, what happened to the temporal lobe
so that we could grow more cortex?
17b. Where is the sylvian (lateral sulcus) located?
17c. Why does the brain have a lot of fat?
17d. Where do arteries come from in the brain?
17e. What about veins and where do they feed? Where is
this located and how does it go back to heart?
17f. Why is the cerebellum striated? How are the axons
situated here?

a) Sends tons of axons to cerebellum via motor axons from

spinal cord to finetune mvmt and have motor coordination
b) Oldest part of brain that is extension of spinal cord
c) brainstem and base of brain
a) 85%. No
b) 2mm. Cerebral cortex

c) over spinal cord. Humans grew it on head. Some

mammals grew it in tail.
d) Things developed in "2D" and layered on top of each
other. 3D would be more difficult to structure.
e) older brain parts
f) Medulla. See 15b.
g) Neurons & glial cells. Neurons have cell body in cortex,
with axons hanging down into brain.
h) Grey matter refers to neuronal body. White matter
refers to myelinated axon (lipid is white) and glial cells.
i) Gyri are the protruding parts, or ridges. Sulci are the
pushed in parts, or valleys. Fissures are very deep sulci.
a) Temporal lobe got squished towards bottom.
b) It is the huge fissure between the temporal lobe and the
occipital and frontal lobes.
c) Lots of lipid because axons covered in lipid.
d) Middle of brain
e) Veins are at top near sinus, which is on the inside on top
of skull. Veins feed into sinus, which goes back to heart.
f) Striations are due to bundles of neurons going across. IN
cerebellum, axons course along top.

18. Label the 4 lobes to the left. Is this the brain from the left or right side?
Quickly sketch it and label the lobes from the opposite side.

19a. What do the cranial nerves connect the brain to?

Only place where they can be seen from?
19b. Temporal lobe is important for what? What 2 other
structures are associated? Is the T lobe connected to the
Frontal lobe?
19c. The olfactory bulb goes through what compared to
other cranial nerves and their respective parts? What
does this have to do with memories?
19d. Why is smell and memories important
evolutionarily?
19e. Why does brain damage affect memory?
19g. Do mammals and children have this "squished" T
lobe? What is squished and susceptible for them?
19h. Lots of nerves come out of ____ and go through
____ to ____?
20a. Which horizontal sulcus extends across middle of the
brain? What is the gyrus BELOW it?
20b. What is the limbic lobe?
20c. Memory and _______ are tightly coupled.
20d. Emotions tell us what from evolutionary pov?
20e. Prefrontal labotomy:
20f. Cingulate gyrus couples what 2 constructs?
20g. What is the papez circuit important for? What is the
actual sequence of the circuit?

20h. The axons in the Pons go in the general direction of

the _____?
21a. Diencephalon?
21b. Dorsal thalamus is the largest component of the __?
21c. Optic chiasm is developed by the _____?
21d. Function of hypothalamus? Location?
21e. The mammillary bodies are part of what structure?
21f. The pituitary gland is the _________?

a) Connects brain to sensory organs and muscles of head.

Ventral surface.
b) Memory. Hippocampus & entorhinal cortex. Temporal &
Frontal lobe not connected & don't communicate.
c) Goes directly through cortex (all else goes through
thalamus). This is why smells trigger memories that other
senses don't.
d) Mammals needed smell for development. Dark
environment.
e) T lobe takes a lot of shock and since memory is here,
brain injury can really damage memory (amnesia).
g) No. So if their brain gets damaged, memory isn't usually
affected. Occipital lobe is squished and susceptible.
h) Come out of brainstem and go through skull to various
senses.
a) Cingulate sulcus. Cingulate gyrus
b) Cingulate gyrus and adjacent cortex
c) Emotions
d) Tell us whats important from evo pov (fire hurts you,
knives are sharp).
e) Psych procedure that reduces a lot of emotional ability
f) Emotions and memory b/c both constructs reach
cingulate gyrus same way
g) Most instrumental memory circuit that is a fundamental
basis for memory formation, emotional basis, and
prioritization. Thalamus --> CG --> hippocampus --> fornex -> mammalary bodies --> repeat.
h) cerebellum
a) Contains thalamus & relays info from other parts of the
brain to the cortex.
b) diencephalon
c) crossing of the optic nerves
d) inferior to thalamus. Maintains homeostasis &
reproductive functions
e) hypothalamus
f) Master gland

22. Labeling & Facts.

a) The Third ventricle feeds _________ into _________ of

the midbrain. Locate third ventricle & blank spaces.
b) Located in dorsal part of diencephalon and brainstem
and place of internal worlds from old brain. It helps with
what? The modern worlds are in ______.
c) Cerebral peduncles are? Locate.
d) Hypothalamus. Locate
e) Mammillary bodies. Locate
23a. The midbrain lies caudal to the ____ and contains
two large fiber bundles called _______.
23b. These large fiber bundles, part of midbrain, go from
___ to ____.
23c. This structure, which is part of the brainstem, lies
caudal to the midbrain.
23d. This is caudal to the pons and contains two
longitudinal prominences near the midline, _____.
23e. This is lateral to the medullary pyramids ____. Both
this and the medullary pyramids are concerned with what
kind of activity?
23f. The superior and inferior colliculi are concerned with
these two things.
23g. Pineal body secretes what?
23h. Diencephalon contains the ___ & ____.
23i. Why are there lots of nerves from brainstem & spinal
cord?
24a. Cerebral cortex is made up of how many layers?
What is this called?
24b. Most of the other structures inside the brain have 34 layers and are collectively called this.
24c. Cortex is made up of ____ matter: ____, ____, and
____ cells.
24d. Axons entering and leaving the cortex form the
_____ matter.
24e. The _____ are the largest structures inside the
hemisphere and contains these 3 things:

a) CSF; cerebral aqueduct

25a. The striatum collectively combines these two:

25b. The _____ (amygdala) is in the base of the forebrain

a) caudate & putamen

b) basal forebrain nuclei

b) Colliculi, which helps orient our head. Modern worlds in

cerebral hemisphere
c) Bundles of axons going from cortex to spinal cord.

a) Diencephalon; cerebral peduncles.

b) cortex to spinal cord.
c) pons
d) medulla; medullary pyramids.
e) inferior olives. motor

f) Superior: eye movement

Inferior: processing of auditory information
g) Melatonin.
h) thalamus & hypothalamus
i) That's how we send/receive info
a) 6; neocortex
b) paleocortex
c) grey matter: neuronal bodies, dendrites, and glial cells.
d) white matter
e) basal ganglia; caudate, globus pallidus, putamen.

and is a collection of neuronal cell bodies.

25c. The ___ is the second biggest structure found inside
the brain and is inside the temporal lobe.
25d. The hippocampus is part of the ______ and is
concerned with __, __, __, ___, etc.
25e. The two hemispheres are interconnected by 3 large
bundles of axons: __, __, and __.

c) Hippocampus
d) limbic system; emotions, feelings, learning, behavior
e) anterior commissure, fornix, corpus callosum

27a. This lies in the vertebral column and consists of 4

regions, which are? The regions innervate what general
areas?

a) spinal cord; cervical, thoracic, lumbar, and sacral.

Cervical deals with arms and neck.
Thoracic deals with thorax.
Lumbar deals with legs & pelvic area.
Sacral deals with back of legs & tailbone.

27b. The _______ nerves that innervate most of body

arise from spinal cord as ______ of nerves.
27c. Since the spinal cord is shorter than the vertebral
column, the remaining portion is a collection of ____
known as the ______. It is the site of ______.
27d. Cauda equina runs from ___. Why are spinal taps
done here?

b) peripheral; 31
c) nerve roots; cauda equina. Spinal tap.

d) L2-L5. So that no dmg is done to spinal cord & nerves here divide here
in an optimal way (holey to put in syringe into) so less chance for nerve
damage.

28a. The spinal cord also consists of ___ & ___ matters.
28b. The gray matter of the SC is divided into 2 things:
28c. The dorsal horns receive ____info that enter SC
through the _____.
28d. The ventral horns contains cell bodies of ______ that
send axons out the _____ to control the _______
muscles.
28e. Once roots leave the vertebrae, they travel together
in the form of ________.
28f. White matter contains axonal bundles called _____.
28g. These columns contain axons that communicate
between cerebral cortex & spinal motor neurons.
28h. These columns carry ascending sensory info to the
brain.
28i. These columns carry both ascending PAIN and TEMP
info and descending MOTOR INFO.
29a. This system is a series of interconnected, fluid-filled
spaces in the core of the brain & brainstem.
29b. The _____ ventricle forms a narrow space between
each thalamus.
29c. The _________ventricles, of which there are ____,
are hidden behind the basal ganglia.
29d. The _____ ventricle is behind the pons and medulla.
It also narrows _____ to form the central canal of the
spinal cord.
29e. The third ventricle is connected to the lateral & 4th
ventricles via the ______ & _______, respectively.
30a. _______ produces CSF, which fills the ventricle.
30b. The pumps that produce CSF, are similar to the ones
in the ______.
30c. ___L is produced/removed per day. This makes it a
very ____ mechanism.
30d. It leaves the brain and enters the____ system and
then goes into the _____ system. Which one removes
CSF?
30e. The CSF serves a few functions including _____ &
____.
30f. What happens when CSF causes the cortex to blow
up and press onto the brainstem & foramen magnum?
30g. What can obstruct flow of CSF?

31a. This barrier protects the brain from the circulatory

system.
31b. The vessels & capillaries of the BBB contain ____
that prevents things from leaving on its own.
31c. Only _____ can get pumped out.
31d. What 3 things can diffuse out? What about
everything else?

a) grey & white

b) dorsal & ventral horns
c) sensory; dorsal roots
d) motor neurons; ventral roots; skeletal muscles

e) spinal nerves
f) columns/pathways
g) lateral columns
h) dorsal column
i) ventral column
a) ventricular system
b) 3rd ventricle
c) lateral; 2
d) 4th ventricle. caudally

e) interventricular foramen; cerebral aqueduct.

a) Choroid plexus
b) kidneys
c) 1/2L; efficient
d) venus; circulatory. circulatory removes CSF.
e) providing a stable environment for the CNS; protection
by cushioning the CNS
f) Pushes vital structure out & will kill you.
g) Tumors & bleeding that causes CSF to clog b/c this
increases cerebral pressure. A shunt placed into the
ventricles and fluid is drained and then re-inserted into the
ventricles.
a) blood brain barrier
b) tight junctions
c) ions
d) lipophilic molecules, water, and gases. Everything else
needs to be pumped out.

32a. What are the 3 meninges that protect the brain?

Order it from outside to inside.
32b. Describe the dura mater.
32c. Describe the arachnoid. What is it important for?
The ____ comes to the arachnoid after leaving the brain?
32d. What is a brain contusion? How does it appen?

32e. It is important that the arachnoid has ___ inside it.

32f. Describe the pia mater.
33g. This space is between the arachnoid and pia mater
and is filled with CSF from the 4th ventricle.
33h. What course through the subarachnoid space?

a) Dura mater, arachnoid, and pia mater.

b) very thick and fibrous tissue
c) very spongy. it is important for cushioning the brain,
which sits in this nice sponge full of CSF. The CSF comes
here after leaving the brain.
d) A brain concussion. Since the brain sits in pressurized
fluid, if you hit the head, the fluid is pushed out from that
part of the arachnoid and you get a brain bruse.
e) CSF
f) thin layer
g) subarachnoid space
h) major arteries of the brain