Introduction to Behavioral Neuroscience
OpenStax
Chapter 4: Comparative Neuroscience
Multiple Choice
1. Which of the following are reasons a researcher might select a particular model system?
A. Because the species shows an exceptional ability in a behavioral area they want to study
B. Because the species is easy to maintain in a laboratory environment
C. Because the species is phylogenetically closely related to humans
D. All of these*
Bloom’s Level 2. Understanding
2. Homology:
A. is easy to define across species.
B. describes structures evolved from a shared ancestor.*
C. describes structures that share a function across species.
D. is rare between species.
Bloom’s Level 1. Remembering
3. In the claustroamygdala-DVR hypothesis, what consideration drives how homologous
regions of mammalian and avian brain are defined?
A. Which cellular population from development eventually populates the areas.*
B. How the areas connect to other brain regions.
C. The function that the brain regions serve.
D. The physical shape of the brain regions.
Bloom’s Level 2. Understanding
4. Human brains are the largest among animal species.
A. True
B. False*
Bloom’s Level 1. Remembering
5. The cerebral cortex occupies approximately 80% of the brain in humans but the cerebral
cortex only occupies 20% of brain volume in mice. This example demonstrates what about
the cortex?
A. Positive allometry*
B. Field homology
C. Model species
D. None of these
1
, Introduction to Behavioral Neuroscience
OpenStax
Bloom’s Level 2. Understanding
6. The relative size of a brain region:
A. can reflect specialized behavioral functions.
B. can be genetically encoded.
C. can be shaped by experience/environmental exposure.
D. All of these are true.*
Bloom’s Level 2. Understanding
7. If you wanted to trace a neural pathway in adult humans, which technique would be best?
A. Inorganic dyes used on postmortem tissue
B. Tract-tracers injected in the brain region of interest
C. Structural MR imaging
D. Diffusion tensor imaging*
Bloom’s Level 3. Applying
8. What can functional MR imaging allow us to infer about brain regions?
A. Their neuronal activity levels
B. Their neuronal connections between regions
C. Both A and B*
D. Neither A nor B
Bloom’s Level 2. Understanding
9. Tract-tracers:
A. stay within one neuron only.
B. can move through one synaptic junction only.
C. can potentially move through multiple synaptic junctions.*
D. None of these.
Bloom’s Level 2. Understanding
10. Imagine a birth-dating study in a model species. Pregnant mother animals were given a
birth-date marker early in neural development or later. Researchers then looked for the
marker after the offspring were born. Where would the markers be found in cortex, if the
animal followed the same developmental pattern as humans?
A. The offspring that received the marker earlier would have marker in the more outer
layers of cortex, while those that received it later would have the marker in the more inner
layers.
B. The offspring that received the marker earlier would have marker in the more inner
layers of cortex, while those that received it later would have the marker in the more outer
layers.*
2
OpenStax
Chapter 4: Comparative Neuroscience
Multiple Choice
1. Which of the following are reasons a researcher might select a particular model system?
A. Because the species shows an exceptional ability in a behavioral area they want to study
B. Because the species is easy to maintain in a laboratory environment
C. Because the species is phylogenetically closely related to humans
D. All of these*
Bloom’s Level 2. Understanding
2. Homology:
A. is easy to define across species.
B. describes structures evolved from a shared ancestor.*
C. describes structures that share a function across species.
D. is rare between species.
Bloom’s Level 1. Remembering
3. In the claustroamygdala-DVR hypothesis, what consideration drives how homologous
regions of mammalian and avian brain are defined?
A. Which cellular population from development eventually populates the areas.*
B. How the areas connect to other brain regions.
C. The function that the brain regions serve.
D. The physical shape of the brain regions.
Bloom’s Level 2. Understanding
4. Human brains are the largest among animal species.
A. True
B. False*
Bloom’s Level 1. Remembering
5. The cerebral cortex occupies approximately 80% of the brain in humans but the cerebral
cortex only occupies 20% of brain volume in mice. This example demonstrates what about
the cortex?
A. Positive allometry*
B. Field homology
C. Model species
D. None of these
1
, Introduction to Behavioral Neuroscience
OpenStax
Bloom’s Level 2. Understanding
6. The relative size of a brain region:
A. can reflect specialized behavioral functions.
B. can be genetically encoded.
C. can be shaped by experience/environmental exposure.
D. All of these are true.*
Bloom’s Level 2. Understanding
7. If you wanted to trace a neural pathway in adult humans, which technique would be best?
A. Inorganic dyes used on postmortem tissue
B. Tract-tracers injected in the brain region of interest
C. Structural MR imaging
D. Diffusion tensor imaging*
Bloom’s Level 3. Applying
8. What can functional MR imaging allow us to infer about brain regions?
A. Their neuronal activity levels
B. Their neuronal connections between regions
C. Both A and B*
D. Neither A nor B
Bloom’s Level 2. Understanding
9. Tract-tracers:
A. stay within one neuron only.
B. can move through one synaptic junction only.
C. can potentially move through multiple synaptic junctions.*
D. None of these.
Bloom’s Level 2. Understanding
10. Imagine a birth-dating study in a model species. Pregnant mother animals were given a
birth-date marker early in neural development or later. Researchers then looked for the
marker after the offspring were born. Where would the markers be found in cortex, if the
animal followed the same developmental pattern as humans?
A. The offspring that received the marker earlier would have marker in the more outer
layers of cortex, while those that received it later would have the marker in the more inner
layers.
B. The offspring that received the marker earlier would have marker in the more inner
layers of cortex, while those that received it later would have the marker in the more outer
layers.*
2
