PSB 3002 EXAM 2 QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
Our senses give us a perfectly accurate snapshot of everything occurring in the external
world, with no distortions or omissions. - Answers -False
Humans can see all possible light wavelengths. - Answers -False
The retina is located at which part of the eye: - Answers -the very back (closest to your
thalamus)
Transduction means: - Answers -converting energy out in the world to a language that
neurons speak
Which of these properties are true of cones: - Answers -they are primarily located in the
center of the retina, they are responsible for clarity, they are responsible for color vision
Which of these cells fires an action potential that is sent directly down the optic nerve?
(by direct, I mean without synapsing on another neuron). - Answers -retinal ganglion
cell
Which of the following is most accurate? - Answers -Vision does not perfectly capture
what is out in the world. And, if some information is distorted (or neglected or
emphasized), that can even happen in the eye itself, before the information gets sent to
the brain.
Select the items about receptive fields of neurons in the visual system that are correct. -
Answers -the retinal ganglion cells with smaller receptive fields are responsible for
things like reading very fine print, the receptive fields of retinal ganglion cells in the
fovea are smaller; receptive fields of retinal ganglion cells in the periphery are larger,
retinal ganglion cells that synapse on more photoreceptors have larger receptive fields
Which of the following are true about the direction of information flow in the visual
system? - Answers -Each eye gets information from both halves (both the left and the
right) of the visual field, Information in the left visual field ends up in the right
hemisphere, The optic chiasm is where some visual information crosses over to the
contralateral hemisphere (while some other information doesn't cross over)
What is the primary (and first) destination of the axons of most of the retinal ganglion
cells? (E.g. where will they synapse on the next neurons in the pathway). - Answers -
the lateral geniculate nucleus of the thalamus
There is only one pathway for visual information in the brain. - Answers -False
Why might people who are blind still be able to use some visual information to guide
their behavior? - Answers -they might have damage to parts of the pathway associated
, with conscious awareness of visual information, but visual information might still be
getting through to other pathways they are not aware of.
A neuron that is orientation-selective would: - Answers -fire the most when a specific
angle is visible, and fire less (or not at all) in response to different angles
Which of these is more consistent with an orientation-selective neuron in V1 (primary
visual cortex), as opposed to somewhere else in the brain? (picture) - Answers -it fires
when it sees a specific angle only in the portion of the visual field it is monitoring? (so
maybe only on Chuck Close's nose, but not his ear)
Which of these is more accurate about the organization of V1 (primary visual cortex)? -
Answers -It has all these little processing units responsible for doing different things, like
responding to different orientations, textures, etc. All the neurons responsible for
monitoring one specific area of space (like part of Chuck Close's nose) live together in
the same part of V1, and inside the part where they live, there are some neurons that
detect one specific orientation (like "/") and there are other neurons that detect other
specific orientations (like "\"). Then, the neurons that are responsible for monitoring
other parts of space (like part of Chuck Close's ear) live in a different part of V1.
Cell A responds to only one exact angle at one exact part of the visual field. Cell B
responds to the same angle as Cell A, but also responds to a few similar angles as well,
even at slightly different locations. Cell A is a ____ and Cell B is a ____. - Answers -
simple cell; complex cell.
All neurons in V1 receive inputs from both the left eye and the right eye, in equal
proportion (e.g. 50/50). - Answers -False
All the visual information coming in from your retinas is sent to all the same areas of
your brain for processing. - Answers -False
You hear someone say: "The brain likes to use hierarchical processing. Frequently, it
figures out simple things first, and those simple things get combined into more
complicated things, and even more complicated things, as information gets further and
further from sensory areas." In terms of the visual system, that person is basically: -
Answers -Correct
In a soccer match, visual processing of the ball that's coming toward you so that your
foot can make contact with it successfully is more of a ____ stream task. - Answers -
dorsal
If you are a neurologist and seeing a patient who had a stroke and is now having trouble
with categorizing the objects in front of them (e.g. that's a cube, that's a hammer), which
part of their visual system would you suspect the stroke had damaged most? - Answers
-ventral
Our senses give us a perfectly accurate snapshot of everything occurring in the external
world, with no distortions or omissions. - Answers -False
Humans can see all possible light wavelengths. - Answers -False
The retina is located at which part of the eye: - Answers -the very back (closest to your
thalamus)
Transduction means: - Answers -converting energy out in the world to a language that
neurons speak
Which of these properties are true of cones: - Answers -they are primarily located in the
center of the retina, they are responsible for clarity, they are responsible for color vision
Which of these cells fires an action potential that is sent directly down the optic nerve?
(by direct, I mean without synapsing on another neuron). - Answers -retinal ganglion
cell
Which of the following is most accurate? - Answers -Vision does not perfectly capture
what is out in the world. And, if some information is distorted (or neglected or
emphasized), that can even happen in the eye itself, before the information gets sent to
the brain.
Select the items about receptive fields of neurons in the visual system that are correct. -
Answers -the retinal ganglion cells with smaller receptive fields are responsible for
things like reading very fine print, the receptive fields of retinal ganglion cells in the
fovea are smaller; receptive fields of retinal ganglion cells in the periphery are larger,
retinal ganglion cells that synapse on more photoreceptors have larger receptive fields
Which of the following are true about the direction of information flow in the visual
system? - Answers -Each eye gets information from both halves (both the left and the
right) of the visual field, Information in the left visual field ends up in the right
hemisphere, The optic chiasm is where some visual information crosses over to the
contralateral hemisphere (while some other information doesn't cross over)
What is the primary (and first) destination of the axons of most of the retinal ganglion
cells? (E.g. where will they synapse on the next neurons in the pathway). - Answers -
the lateral geniculate nucleus of the thalamus
There is only one pathway for visual information in the brain. - Answers -False
Why might people who are blind still be able to use some visual information to guide
their behavior? - Answers -they might have damage to parts of the pathway associated
, with conscious awareness of visual information, but visual information might still be
getting through to other pathways they are not aware of.
A neuron that is orientation-selective would: - Answers -fire the most when a specific
angle is visible, and fire less (or not at all) in response to different angles
Which of these is more consistent with an orientation-selective neuron in V1 (primary
visual cortex), as opposed to somewhere else in the brain? (picture) - Answers -it fires
when it sees a specific angle only in the portion of the visual field it is monitoring? (so
maybe only on Chuck Close's nose, but not his ear)
Which of these is more accurate about the organization of V1 (primary visual cortex)? -
Answers -It has all these little processing units responsible for doing different things, like
responding to different orientations, textures, etc. All the neurons responsible for
monitoring one specific area of space (like part of Chuck Close's nose) live together in
the same part of V1, and inside the part where they live, there are some neurons that
detect one specific orientation (like "/") and there are other neurons that detect other
specific orientations (like "\"). Then, the neurons that are responsible for monitoring
other parts of space (like part of Chuck Close's ear) live in a different part of V1.
Cell A responds to only one exact angle at one exact part of the visual field. Cell B
responds to the same angle as Cell A, but also responds to a few similar angles as well,
even at slightly different locations. Cell A is a ____ and Cell B is a ____. - Answers -
simple cell; complex cell.
All neurons in V1 receive inputs from both the left eye and the right eye, in equal
proportion (e.g. 50/50). - Answers -False
All the visual information coming in from your retinas is sent to all the same areas of
your brain for processing. - Answers -False
You hear someone say: "The brain likes to use hierarchical processing. Frequently, it
figures out simple things first, and those simple things get combined into more
complicated things, and even more complicated things, as information gets further and
further from sensory areas." In terms of the visual system, that person is basically: -
Answers -Correct
In a soccer match, visual processing of the ball that's coming toward you so that your
foot can make contact with it successfully is more of a ____ stream task. - Answers -
dorsal
If you are a neurologist and seeing a patient who had a stroke and is now having trouble
with categorizing the objects in front of them (e.g. that's a cube, that's a hammer), which
part of their visual system would you suspect the stroke had damaged most? - Answers
-ventral
