SCIENCE OLYMPIAD ANATOMY PHYSIOLOGY
COMPREHENSIVE EXAM 2026/2027 QUESTIONS AND
SOLUTIONS RATED A+
✔✔Somatic nervous system - ✔✔A subdivision of the peripheral nervous system.
Enables voluntary actions to be undertaken due to its control of skeletal muscles
✔✔autonomic nervous system - ✔✔A subdivision of the peripheral nervous system.
Controls involuntary activity of visceral muscles and internal organs and glands.
✔✔sympathetic nervous system - ✔✔The division of the autonomic nervous system that
arouses the body, mobilizing its energy in stressful situations.
✔✔Parasympathetic nervous system - ✔✔the division of the autonomic nervous system
that calms the body, conserving its energy
✔✔Meninges - ✔✔three layers of connective tissue in which the brain and spinal cord
are wrapped
✔✔dura mater - ✔✔thick, outermost layer of the meninges surrounding and protecting
the brain and spinal cord
✔✔arachnoid - ✔✔Weblike middle layer of the three meninges
✔✔pia mater - ✔✔thin, delicate inner membrane of the meninges
✔✔cerebrospinal fluid - ✔✔buffers, nourishes, and detoxifies the brain and spinal cord,
flows through
the subarachnoid space, between the arachnoid mater and the pia mater
✔✔Cerebellum - ✔✔Balance and coordination;
A large structure of the hindbrain that controls fine motor skills.
✔✔Cerebrum - ✔✔conscious activity including
perception, emotion, thought, and planning
✔✔Thalamus - ✔✔A structure in the forebrain through which all sensory information
(except smell) must pass to get to the cerebral cortex. Brain's switchboard
✔✔Medulla - ✔✔vital reflexes as heart beat and respiration
✔✔Brainstem - ✔✔medulla, pons, and midbrain
, ✔✔Hypothalamus - ✔✔involved in regulating activities
internal organs, monitoring information from the
autonomic nervous system, controlling the pituitary gland and its hormones, and
regulating sleep and
appetite
✔✔brain - ✔✔Know labels
✔✔Cerebrum - ✔✔largest portion of the brain
✔✔cerebral cortex - ✔✔gray matter; NO myelin, lack the
insulation or white fatty myelin sheath that
makes most other parts of the brain appear
to be white.
✔✔gyri - ✔✔ridges or SULCI of the cerebral cortex
✔✔Medullary body - ✔✔the white matter of the cerebrum and consists of myelinated
axons
✔✔Basal ganglia - ✔✔masses of gray matter in each hemisphere which are involved in
the control of
voluntary muscle movements
✔✔Lobes of the Cerebrum - ✔✔Know picture
✔✔Lobes of the Cerebrum - ✔✔Frontal - motor area involved in
movement and in planning &
coordinating behavior
• Parietal - sensory processing, attention,
and language
• Temporal - auditory perception, speech,
and complex visual perceptions
• Occipital - visual center - plays a role in
processing visual information
✔✔Broca's area - ✔✔Controls language expression - an area of the frontal lobe, usually
in the left hemisphere, that directs the muscle movements involved in speech.
✔✔Wernicke's area - ✔✔controls language reception - a brain area involved in
language comprehension and expression; usually in the left temporal lobe
✔✔Limbic System - ✔✔A doughnut-shaped system of neural structures at the border of
the brainstem and cerebral hemispheres; associated with emotions. Includes the
hippocampus, amygdala, and hypothalamus.
COMPREHENSIVE EXAM 2026/2027 QUESTIONS AND
SOLUTIONS RATED A+
✔✔Somatic nervous system - ✔✔A subdivision of the peripheral nervous system.
Enables voluntary actions to be undertaken due to its control of skeletal muscles
✔✔autonomic nervous system - ✔✔A subdivision of the peripheral nervous system.
Controls involuntary activity of visceral muscles and internal organs and glands.
✔✔sympathetic nervous system - ✔✔The division of the autonomic nervous system that
arouses the body, mobilizing its energy in stressful situations.
✔✔Parasympathetic nervous system - ✔✔the division of the autonomic nervous system
that calms the body, conserving its energy
✔✔Meninges - ✔✔three layers of connective tissue in which the brain and spinal cord
are wrapped
✔✔dura mater - ✔✔thick, outermost layer of the meninges surrounding and protecting
the brain and spinal cord
✔✔arachnoid - ✔✔Weblike middle layer of the three meninges
✔✔pia mater - ✔✔thin, delicate inner membrane of the meninges
✔✔cerebrospinal fluid - ✔✔buffers, nourishes, and detoxifies the brain and spinal cord,
flows through
the subarachnoid space, between the arachnoid mater and the pia mater
✔✔Cerebellum - ✔✔Balance and coordination;
A large structure of the hindbrain that controls fine motor skills.
✔✔Cerebrum - ✔✔conscious activity including
perception, emotion, thought, and planning
✔✔Thalamus - ✔✔A structure in the forebrain through which all sensory information
(except smell) must pass to get to the cerebral cortex. Brain's switchboard
✔✔Medulla - ✔✔vital reflexes as heart beat and respiration
✔✔Brainstem - ✔✔medulla, pons, and midbrain
, ✔✔Hypothalamus - ✔✔involved in regulating activities
internal organs, monitoring information from the
autonomic nervous system, controlling the pituitary gland and its hormones, and
regulating sleep and
appetite
✔✔brain - ✔✔Know labels
✔✔Cerebrum - ✔✔largest portion of the brain
✔✔cerebral cortex - ✔✔gray matter; NO myelin, lack the
insulation or white fatty myelin sheath that
makes most other parts of the brain appear
to be white.
✔✔gyri - ✔✔ridges or SULCI of the cerebral cortex
✔✔Medullary body - ✔✔the white matter of the cerebrum and consists of myelinated
axons
✔✔Basal ganglia - ✔✔masses of gray matter in each hemisphere which are involved in
the control of
voluntary muscle movements
✔✔Lobes of the Cerebrum - ✔✔Know picture
✔✔Lobes of the Cerebrum - ✔✔Frontal - motor area involved in
movement and in planning &
coordinating behavior
• Parietal - sensory processing, attention,
and language
• Temporal - auditory perception, speech,
and complex visual perceptions
• Occipital - visual center - plays a role in
processing visual information
✔✔Broca's area - ✔✔Controls language expression - an area of the frontal lobe, usually
in the left hemisphere, that directs the muscle movements involved in speech.
✔✔Wernicke's area - ✔✔controls language reception - a brain area involved in
language comprehension and expression; usually in the left temporal lobe
✔✔Limbic System - ✔✔A doughnut-shaped system of neural structures at the border of
the brainstem and cerebral hemispheres; associated with emotions. Includes the
hippocampus, amygdala, and hypothalamus.
