PSYCH 1XX3 STUDY GUIDE EXAM 2026/2027 QUESTIONS
AND SOLUTIONS RATED A+
✔✔Wernrickes area - ✔✔Left temporal gyrus
language comprehension
✔✔Corpus Callosum - ✔✔2 hemispheres communicate through thick bundle of axons
Passes through center of brain, info from one sign to another
Sensory motor info crosses over fro one side of the brain to the contralateral or opposite
side of the brain through the thalamus
✔✔Split brain syndrome - ✔✔Sperry + Gazzaniga
Severed corpus callosum
Experiences 2 independently operating hemispheres
Relatively unaffected bc stimuli is perceived bilaterally
Cup in left visual field> cannot name object, but can feel object
Language processed in left hemisphere
Spatial tasks in the right
Tasks preferentially processed by the left hemisphere will be better performed when the
info is presented to the right side of the body/visual
✔✔Neuraxis - ✔✔Line along spinal cord through front of brain
✔✔Franz Joseph Gall's theory of phrenology - ✔✔Different brain functions were located
in different areas
Different mental attrributes were located in different suborgans
Believed growth can be measured by shape of skull
✔✔Ablation studies - ✔✔removal of parts of animals brains
✔✔Intracellular recordings - ✔✔taken from inside a cell measuring the voltage/current
across cell membrane
✔✔Extracellular recordings - ✔✔taken from outside the cell to measure the electrical
activity adjacent to the electrode tip
✔✔Place cells - ✔✔some cells only fire when in certain area
(Rat in certain area of cage)
Argued that cognitive map is located in hippocampus
✔✔X-Ray CT (computed tomography) - ✔✔STRUCTURAL NEUROIMAGING
Head placed in a ring containing x-ray emitter/detector on opposite sides of patients
head
Ring rotates as emitter passes x-rays through the patient's head to the detector,
recorded from all angles
,Used to distinguish diff tissue types
WILL NOT SHOW TUMORS, unless large enough to distort the structure
✔✔MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) - ✔✔STRUCTURAL NEUROIMAGING
Large ring
Very strong magnetic field
Tissue excited by radio frequency pulse, molecules in the body will vibrate at a certain
rate, emitting their own radio frequency
An antenna called headcoil picks up these radio waves, and the computer decodes this
info
Produces exquisitely detailed pictures of different slices of the brain
Can differentiate tissue types (grey, white matter)
✔✔PET scan (positron Emission Tomography) - ✔✔FUNCTIONAL NEUROIMAGING
Measure the amount of glucose consumed by a particular area, lets us know how active
this area is (neurons firing etc)
Person is injected with midly radioactive form of glucose
Radionuclide- Isotope with very short half life
Emits 2 positrons that shoot in opposite directions as it decays
Ring of detector around patients head, detects the positrons and computer calulates
location of emission, amount of glucose used
Typically overlaid an MRI image
Production of radionuclide is expensive- requires an atomic particle accelerator
Not completely invasive
Minimal cancer risk
✔✔FMRI (Functional MRI) - ✔✔FUNCTIONAL NEUROIMAGING
Highly active neurons require oxygen
Carried to area via blood supply from the lungs
When an area of the brain is activated, the capillaries supplying blood to the area will
dilate and the blood supply to the area will increase (after about 3-5 sec)
Oxygen molecules attached to the hemoglobin in the blood are then used up
This leads to slight changed in the magnetic properties of the blood
Responses recorded by MRI, measures amount of activity
Very detailed images of brain activation
Very short brain events are difficult to measure
Indirect measure of neural activity, thus measurements may be influenced by NON
neural activity
Limited specific functional localization information
✔✔Electroencephalogram (EEG) - ✔✔AP produces small amount of electrical current
that can be measured from outside the cell
Collected fro, an array of electrodes attached to the scalp
Used to diagnose epilepsy/brain injuries
Difficult to distinguish the brain activity caused by particular event
ERP (Event related potential) combats this
,EEG over tens/hundreds of trials + averaging the activity
Background activity becomes greatly attentuated and electrical activity evoked by the
stimulus is revealed
Can measure very short brain responses
Much less expensive
✔✔Cerebrospinal Fluid - ✔✔Loosely attached to the skull by a network of filaments
called arachnoid trabeculae
Extends down into the spinal cord, up into the center of the brain through a system of
interconnected chambers (ventricles)
500mL of fresh CSF is secreted into the ventricles by special cells in its lining, flows
through a network tube reabsorbed by other cells between brain/skull
CSF also serves to rinse metabolic waste out of CNS
✔✔Hindbrain Structures - ✔✔Myelencephelon: medulla/oblongata+metencephalon
Metencephalon:
Cerebellum/pons
✔✔Cerebellum Anatomy/function - ✔✔2 Hemispheres + deeply folded surface
Recieves info from almost all the senses + somatosensory (visual, auditory,
vestibular>touch, positions of joints)
Recieves info about all individual muscle movements
Function is to produce corrections to these movements by taking into account info from
senses
If damaged, almost all motor activity is impaired
✔✔Pons Anatomy/function - ✔✔Appears to be bulge on ventral surface rear top of
brainstem
Above medulla, below midbrain
Core of the pons is part of the reticular formation
Pons contains groups of relay nuclei that pass signals to cerebellum from higher brain
centers + nuclei involved in sleep, respiration + eye movement
✔✔Medulla Anatomy/function - ✔✔Forms one of the centres involved in the control of
the ANS
Controls respiration, taking signals about the amount of oxygen in the blood from
special receptors in the carotid artery + using these signals to control respiratory rate
Regulates heart rate, contains centres that control reflexes such as
swallowing/sneezing/vomiting
✔✔Reticular Formation - ✔✔Ascending through the middle of the medulla/pons, further
up through the brainstem to the thalamus
Control the general arousal of the brain, particularly the cerebral hemispheres
Sleep/wakefulness, sexual arousal, ability to concentrate
Damage may cause loss of consciousness/become comatose
, ✔✔Midbrain (mesencephelon) - ✔✔Rostral to pons
Chamber filled with Cerebrospinal Fluid, the cerebral aqueduct, runs through the centre
of the midbrain, joining 3rd/4th ventricle
✔✔Tectum Anatomy/function - ✔✔Dorsal side of the midbrain
Contains centres for both auditory/visual processing
Visual area-> superior colliculus->eye movements/visual reflexes + reactions to moving
stimuli
✔✔Tegmentum Anatomy/function - ✔✔Ventral side
Contains some of the nuclei of Reticular formation, red nucleus, substania nigra
(important components of motor system)
Substantia nigra appears darker because of high melanin
Degradation of neurons in this area can lead to Parkinson's, tremors, rigidity
Neurons in this area secrete dopamine
Red nucleus has partial control over gait, controlling arm swing/crawling
✔✔The forebrain - ✔✔Telencephalon-> cerebral cortex
Diencephalon-> between telencephalon/midbrain
✔✔Hypothalamus Anatomy/function - ✔✔Just above brainstem, under the thalamus
Controls/organizes behaviours of ANS (Survival)
Four F'S
Urinary control, thirst/hunger, shivering
Secretes hormones that control the activity of pituitary gland-> main link between
nervous/endocrine system
✔✔Pituitary gland - ✔✔System of blood vessels (pituitary stalk) connects hypothalamus
to tiny endocrine gland that protrudes from base of hypothalamus
Cells in hypothalamus secrete hormones that stimulate pituitary gland to release its own
hormones
These hormones lead other glands in endocrine system to release their hormones
(Master gland)
Hormones secreted by the posterior pituitary gland are produced by the hypothalamus
(oxytocin) -> maternal behaviours/sexual orgasm
Vasopressin-> regulates water, glucose, salt in the blood
Anterior pituitary synthesizes hormones under control of the hormones released in
hypothalamus
Thyroxin-> controls rate of many metabolic processes
✔✔Thalamus Anatomy/structure - ✔✔Dorsal portion of diencephalon, middle of cerebral
hemispheres
Symmetrical structure, left/right lobe with identical nuclei
Relay station between all sensory systems and cerebral cortex (exp. olfaction)
Preliminary processing of the info of cortex
AND SOLUTIONS RATED A+
✔✔Wernrickes area - ✔✔Left temporal gyrus
language comprehension
✔✔Corpus Callosum - ✔✔2 hemispheres communicate through thick bundle of axons
Passes through center of brain, info from one sign to another
Sensory motor info crosses over fro one side of the brain to the contralateral or opposite
side of the brain through the thalamus
✔✔Split brain syndrome - ✔✔Sperry + Gazzaniga
Severed corpus callosum
Experiences 2 independently operating hemispheres
Relatively unaffected bc stimuli is perceived bilaterally
Cup in left visual field> cannot name object, but can feel object
Language processed in left hemisphere
Spatial tasks in the right
Tasks preferentially processed by the left hemisphere will be better performed when the
info is presented to the right side of the body/visual
✔✔Neuraxis - ✔✔Line along spinal cord through front of brain
✔✔Franz Joseph Gall's theory of phrenology - ✔✔Different brain functions were located
in different areas
Different mental attrributes were located in different suborgans
Believed growth can be measured by shape of skull
✔✔Ablation studies - ✔✔removal of parts of animals brains
✔✔Intracellular recordings - ✔✔taken from inside a cell measuring the voltage/current
across cell membrane
✔✔Extracellular recordings - ✔✔taken from outside the cell to measure the electrical
activity adjacent to the electrode tip
✔✔Place cells - ✔✔some cells only fire when in certain area
(Rat in certain area of cage)
Argued that cognitive map is located in hippocampus
✔✔X-Ray CT (computed tomography) - ✔✔STRUCTURAL NEUROIMAGING
Head placed in a ring containing x-ray emitter/detector on opposite sides of patients
head
Ring rotates as emitter passes x-rays through the patient's head to the detector,
recorded from all angles
,Used to distinguish diff tissue types
WILL NOT SHOW TUMORS, unless large enough to distort the structure
✔✔MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) - ✔✔STRUCTURAL NEUROIMAGING
Large ring
Very strong magnetic field
Tissue excited by radio frequency pulse, molecules in the body will vibrate at a certain
rate, emitting their own radio frequency
An antenna called headcoil picks up these radio waves, and the computer decodes this
info
Produces exquisitely detailed pictures of different slices of the brain
Can differentiate tissue types (grey, white matter)
✔✔PET scan (positron Emission Tomography) - ✔✔FUNCTIONAL NEUROIMAGING
Measure the amount of glucose consumed by a particular area, lets us know how active
this area is (neurons firing etc)
Person is injected with midly radioactive form of glucose
Radionuclide- Isotope with very short half life
Emits 2 positrons that shoot in opposite directions as it decays
Ring of detector around patients head, detects the positrons and computer calulates
location of emission, amount of glucose used
Typically overlaid an MRI image
Production of radionuclide is expensive- requires an atomic particle accelerator
Not completely invasive
Minimal cancer risk
✔✔FMRI (Functional MRI) - ✔✔FUNCTIONAL NEUROIMAGING
Highly active neurons require oxygen
Carried to area via blood supply from the lungs
When an area of the brain is activated, the capillaries supplying blood to the area will
dilate and the blood supply to the area will increase (after about 3-5 sec)
Oxygen molecules attached to the hemoglobin in the blood are then used up
This leads to slight changed in the magnetic properties of the blood
Responses recorded by MRI, measures amount of activity
Very detailed images of brain activation
Very short brain events are difficult to measure
Indirect measure of neural activity, thus measurements may be influenced by NON
neural activity
Limited specific functional localization information
✔✔Electroencephalogram (EEG) - ✔✔AP produces small amount of electrical current
that can be measured from outside the cell
Collected fro, an array of electrodes attached to the scalp
Used to diagnose epilepsy/brain injuries
Difficult to distinguish the brain activity caused by particular event
ERP (Event related potential) combats this
,EEG over tens/hundreds of trials + averaging the activity
Background activity becomes greatly attentuated and electrical activity evoked by the
stimulus is revealed
Can measure very short brain responses
Much less expensive
✔✔Cerebrospinal Fluid - ✔✔Loosely attached to the skull by a network of filaments
called arachnoid trabeculae
Extends down into the spinal cord, up into the center of the brain through a system of
interconnected chambers (ventricles)
500mL of fresh CSF is secreted into the ventricles by special cells in its lining, flows
through a network tube reabsorbed by other cells between brain/skull
CSF also serves to rinse metabolic waste out of CNS
✔✔Hindbrain Structures - ✔✔Myelencephelon: medulla/oblongata+metencephalon
Metencephalon:
Cerebellum/pons
✔✔Cerebellum Anatomy/function - ✔✔2 Hemispheres + deeply folded surface
Recieves info from almost all the senses + somatosensory (visual, auditory,
vestibular>touch, positions of joints)
Recieves info about all individual muscle movements
Function is to produce corrections to these movements by taking into account info from
senses
If damaged, almost all motor activity is impaired
✔✔Pons Anatomy/function - ✔✔Appears to be bulge on ventral surface rear top of
brainstem
Above medulla, below midbrain
Core of the pons is part of the reticular formation
Pons contains groups of relay nuclei that pass signals to cerebellum from higher brain
centers + nuclei involved in sleep, respiration + eye movement
✔✔Medulla Anatomy/function - ✔✔Forms one of the centres involved in the control of
the ANS
Controls respiration, taking signals about the amount of oxygen in the blood from
special receptors in the carotid artery + using these signals to control respiratory rate
Regulates heart rate, contains centres that control reflexes such as
swallowing/sneezing/vomiting
✔✔Reticular Formation - ✔✔Ascending through the middle of the medulla/pons, further
up through the brainstem to the thalamus
Control the general arousal of the brain, particularly the cerebral hemispheres
Sleep/wakefulness, sexual arousal, ability to concentrate
Damage may cause loss of consciousness/become comatose
, ✔✔Midbrain (mesencephelon) - ✔✔Rostral to pons
Chamber filled with Cerebrospinal Fluid, the cerebral aqueduct, runs through the centre
of the midbrain, joining 3rd/4th ventricle
✔✔Tectum Anatomy/function - ✔✔Dorsal side of the midbrain
Contains centres for both auditory/visual processing
Visual area-> superior colliculus->eye movements/visual reflexes + reactions to moving
stimuli
✔✔Tegmentum Anatomy/function - ✔✔Ventral side
Contains some of the nuclei of Reticular formation, red nucleus, substania nigra
(important components of motor system)
Substantia nigra appears darker because of high melanin
Degradation of neurons in this area can lead to Parkinson's, tremors, rigidity
Neurons in this area secrete dopamine
Red nucleus has partial control over gait, controlling arm swing/crawling
✔✔The forebrain - ✔✔Telencephalon-> cerebral cortex
Diencephalon-> between telencephalon/midbrain
✔✔Hypothalamus Anatomy/function - ✔✔Just above brainstem, under the thalamus
Controls/organizes behaviours of ANS (Survival)
Four F'S
Urinary control, thirst/hunger, shivering
Secretes hormones that control the activity of pituitary gland-> main link between
nervous/endocrine system
✔✔Pituitary gland - ✔✔System of blood vessels (pituitary stalk) connects hypothalamus
to tiny endocrine gland that protrudes from base of hypothalamus
Cells in hypothalamus secrete hormones that stimulate pituitary gland to release its own
hormones
These hormones lead other glands in endocrine system to release their hormones
(Master gland)
Hormones secreted by the posterior pituitary gland are produced by the hypothalamus
(oxytocin) -> maternal behaviours/sexual orgasm
Vasopressin-> regulates water, glucose, salt in the blood
Anterior pituitary synthesizes hormones under control of the hormones released in
hypothalamus
Thyroxin-> controls rate of many metabolic processes
✔✔Thalamus Anatomy/structure - ✔✔Dorsal portion of diencephalon, middle of cerebral
hemispheres
Symmetrical structure, left/right lobe with identical nuclei
Relay station between all sensory systems and cerebral cortex (exp. olfaction)
Preliminary processing of the info of cortex
