SHS 485 FINAL EXAM QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
What is gray matter? - Answer -a collection of cell bodies (nuclei) that are organized
around function
What is white matter? - Answer -it is filled with pathways of axons and dendrites and is
white because of the myelinated sheaths surrounding the axons
What are sulci? - Answer -indentation or "valleys" on the cerebral cortex
What are gyri? - Answer -bulges or "hills" of the cerebral cortex
What does the cortex consist of? - Answer -the five lobes (frontal, parietal, insular,
temporal, and occipital) as well as the gyri and sulci
Where is the subcortex and what does it consist of? - Answer -it lies beneath the cortex
and consists of white matter, subcortical nuclei, and cortico-cortical pathways
What are the three different types of cortico-cortical pathways? - Answer -1. fasciluli
2. commissures
3. corpus callosum
What is the primary cortex? - Answer -cortical areas that are the primary fields which
have neurons that project down into the spinal cord to control
What is the non-primary cortex? - Answer -everything in between the primary fields
(association cortex)
What are the four primary cortices and their anatomical locations? - Answer -1. primary
visual: calcarine sulcus
2. primary auditory: Heschl's gyrus
3. primary somato(sensory and motor): post-central gyrus
4. primary motor: pre-central gyrus
What are functions of the cerebellum? - Answer -two hemispheres, cortex, motor
control, particularly in making postural adjustments and fine-tune movements, higher
cognitive function including language
What are the functions of the basal ganglia? - Answer -Group of cell bodies with similar
function that regulates motor function. Also appears to be involved in cognitive
functions.
What are all the parts of the basal ganglia? - Answer -caudate nucleus, putamen,
globus pallidus, subthalamic nucleus (diencephalon), subtantia nigra (brainstem)
, What are the two parts of language? - Answer -1. Lexicon: meaning
(semantics/pragmatics), sound pattern, idiosyncratic stuff
2. Grammar: phonology, morphology, and syntax
Why are thoughts hard to express through language? - Answer -because thoughts
occur too quickly and language is often ambiguous and slow
What does communication look like? - Answer -Happens without language, sometimes
through facial expressions, body language, hand gestures, and physical appearance.
Language sometimes fails to communicate (Wernicke's aphasia)
What happens during an ischemic stroke? - Answer -Blockage of blood flow in an
artery.
Damage is focal and fairly easy to identify.
What happens during a hemorrhagic stroke? - Answer -rupture of an artery, damage is
widespread and difficult to know the effects of the bleedings, deficits are often more
diverse
What happens with an open-head TBI? - Answer -damage caused by object entering
the cranium or causing skull fracture, damage can be focal or more diffuse
What happens with a closed-head TBI? - Answer -damage is caused by impact to the
hear (compression, stretching, or shearing of the brain tissue), diffuse damage across
the brain
Why was phrenology helpful in advancing the scientific world's knowledge about
aphasias? - Answer -it created the concept that the cortex is divided into functional
units (theory of localization)
What was wrong about phrenology? - Answer -the development of cortical areas
pushed on the skull and produced palpable bumps and were larger than other areas of
the brain
What type of aphasia would you have if there was a lesion between A and M? - Answer
-conduction aphasia (fluent, paraphasic; good comp; poor repitition)
What type of aphasia would you have if there was a lesion between A and B? - Answer
-transcortical sensory (fluent, paraphasic; poor comp; good repitition)
What type of aphasia would you have if there was a lesion between B and M? - Answer
-transcortical motor (terse, echolalic production; good comp and repitition)
What type of aphasia would you have if there was a lesion between M and m/speech? -
Answer -aphemia (dysarthric production, good comp, limited repetition - only by
dysarthria)
What is gray matter? - Answer -a collection of cell bodies (nuclei) that are organized
around function
What is white matter? - Answer -it is filled with pathways of axons and dendrites and is
white because of the myelinated sheaths surrounding the axons
What are sulci? - Answer -indentation or "valleys" on the cerebral cortex
What are gyri? - Answer -bulges or "hills" of the cerebral cortex
What does the cortex consist of? - Answer -the five lobes (frontal, parietal, insular,
temporal, and occipital) as well as the gyri and sulci
Where is the subcortex and what does it consist of? - Answer -it lies beneath the cortex
and consists of white matter, subcortical nuclei, and cortico-cortical pathways
What are the three different types of cortico-cortical pathways? - Answer -1. fasciluli
2. commissures
3. corpus callosum
What is the primary cortex? - Answer -cortical areas that are the primary fields which
have neurons that project down into the spinal cord to control
What is the non-primary cortex? - Answer -everything in between the primary fields
(association cortex)
What are the four primary cortices and their anatomical locations? - Answer -1. primary
visual: calcarine sulcus
2. primary auditory: Heschl's gyrus
3. primary somato(sensory and motor): post-central gyrus
4. primary motor: pre-central gyrus
What are functions of the cerebellum? - Answer -two hemispheres, cortex, motor
control, particularly in making postural adjustments and fine-tune movements, higher
cognitive function including language
What are the functions of the basal ganglia? - Answer -Group of cell bodies with similar
function that regulates motor function. Also appears to be involved in cognitive
functions.
What are all the parts of the basal ganglia? - Answer -caudate nucleus, putamen,
globus pallidus, subthalamic nucleus (diencephalon), subtantia nigra (brainstem)
, What are the two parts of language? - Answer -1. Lexicon: meaning
(semantics/pragmatics), sound pattern, idiosyncratic stuff
2. Grammar: phonology, morphology, and syntax
Why are thoughts hard to express through language? - Answer -because thoughts
occur too quickly and language is often ambiguous and slow
What does communication look like? - Answer -Happens without language, sometimes
through facial expressions, body language, hand gestures, and physical appearance.
Language sometimes fails to communicate (Wernicke's aphasia)
What happens during an ischemic stroke? - Answer -Blockage of blood flow in an
artery.
Damage is focal and fairly easy to identify.
What happens during a hemorrhagic stroke? - Answer -rupture of an artery, damage is
widespread and difficult to know the effects of the bleedings, deficits are often more
diverse
What happens with an open-head TBI? - Answer -damage caused by object entering
the cranium or causing skull fracture, damage can be focal or more diffuse
What happens with a closed-head TBI? - Answer -damage is caused by impact to the
hear (compression, stretching, or shearing of the brain tissue), diffuse damage across
the brain
Why was phrenology helpful in advancing the scientific world's knowledge about
aphasias? - Answer -it created the concept that the cortex is divided into functional
units (theory of localization)
What was wrong about phrenology? - Answer -the development of cortical areas
pushed on the skull and produced palpable bumps and were larger than other areas of
the brain
What type of aphasia would you have if there was a lesion between A and M? - Answer
-conduction aphasia (fluent, paraphasic; good comp; poor repitition)
What type of aphasia would you have if there was a lesion between A and B? - Answer
-transcortical sensory (fluent, paraphasic; poor comp; good repitition)
What type of aphasia would you have if there was a lesion between B and M? - Answer
-transcortical motor (terse, echolalic production; good comp and repitition)
What type of aphasia would you have if there was a lesion between M and m/speech? -
Answer -aphemia (dysarthric production, good comp, limited repetition - only by
dysarthria)
