NSCI 175 Exam1
Reductionist Approach - Answer-Breaking down the study of the brain into multiple components.
Molecular Level - Answer-Study of the molecules that make up the brain.
Cellular Level - Answer-Study of how all of the molecules work together in neurons to give them their
specific properties.
Systems Level - Answer-Study of how different neural circuits analyze sensory info, form perceptions,
make decisions, and execute movements.
Behavioral Level - Answer-Study of parts of brain/drugs/neural systems that affect our behavior.
Cognitive Level - Answer-Study of the neural mechanisms responsible for higher levels of human mental
activity (self-awareness, imagination, language, etc.)
4 Steps of Scientific Process - Answer-Observation
Replication
Interpretation
Validation
, Animal Research Importance - Answer-Animal research is important as it allows us to better experiment
and study neural systems and the effects of diseases and drugs. Human and animal neural systems
operate in many of the same ways - without animal studies we'd be missing information on many key
diseases and disorders.
Golgi and Cajal Disagreement - Answer-Golgi argued that ends of axons were fused together - Cajal
argued that neurons communicated by contact rather than continuity.
Neuron Doctrine - Answer-The idea that cell theory applies in the brain, and that individual neurons
communicate by contact not connection.
Histological Procedures and Advancement - Answer-Microscopic study of tissue structure.
Nissel Stain - stains nuclei and clumps of material around neuron nuclei, helped distinguish between
neurons and glia and analyze neuron arrangement in different parts of the brain.
Golgi Stain - submerge in silver chromate, makes small % of neurons dark in continuity. Swollen region
w/ nucleus = Soma, -- small tubes radiating out = Axons and Dendrites
Neuronal Membrane - Answer-barrier that encloses the cytoplasm inside the neuron and excludes
certain substances outside
Cytoskeleton - Answer-'scaffolding' on which the neuronal membrane is draped, gives neuron
characteristic shape
Axon - Answer-threadlike extension of a neuron specialized for carrying nerve impulses away from the
main part of the neuron
Reductionist Approach - Answer-Breaking down the study of the brain into multiple components.
Molecular Level - Answer-Study of the molecules that make up the brain.
Cellular Level - Answer-Study of how all of the molecules work together in neurons to give them their
specific properties.
Systems Level - Answer-Study of how different neural circuits analyze sensory info, form perceptions,
make decisions, and execute movements.
Behavioral Level - Answer-Study of parts of brain/drugs/neural systems that affect our behavior.
Cognitive Level - Answer-Study of the neural mechanisms responsible for higher levels of human mental
activity (self-awareness, imagination, language, etc.)
4 Steps of Scientific Process - Answer-Observation
Replication
Interpretation
Validation
, Animal Research Importance - Answer-Animal research is important as it allows us to better experiment
and study neural systems and the effects of diseases and drugs. Human and animal neural systems
operate in many of the same ways - without animal studies we'd be missing information on many key
diseases and disorders.
Golgi and Cajal Disagreement - Answer-Golgi argued that ends of axons were fused together - Cajal
argued that neurons communicated by contact rather than continuity.
Neuron Doctrine - Answer-The idea that cell theory applies in the brain, and that individual neurons
communicate by contact not connection.
Histological Procedures and Advancement - Answer-Microscopic study of tissue structure.
Nissel Stain - stains nuclei and clumps of material around neuron nuclei, helped distinguish between
neurons and glia and analyze neuron arrangement in different parts of the brain.
Golgi Stain - submerge in silver chromate, makes small % of neurons dark in continuity. Swollen region
w/ nucleus = Soma, -- small tubes radiating out = Axons and Dendrites
Neuronal Membrane - Answer-barrier that encloses the cytoplasm inside the neuron and excludes
certain substances outside
Cytoskeleton - Answer-'scaffolding' on which the neuronal membrane is draped, gives neuron
characteristic shape
Axon - Answer-threadlike extension of a neuron specialized for carrying nerve impulses away from the
main part of the neuron
