Behavioural Neuroscience Exam 2
Questions and Answers
Select the items about receptive fields of neurons in the visual system that are
correct. - ANSWER-The retinal ganglion cells with smaller receptive fields are
responsible for things like reading very fine print.
Retinal ganglion cells that synapse on more photoreceptors have larger receptive
fields
The receptive fields of retinal ganglion cells in the fovea are smaller, receptive fields
of retinal ganglion cells in the periphery are larger
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). -
ANSWER-The lateral geniculate nucleus of the thalamus
There is only one pathway for visual information in the brain. - ANSWER-False
Why might people who are blind still be able to use some visual information to guide
their behavior? - ANSWER-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: - ANSWER-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? - ANSWER-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)? - ANSWER-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'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 ______. -
ANSWER-Cell A: simple cell
Cell B: complex cell
All neurons in V1 receive inputs from both the left eye and the right eye, in equal
proportion (e.g. 50/50). - ANSWER-False
All the visual information coming in from your retinas is sent to all the same areas of
your brain for processing. - ANSWER-False
You hear someone say: "The brain like 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: - ANSWER-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. -
ANSWER-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? - ANSWER-Ventral
You are a med student studying a case report. A patient is admitted with brain
damage due to hypoxia (lack of oxygen) and presents with some specific
impairments. Basic visual capabilities are preserved. They can detect when light is in
a part of their visual field, and they have normal shape processing, and successfully
recognize all the categories of objects they were tested on. If you ask them to look in
a particular part of space, though, they can't follow the instruction, and if you ask
them to move their hand toward an object you are holding up, while they say they
can see it, they can't quite get their hand to the right spot. Which lobe do you
conclude has damage? - ANSWER-Parietal
Your roommate slid a nice warm mug across the table to you on a cold day. You are
looking at it and wondering whether it is coffee, tea, or cocoa, and since you like
them all, you're thinking about having a sip to warm you up. As you prepare to lift the
mug, which bit of information does your dorsal stream care more about than your
ventral stream? - ANSWER-Which way the handle is pointing
Your roommate slid a nice warm mug across the table to you on a cold day. You are
looking at it and wondering whether it is coffee, tea, or cocoa, and since you like
them all, you're thinking about having a sip to warm you up. As you prepare to lift the
mug, which bit of information does your ventral stream care more about, in
recognizing what's in the mug before you have your first sip? - ANSWER-What color
the liquid is
You are a neurologist examining a patient and give them two pictures, one of a
rectangle the long way (like a truck) and the other of a rectangle the tall way (like a
Questions and Answers
Select the items about receptive fields of neurons in the visual system that are
correct. - ANSWER-The retinal ganglion cells with smaller receptive fields are
responsible for things like reading very fine print.
Retinal ganglion cells that synapse on more photoreceptors have larger receptive
fields
The receptive fields of retinal ganglion cells in the fovea are smaller, receptive fields
of retinal ganglion cells in the periphery are larger
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). -
ANSWER-The lateral geniculate nucleus of the thalamus
There is only one pathway for visual information in the brain. - ANSWER-False
Why might people who are blind still be able to use some visual information to guide
their behavior? - ANSWER-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: - ANSWER-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? - ANSWER-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)? - ANSWER-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'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 ______. -
ANSWER-Cell A: simple cell
Cell B: complex cell
All neurons in V1 receive inputs from both the left eye and the right eye, in equal
proportion (e.g. 50/50). - ANSWER-False
All the visual information coming in from your retinas is sent to all the same areas of
your brain for processing. - ANSWER-False
You hear someone say: "The brain like 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: - ANSWER-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. -
ANSWER-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? - ANSWER-Ventral
You are a med student studying a case report. A patient is admitted with brain
damage due to hypoxia (lack of oxygen) and presents with some specific
impairments. Basic visual capabilities are preserved. They can detect when light is in
a part of their visual field, and they have normal shape processing, and successfully
recognize all the categories of objects they were tested on. If you ask them to look in
a particular part of space, though, they can't follow the instruction, and if you ask
them to move their hand toward an object you are holding up, while they say they
can see it, they can't quite get their hand to the right spot. Which lobe do you
conclude has damage? - ANSWER-Parietal
Your roommate slid a nice warm mug across the table to you on a cold day. You are
looking at it and wondering whether it is coffee, tea, or cocoa, and since you like
them all, you're thinking about having a sip to warm you up. As you prepare to lift the
mug, which bit of information does your dorsal stream care more about than your
ventral stream? - ANSWER-Which way the handle is pointing
Your roommate slid a nice warm mug across the table to you on a cold day. You are
looking at it and wondering whether it is coffee, tea, or cocoa, and since you like
them all, you're thinking about having a sip to warm you up. As you prepare to lift the
mug, which bit of information does your ventral stream care more about, in
recognizing what's in the mug before you have your first sip? - ANSWER-What color
the liquid is
You are a neurologist examining a patient and give them two pictures, one of a
rectangle the long way (like a truck) and the other of a rectangle the tall way (like a
