BRAIN AND BEHAVIOR AN INTRODUCTION TO
BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE ACTUAL EXAM
PAPER 2026 QUESTIONS SOLUTIONS GRADED
A+
◉ True or False: Ontogeny is the process by which an individual
changes only in embryonic development.
Answer: False
◉ What is ontogeny?
Answer: A process by which an individual changes throughout its
life-span
◉ ____ ____ is the examination of differences & similarities of the
nervous system across multiple species.
Answer: Comparative neuroanatomy
◉ At a given moment, what proportion of the world's population
suffers from neurological and/or psychiatric disorders?
Answer: 20%
◉ What are the contact points between neurons called?
,Answer: Synapses
◉ What is unique about behavioral neuroscience?
Answer: It spans several scientific disciplines
◉ A factor manipulated by an experimenter is called a(n)
Answer: Independent variable
◉ What is somatic intervention?
Answer: An approach to finding relations between body variables &
behavioral variables that involves manipulating body
structure/function & looking for resultant changes in behavior.
◉ What is behavioral intervention?
Answer: An approach to finding relations between body variables &
behavioral variables that involves intervening in the behavior of an
organism & looking for resultant changes in body structure or
function
◉ Which statement is an example of neuroplasticity?
An enriched environment causes an increase in the number of
synapses.
,The association of noxious & a harmless stimulus causes an
increased response to the harmless stimulus when it is presented
alone.
Exercise causes an increase in neuron survival.
Answer: All of them
◉ A researcher can determine how much of the human brain is used
or even the simplest of tasks by
Answer: Looking at brain activity in brain scans
◉ In humans, about how much of the brain is used during routine,
day-to-day activities?
Answer: 100%
◉ Studies of identical twins in which one twin has schizophrenia
have revealed a relationship between schizophrenia & enlargement
of the
Answer: Cerebral ventricles
◉ Aristotle thought that the brain's major function was to
Answer: Cool the blood
◉ Who drew accurate representations of ventricles?
, Answer: da Vinci
◉ ____ can be defined as a state of awareness of one's own existence
& experience.
Answer: Consciousness
◉ I perform an experiment to see how caffeine intake affects
memory performance. I give one group of students two cups of
regular coffee, and another group two cups of decaf. 30 minutes
later, I give them a memory assessment.
In this experiment, what is the dependent variable?
Answer: The memory assessment
◉ Which statement is supported by phrenology?
There is more than one brain area that is responsible for aggression.
Visual processing occurs in several lobes of the brain.
There is some localization of function in the brain.
The brain functions as a whole.
Answer: There is some localization of function in the brain.
◉ The adult human brain contains
Answer: 80-100 billion neurons
BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE ACTUAL EXAM
PAPER 2026 QUESTIONS SOLUTIONS GRADED
A+
◉ True or False: Ontogeny is the process by which an individual
changes only in embryonic development.
Answer: False
◉ What is ontogeny?
Answer: A process by which an individual changes throughout its
life-span
◉ ____ ____ is the examination of differences & similarities of the
nervous system across multiple species.
Answer: Comparative neuroanatomy
◉ At a given moment, what proportion of the world's population
suffers from neurological and/or psychiatric disorders?
Answer: 20%
◉ What are the contact points between neurons called?
,Answer: Synapses
◉ What is unique about behavioral neuroscience?
Answer: It spans several scientific disciplines
◉ A factor manipulated by an experimenter is called a(n)
Answer: Independent variable
◉ What is somatic intervention?
Answer: An approach to finding relations between body variables &
behavioral variables that involves manipulating body
structure/function & looking for resultant changes in behavior.
◉ What is behavioral intervention?
Answer: An approach to finding relations between body variables &
behavioral variables that involves intervening in the behavior of an
organism & looking for resultant changes in body structure or
function
◉ Which statement is an example of neuroplasticity?
An enriched environment causes an increase in the number of
synapses.
,The association of noxious & a harmless stimulus causes an
increased response to the harmless stimulus when it is presented
alone.
Exercise causes an increase in neuron survival.
Answer: All of them
◉ A researcher can determine how much of the human brain is used
or even the simplest of tasks by
Answer: Looking at brain activity in brain scans
◉ In humans, about how much of the brain is used during routine,
day-to-day activities?
Answer: 100%
◉ Studies of identical twins in which one twin has schizophrenia
have revealed a relationship between schizophrenia & enlargement
of the
Answer: Cerebral ventricles
◉ Aristotle thought that the brain's major function was to
Answer: Cool the blood
◉ Who drew accurate representations of ventricles?
, Answer: da Vinci
◉ ____ can be defined as a state of awareness of one's own existence
& experience.
Answer: Consciousness
◉ I perform an experiment to see how caffeine intake affects
memory performance. I give one group of students two cups of
regular coffee, and another group two cups of decaf. 30 minutes
later, I give them a memory assessment.
In this experiment, what is the dependent variable?
Answer: The memory assessment
◉ Which statement is supported by phrenology?
There is more than one brain area that is responsible for aggression.
Visual processing occurs in several lobes of the brain.
There is some localization of function in the brain.
The brain functions as a whole.
Answer: There is some localization of function in the brain.
◉ The adult human brain contains
Answer: 80-100 billion neurons
