Download Below are 20 potential short answer questions. You will have a

Below are 20 potential short answer questions. You will have a single attempt on your
final exam. The final exam will consist of 10 of these questions. You will have 75min to
complete the exam.

Compare and contrast the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system. In
you answer, include: one example of how the two systems work together, one
example of how the two systems oppose each other, a description of how the
anatomy (short vs. long pre- and post-ganglions) of each relate to distinct
functions, which neurotransmitter is ultimately released onto smooth muscle in
the periphery.

Compare and contrast the dorsal columns and spinothalamic systems (function
and neuroanatomy)

Compare and contrast resting membrane potential and an action potential,
including a description of two ways EPSP summation results in action potential
generation.

Describe how seizures spread (break down in surround inhibition) and how drugs
are used to prevent this from occurring (increase GABA function)

Describe how deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus improves tremor
in Parkinson’s disease. Compare and contrast to L-DOPA therapy.

Compare and contrast Parkinson’s vs. Huntington’s disease.

List four subcortical striations involved in attention, and their specific functions.

For each of the five neurotransmitter systems dopamine, norepinephrine,
glutamate, GABA and acetylcholine list: their known receptors, whether they are
metabotropic or ionotropic and a general function the system mediates.

Describe how: 1) delta-9-THC and 2) an endocannabinoid binding to a
cannabinoid CB1 receptor alter neural activation. Assume that the CB1 receptor
exclusively exists on a GABA terminal synapsing onto a dopamine neuron. For
the endocannabinoid portion, you must also include basic information regarding
the synthesis of the endocannabinoid.

One of your patients, 31 year-old Samual Weiss, is suffering from depression.
You confirm your supposition by administering a dexamethasone suppression
test. Describe/depict the hypothetical findings obtained using the dexamethasone
test that led you to your diagnosis. Then, offer a brief statement on the
implications that your results and conclusion have for the etiology (ie. cause) of
depression.

You just discovered, for the first time, that LTP causes learning. In your Nobel
Prize acceptance speech, after thanking me of course, you decide to describe the
molecular changes involved in LTP. Here, list/describe/depict all steps covered in
class. Your answer should include: how AMPA and NMDA receptors are
different, why this matters, how a particular protein kinase is activated, two
important ways this protein kinase contributes to LTP, how a particular
transcription factor is activated, how the transcription factor contributes to LTP,
how retrograde messengers contribute.

List/describe/depict the molecular basis by which we maintain an endogenous
~24hr circadian pattern of behavior. Your answer should contain four genes and
their corresponding proteins, how they interact, the time-course of their
interaction, the name of the nucleus of similar cells where these proteins interact,
and where in the brain this endogenous circadian rhythm is maintained.

List/describe/depict how light can entrain our circadian rhythms. Your answer
should contain what is special about the cells in the eye that process light (what
do they contain?), the neural pathway through which information about light is
transmitted to where the endogenous clock is located (the nucleus and neural
region should also be stated), the neurotransmitter released there, and what gene
is directly altered to entrain the endogenous circadian rhythm.

Describe/depict/list the ‘high’ and ‘low’ roads of neural circuitry that process fear.
Your answer should begin with the brain receiving a sensory stimulus associated
with fear (e.g., a loud bang) and end with how emotional, autonomic and
hormonal responses are triggered.

Contrast the neurophysiological basis of hypovolemic thirst and osmotic thirst,
answer must include the renin-angiotensin system, all chemical signaling
molecules covered in class, and their physiological and/or neural sites of action.

List 6 neuropeptides that regulate feeding behavior, and whether they promote or
inhibit feeding.

List the 6 tropic hormones produced by the anterior pituitary and their respective
functions.

Describe how the brain regulates body temperature.

Describe the milk letdown response.

Describe how hormones are involved in sexual differentiation.