Title: Neuroscience Topics for the MCAT

Q: The [...] nervous system consists of the [...], which process and integrate information from the body.
A: central; brain and spinal cord

Q: The outer layer of the brain, called the [...], is responsible for higher-order functions like reasoning, decision-making, and voluntary movement.
A: cerebral cortex

Q: The [...] is involved in motor coordination, balance, and fine-tuning movements.
A: cerebellum

Q: The [...] nervous system controls voluntary movements via skeletal muscles, while the [...] nervous system manages involuntary functions.
A: somatic; autonomic

Q: [...] is the neurotransmitter involved in muscle contraction, memory, and learning. Deficiencies are linked to [...].
A: Acetylcholine (ACh); Alzheimer's disease

Q: [...] regulates movement, reward, and pleasure, and is linked to [...].
A: Dopamine; Parkinson's disease and schizophrenia

Q: The [...] system is a network of structures involved in emotion, memory, and motivation, including the [...].
A: limbic; amygdala and hippocampus

Q: [...] is the main [...] in the brain, crucial for learning and memory.
A: Glutamate; excitatory neurotransmitter

Q: [...] disease is a neurodegenerative disorder involving loss of dopamine-producing neurons, leading to [...] issues.
A: Parkinson's; motor control

Q: The [...] theory of emotion suggests that physiological responses occur before emotional experiences, while the [...] theory suggests they occur simultaneously.
A: James-Lange; Cannon-Bard

Q: The [...] acts as a relay station for sensory information before it reaches the [...].
A: thalamus; cerebral cortex

Q: The [...] is crucial for maintaining homeostasis by regulating hunger, thirst, temperature, and endocrine functions.
A: hypothalamus

Q: [...] is the primary inhibitory neurotransmitter, [...] in the brain.
A: GABA; reducing neuronal excitability

Q: The [...] contains the primary motor cortex, which is responsible for planning and executing voluntary movements.
A: frontal lobe

Q: [...] is a neurotransmitter that plays a key role in mood regulation and is often targeted by antidepressant medications, particularly selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs).
A: Serotonin

Q: [...] are the small gaps between myelin sheaths on an axon that facilitate the rapid propagation of action potentials via [...].
A: Nodes of Ranvier; saltatory conduction

Q: The nervous system can be divided into two major parts—the [...] and the {{p2::peripheral nervous system (PNS)}}.
A: central nervous system (CNS)

Q: The PNS is subdivided into the [...] and the [...]
A: autonomic nervous system; somatic nervous system.

Q: The [...] regulates [...] actions.
A: autonomic nervous system; involuntary

Q: The [...] controls [...].
A: somatic nervous system; voluntary movements

Q: The [...] connects the hemispheres of the brain.
A: corpus collosum

Q: The [...] includes the [...], and controls lower-level functioning.
A: brain stem; midbrain, pons, and medulla

Q: [...] neurons carry information from the [...].
A: Efferent; CNS to the PNS

Q: [...] neurons carry information from the [...].
A: Afferent; PNS to the CNS

The autonomic nervous system has two further subdivisions: The sympathetic nervous system is associated with fight or flight, and the parasympathetic nervous system is associated with rest and digest.
Back Extra: When one system is activated, the other decreases activities.

Q: Extreme weakness and shrunken muscle is an example of [...], which is a sign of [...] dysfunction.
A: atrophy; lower motor neuron

Q: [...] is an [...].
A: Muscle spasticity; upper motor neuron sign

Q: Signals are collected by [...] in the pre-synaptic cleft, then transmitted to the [...].
A: dendrites; soma and axon

Q: [...] are the myelin sheath cells of the [...].
A: Schwann cells; peripheral nervous system

Q: [...] have structural, metabolic, regulatory, and repair functions, and are the [...] in the brain.
A: Astrocytes; most abundant cell

Q: [...] help form the barrier that holds in and produces CSF, cerebrospinal fluid.
A: Ependymal cells

Q: [...] are myelin sheaths in the [...] that wrap around nerve axons to help speed conduction.
A: Oligodendrocytes; central nervous system

Q: The majority of the nervous system arises from [...].
A: ectoderm or neural crest cells

Q: [...] are the macrophages, or phagocytes, of the [...].
A: Microglia; central nervous system

Q: The [...] descends in the spinal cord to the level of the appropriate spinal nerve root and synapses with the [...], each of whose axons innervate a fiber of skeletal muscle.
A: upper motor neuron; lower motor neuron