Lecture 11
1. While gardening, you prick your finger on a thorn that punctures the skin and causes a small
amount of bleeding with associated stinging. The discomfort experienced is related to which
somatosensory receptor?
a. Mechanoreceptor
b. Thermoreceptor
c. Nociceptor
d. Proprioceptor
2. Which of the following is an incorrect pairing?
a. Meissner corpuscles-slow adapting
b. Ruffini corpuscles-slow adapting
c. Pacinian corpuscles- rapidly adapting
d. Merkel disks – slow adapting
3. Which of the listed areas of the body has the greatest somatosensory cortical representation?
a. Upper arm
b. Shoulder
c. Back
d. Thigh
e. Fingers
4. Which of the following is true of an area of skin that has primary sensory neurons that mostly
share a single secondary neuron?
a. The receptive field would be smaller than a receptive field with primary neurons that
have their own distinct secondary neurons
b. Two stimuli can easily be detected in the receptive field
c. The receptive field would be larger than a receptive field that has its own distinct
secondary neurons, allowing for more distinct, individual stimuli to be detected
d. Multiple, simultaneous stimuli will be perceived as a single point
5. Which of the following statements about the somatosensory pathways is not correct?
a. In the dorsal column system the primary afferent neuron decussates in the spinal cord
before ascending to the brainstem
b. In the anterolateral column system, the first-order neuron synapses with the
second-order neuron in the spinal cord
c. The second-order neuron synapses with the third-order neuron in the thalamus in the
dorsal column system and the anterolateral system
d. Due to decussation, somatosensory information from one side of the body is received in
the contralateral thalamus in both systems
Lecture 12
1. Which of the following nerve fibers provides information to the CNS about the rate of change of
muscle stretch?
a. Static gamma motor fibers
b. Dynamic gamma motor fibers
c. Type 1a sensory fibers
d. Type 2 sensory fibers
2. While performing a barbell curl, which of the following physiological responses would NOT
happen.
a. Alpha motor neurons to the biceps brachii muscles will be inhibited
b. Alpha motor neurons to the triceps brachii muscles will be stimulated
c. Golgi tendon organs would be compressed by the stretched tendon
d. Type 1a sensory fibers of the biceps brachii will be firing during contraction
3.
Identify the starred nerve above.
a. Type 1b sensory fiber
b. Gamma motor neuron
c. Alpha motor neuron
d. Inhibitory interneuron
e. Excitatory interneuron
4. Which of the following is the correct pairing of neurons in the muscle stretch reflex?
a. Type 1a and gamma motor neuron
b. Type 1a and type 1b
c. Alpha motor neuron and type 1a
d. Alpha motor neuron and type II
5. Minor alterations in muscle movement to maintain posture or stance during walking and to
prevent falling are mediated by which muscle fiber(s)?
a. Type 1a only
b. Type II only
c. Type 1b only
d. Type 1a and Type II
Lecture 13
1) A patient comes into the emergency room and states that she lost some feeling on the right side
of her body below the T5 level. She was still able to move her leg, just not able to feel certain
stimuli but is able to feel pain and temperature. You find out that there is a blockage in her
spinal cord. Which of the following are most likely to be blocked?
a) R posterior spinal artery
b) L posterior spinal artery
c) Anterior spinal artery
d) R T5 radicular artery
2) Which are most likely to cause a subarachnoid hemorrhage?
a) Bridging veins
b) Middle meningeal artery
c) Berry aneurysm
d) Emissary veins
3) What is the tip of the blue arrow pointing to?
a) Internal carotid artery
b) Superior cerebellar artery
c) Posterior communicating artery
d) Posterior cerebral artery
4) Which is a correct path of venous drainage of the brain?
a) Superficial cerebral vein superior sagittal sinus straight sinus sigmoid sinus
b) Medullary anastomotic vein great vein of Galen transverse sinus straight sinus
transverse sinus
c) Superficial cerebral vein superior sagittal sinus great vein of Galen transverse sinus
sigmoid sinus
d) Medullary anastomotic vein internal cerebral vein Great vein of Galen straight sinus
transverse sinus sigmoid sinus
5) What is the blood supply of the cerebellum in the area marked red?
a) Anterior spinal artery
b) Posterior inferior cerebellar artery
c) Anterior inferior cerebellar artery
d) Superior cerebellar artery
Lecture 14
1. The internal arcuate fibers decussate from the nucleus Gracilis and Cuneatus to reach what
contralateral area in the medulla?
a. Medial lemniscus
b. Olive
c. Cerebellum
d. Cerebral Cortex
2. Which portion of the brain stem is the only segment on the brain stem that contains a tectum?
a. Medulla oblongata
b. Pons
c. Midbrain
d. Cerebellum
3. Which tract fibers join the medial meniscus and ascend to the thalamus?
a. Spinocerebellar Tracts
b. Corticospinal Tracts
c. Lateral spinothalamic tracts
4. A large corticopontine tract that originates in the cortex travels down to the pons and synapses.
From the synapse the postsynaptic neurons enter the cerebellum through which peduncle?
a. Superior cerebellar peduncle
b. Inferior cerebellar peduncle
c. Middle cerebellar peduncle
5. Which cranial nerve extends from the posterior tectum of the brains stem ?
a. Trigeminal
b. Facial
c. Vestibulocochlear
d. Trochlear
Lecture 15:
1. The red nucleus and the substantia nigra are located in ?
a. Cerebral Cortex
b. Diencephalon
c. Midbrain
d. Cerebellum
2. The compact part of the substantia nigra contains cells filled with ?
a. Magnesium
b. Melanin
c. Iron
d. Sulfate
3. The reticular formation contains numerous nuclei that contain characteristic neurotransmitters.
Which region of the brain stem are we able to find the noradrenergic neurons?
a. Locus Coeruleus
b. All levels of the brain stem
c. Ventral Tegmental area
d. Substantia Nigra
4. What does the arrow point to ?
a. Substantia nigra
b. Thalamus
c. Red Nucleus
d. Midbrain
5. When we see that a patient’s substantia nigra is diminished and lacks the high concentration of
melanin that can indicate the patient has what?
a. Alzheimer
b. Dementia
c. Parkinson’s
d. Duchenne’s Dystrophy
Lecture 16
1) A patient you are seeing has trouble swallowing and speaking. Which is most likely the cause of
this patient’s symptoms?
a) Superior salivatory nucleus
b) Motor nucleus
c) Mesencephalic nucleus
d) Nucleus ambiguous
2) Which innervates muscles of mastication?
a) Trigeminal
b) Facial
c) Glossopharyngeal
d) Hypoglossal
3) Referring to the question above, where do these fibers originate?
a) Mesencephalic nucleus
b) Spinal nucleus
c) Motor nucleus
d) Principal sensory nucleus
4) The superior salivatory nucleus contains neurons that innervate which?
a) Parotid gland
b) Submandibular gland
c) Middle ear
d) Chemo- and pressure receptors
5) The cranial root of the accessory nerve originates where?
a) Nucleus ambiguous
b) Trigeminal motor nucleus
c) Principle sensory nucleus
d) Inferior solitary tract
Lecture 17
1. Which of the following is NOT an extrapyramidal tract?
a. Rubrospinal
b. Reticulospinal
c. Corticospinal
d. Vestibulospinal
2. Which of the following is the function of the rubrospinal tract?
a. Movement of contralateral limbs
b. Positioning of the head and neck
c. Automatic posture and gait-related movements
d. Coordination of head and eye movement
3. Which of the following describes the ganglion for CN IX?
a. Ciliary
b. Submandibular
c. Otic
d. Prevertebral
4. A patient presents to your office with weakness in muscles around the eyes, nose and
mouth. However, the patient is still able to use the muscles of their forehead. Which of
the following statements is FALSE regarding this patient’s condition?
a. The patient has a unilateral motor neuron lesion
b. The bilateral innervation of the forehead from upper motor neurons preserves the
forehead muscle function
c. This patient has a unilateral lower motor lesion
d. The face from eyes to chin is innervated by upper motor neurons from the
contralateral cerebral cortex
5. What type of fibers of CN XI supply the sternocleidomastoid and trapezius muscles?
a. General visceral efferent fibers
b. General somatic efferent fibers
c. Special visceral efferent fibers
d. General somatic sensory fibers
Lecture 18
1. Which of the following is NOT a location that hypothalamic efferent fibers extend to?
a. Brainstem and spinal cord
b. Cerebellum
c. Thalamus
d. Pituitary gland
2. Which of the following is secreted by the supraoptic nucleus?
a. Oxytocin
b. Epinephrine
c. Progesterone
d. Vasopressin
3. Which of the following nuclei is NOT part of the anterior region of the hypothalamus?
a. Mamillary nuclei
b. Suprachaismatic nuclei
c. Supraoptic nuclei
d. Paraventricular nuclei
4. Which of the following afferent connections to the hypothalamus transmits afferent fibers
from the olfactory areas to the preoptic nuclei?
a. Fornix
b. Medial forebrain bundle
c. Stria terminalis
d. Peduncle of the mammillary bodies
5. Which region and/or nuclei of the hypothalamus is/are responsible for regulating water
balance?
a. Anterior preoptic region
b. Posterior region
c. Paraventricular and anterior regions
d. Supraoptic and paraventricular nuclei
Answer Key: Lecture 17
Lecture 11 1. C
2. A
1. C
3. C
2. A
4. C
3. E
5. B
4. D
5. A Lecture 18
Lecture 12
1. B
1. C
2. D
2. D
3. A
3. C
4. B
4. C
5. D
5. D
Lecture 13
1. A
2. C
3. C
4. D
5. B
Lecture 14
1. A
2. C
3. C
4. C
5. D
Lecture 15
1. C
2. B
3. A
4. C
5. C
Lecture 16
1. D
2. A
3. C
4. B
5. A
