GRE Subject Test: Psychology : Physiological & Behavioral Neuroscience

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for GRE Subject Test: Psychology

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Example Questions

Example Question #64 : Experimental

Which of the following structures connects the left and right hemispheres of the brain?

Possible Answers:

Broca's area

Amygdala

Brain stem

Corpus callosum

Correct answer:

Corpus callosum

Explanation:

The corpus callosum is a wide set of nerve fibers that connects the two hemispheres of the human brain. Agenesis of the corpus callosum, a rare birth defect, results in impaired cognitive abilities (e.g. key processes like face processing and other socially-important skills).

Example Question #31 : Physiological & Behavioral Neuroscience

Which of the following structures is located in the midbrain, implicated in the production of raw dopamine for usage by the brain and body, and often the target of L-dopa treatments in Parkinson's disease?

Possible Answers:

Inferior colliculi

Crus cerebri

Midbrain tegmentum

Substantia nigra

Superior colliculi

Correct answer:

Substantia nigra

Explanation:

Substantia nigra is named for it's darker appearance relative to its surroundings. It is dark because of high amounts of neuromelanins in its tissues—an apparent byproduct of dopamine production. The substantia nigra is subdivided into two functionally distinct sections: the pars compacta and pars reticulata.

Example Question #2 : Central Structures & Processes

Which of the following describes a noninvasive method for studying brain activity?

Possible Answers:

Electroencephalograms

All of these

Magnetic resource imaging (MRIs)

Position emission tomography (PET scans)

Correct answer:

All of these

Explanation:

In order to examine brain functions, researchers must examine living individuals, rather than the brains of cadavers. This poses several challenges. Sometimes, animal brains are studied using invasive techniques that would be unethical to perform on human subjects. In order to mitigate these challenges and study brain activities, researchers in psychology have developed several noninvasive techniques including PET scans, MRIs, and electroencephalograms. 

Example Question #32 : Physiological & Behavioral Neuroscience

Which of the following lobes of the brain is responsible for reward, attention, short-term memory tasks, planning, and motivation? It is also the lobe that tells you the difference between good and bad.

Possible Answers:

Anterior lobe

Occipital lobe

Temporal lobe

Parietal lobe

Frontal lobe

Correct answer:

Frontal lobe

Explanation:

The correct answer is frontal lobe. The frontal lobe is responsible for reward, attention, short-term memory tasks, planning, and motivation. It is also the part that tells a person if they are making a good decision or not. If the frontal lobe is injured, people may not realize they are behaving socially unacceptably. The other choices are incorrect. The parietal lobe is responsible for processing sensory information from your environment. The occipital lobe is responsible for eyesight processing. The temporal lobe is responsible for hearing and memory input. Last, the anterior lobe does not exist.

Example Question #66 : Experimental

After a severe accident, a client is no longer able to feel his sense of touch. Which of the following parts of his brain most likely received damage that caused his inability to feel?

Possible Answers:

Parietal lobe

Limbic system

Spinal cord

Frontal lobe

Occipital lobe

Correct answer:

Parietal lobe

Explanation:

The parietal lobe is responsible of the sensory integration of taste, temperature, and touch. If someone damages their parietal lobe, then they will experience difficulty with sensory integration.

Example Question #1 : Motivation, Arousal, & Emotion

The nucleus accumbens is most specifically and predominately known for its role in which of the following behavioral systems?

Possible Answers:

Fear and anger

Language learning

Reward and reinforcement

Motivation and satisfaction

Memory encoding and memory retention 

Correct answer:

Reward and reinforcement

Explanation:

The nucleus accumbens has long since been considered a key anatomical structure in the body's reward and reinforcement system. It is one of the key producers and regulators of neural dopamine, and has been linked to several different addictive behaviors—including addictive reinforcement from food, sex, drugs, music, and maternal behavior. It is considered part of the "pleasure center" for the brain due to its release of reinforcing dopamine.  

Example Question #33 : Physiological & Behavioral Neuroscience

Which of the following tests is a non-invasive procedure that uses computerized scanning to create images of blood flow in the brain?

Possible Answers:

None of these

CAT

PET

rCBF

MRI

Correct answer:

rCBF

Explanation:

The rCBF refers to the regional cerebral blood flow, a noninvasive procedure that detects broad patterns of neural activity based on increased flow to different brain areas. CAT scans, PET scans, and MRIs are all computerized scanning techniques but not specialized to test blood flow in the brain.

Example Question #2 : Cognitive Neuroscience

Which of the following processes is most likely to be impacted by damage to the hippocampus?

Possible Answers:

Taste

Hearing

Memory

Decision-making

Correct answer:

Memory

Explanation:

The hippocampus—located in the brain's temporal lobe—is the center for making, storing, and retrieving memories. Damage to this particular area is likely to result in difficulty with one or all of these memory-related processes.

Example Question #3 : Cognitive Neuroscience

Which of the following are the chemical messengers released into the spatial junctions between neurons?

Possible Answers:

Synapses

Hormones

Neurotransmitters

Genes

Interneurons

Correct answer:

Neurotransmitters

Explanation:

Acetylcholine or aka ACH is the neurotransmitter that is released from the axon terminal to through the neuromuscular junction across the synaptic cleft.

Example Question #1 : Neuromodulators & Drugs

Which of the following is an example of a gender basis in physiological stress reactions?

Possible Answers:

When asked to recall emotionally strong memories, men tend to gravitate towards memories of fear, frustration and violence, and women tend to recall more memories of happiness, contentment, or romantic feelings

Men have slower reuptake of norepinephrine during stressful situations than women do, prolonging the fight-or-flight response

Women react more quickly to olfactory and gustatory signs of stress, whereas men react more quickly to audio or visual signs of stress

Men show more activation of their limbic system in response to stress than do women

Men experience elevated levels of cortisol activity during stress, whereas women experience decreased cortisol levels

Correct answer:

Men experience elevated levels of cortisol activity during stress, whereas women experience decreased cortisol levels

Explanation:

Physiological testing (e.g. blood screenings, radiologic scans and hormonal level measures) have shown that in male primates including humans, cortisol and stress levels have a moderate positive correlation, whereas this correlation is weakly negative in females of the same species.

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