Introduction to the nervous system

1- Which is true of the Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)?

a) Consists of the brain and spinal cord
b) Processes information
c) Creates a response
d) Collects information about the body’s internal environment

2- When you scald yourself on a hot area, it takes on average 2.5 milliseconds for you to
respond by removing your hand, it is what we call reflex. In contrast, when you watch a bird
flying, it takes on average 300 milliseconds to process the information. How can you explain
this phenomenon?
a) The neurons responsible for pain transmission have higher myelination than
visual neurons.
b) A reflex is fast because it takes a shortcut in transmission; it skips the central
nervous system and uses the peripheral nervous system which is closer to the
muscles and can directly command movement.
c) The neurons responsible for reflex have a lower threshold and thus fire faster than
other neurons
d) B and C

3- The disease Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune, uncurable disease that targets the
brain. Some of the symptoms of MS are loss of sensitivity; problems with speech or
swallowing; difficulty moving; muscle spasms; chronic pain; muscle weakness… memory
loss is not a symptom of MS. What might cause this disease?
a) Immune cells target neurotransmitters, signal cannot pass from one cell to
another, inhibiting movement.
b) Immune cells target the the myelin sheath, without myelin sheath electric signals
are extremely slowed down or inhibited.
c) Immune cells attack neuron cells, not enough neurons to signal movement.
d) More than one answer is correct.

4- What happens to neurotransmitters after they are used?

a) Recycled and reused in the synaptic cleft
b) Degraded by the axon terminal
c) They self-degrade after they bind to the ion channels
d) None of the above

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5- The figure above is a representation of the neurons at work in the central nervous system
(CNS) and Peripheral Nervous System (PNS). What do the numbers correspond to?
a) 1. Motor Neurons 2. Interneurons 3. Sensory Neurons
b) 1. Sensory Neurons 2. Motor neurons 3. Interneurons
c) 1. Motor neurons 2. Sensory Neurons 3. Interneurons
d) 1. Interneurons 2. Sensory Neurons 3. Motor Neurons

6- The figure below is a snapshot of a neuron taken from your book. What do the numbers
represent?

a) 1. Dendrites 2. Myelin Sheath 3. Nodes 4. Axon Terminals

b) 1. Dendrites 2. Nodes 3. Axon Terminals 4. Myelin sheath
c) 1. Axon Terminals 2. Myelin Sheath 3. Nodes 4. Dendrites
d) None of the above

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7- What causes the cell’s resting potential?
a) Active transport protein pumps that pump 2 Potassium ions (K+) in the cell for
every 3 sodium ions (Na+) out of the cell. Ion channels that have a net diffusion
of Potassium ions (K+) out of the cell.
b) Active transport proteins that pump Potassium ions (K+) out of the cell and
sodium ions (NA+) inside the cell. Ion channels that have a net diffusion of
Sodium ions (Na+) out of the cell.
c) Ion channels diffusing sodium and potassium ions (NA+) and (K+) out of the cell
d) More than one answer is correct

8- What happens during an action potential?

a) Gated sodium channels open, allowing positively charged sodium ions (Na+) to
enter the cell, increasing the cell’s potential.
b) Gated potassium channels open, allowing positively charged potassium ions (K+)
to enter the cell, increasing the cell’s potential.
c) Gated sodium channels open, allowing positively charged sodium ions (Na+) to
exit the cell, increasing the cell’s potential.
d) Gated potassium channels open, allowing positively charged potassium ions (K+)
to exit the cell, increasing the cell’s potential.

9- Two athletes fall during practice. One scrapes their skin, the other breaks their arm. How
come one athlete feels considerably more pain than the other?
a) The scraped athlete’s pain stimulus has lower threshold than the pain stimulus of
the broken arm
b) The scraped athlete’s pain stimulus has the same threshold than the pain stimulus
of the broken arm
c) The scraped athletes pain stimulus produces less action potentials than the pain
stimulus of the broken arm
d) b and c

10- Nowadays, many people consume coffee to stay alert during the day. However, it’s not the
beverage, but the drug “caffeine” inside the beverage that causes the drinker to be alert. Sleep
is caused by binding of Adenosine molecules to receptors which slows down brain activity.
What is the most likely way caffeine works?
a) It acts as an enzyme and degrades Adenosine.
b) It acts as a ligand and binds to the excitatory glands, so Adenosine can’t be
released.
c) It has a similar conformation to Adenosine and can bind in its stead at the
receptors.
d) More information is needed.

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11- What does this figure represent?

a) Active transport
b) Action potential
c) Resting potential
d) Passive transport