Egypt’s Brain Bee 2020

Name: ………………………………………………………………………………………………
Email: ……………………………………………………………………………………………… Phone Number: ……………………………………………………

1) The diagram shows some of the structures involved in a reflex

action.

What are the name of neurons A and B?

A ………………………………………………………..
B ………………………………………………………..

2) Parkinson’s patients experience degeneration of neurons in a brain region called the:

a) medial lemniscus
b) substantia nigra
c) lateral lemniscus
d) parafascicular nucleus

3) The name of the receptors that respond to damaging stimuli is:

a) mechanoreceptors
b) thermoreceptors
c) photoreceptors
d) nociceptors

4) A condition that begins in early childhood in which a person shows persistent communication
deficits as well as restricted and repetitive patterns of behaviors or activities:
a) Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
b) Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)
c) Autism spectrum disorder (ASD)
d) Down syndrome

5) A patient who is diagnosed with Parkinson disease (PD) states, “I can’t tie my shoelaces anymore.”
The healthcare provider recognizes that this patient’s problem is due to a deficiency in which of these
neurotransmitters?
a) Glutamate
b) Norepinephrine
c) Dopamine
d) Seratonin

Page 1 of 9
Egypt’s Brain Bee 2020

6) Which of the following is derived from the hemp plant "cannabis sativa"?
a) Opium
b) Marijuana
c) MDMA
d) Crack

7) All of the following can be studied using histological research tools, EXCEPT:
a) Neurodegenerative disorders
b) Neural networks
c) Macro-structure of the brain
d) Micro-structure of the brain

8) An excitatory post synaptic potential (EPSP) is produced when the movement of ions makes the
inside of the cell more
a) Close to 0 mV
b) Close to -90 mV
c) Close to -90 V
d) Close to 30 V

9) Which is not a part of the brain?

a) Brain stem
b) Foramen magnum
c) Cerebrum
d) Cerebellum

10) What sensation is related to the occipital lobe?

a) Vision
b) Hearing
c) Smell
d) Taste

11) Which of the following is NOT true about seizures:

a) The first line of treatment for seizures are medications
b) All seizure patients present with the same form: they collapse to the ground and start shaking vigorously
due to involuntary muscle contractions.
c) Seizures result from irregular activity of brain cells
d) Split-brain surgery is one of the interventions for treating drug-resistant seizures

12) People with dyslexia have difficulty reading, writing and speaking and the condition can persist for
life
a) True
b) False

Page 2 of 9
Egypt’s Brain Bee 2020

13) Which part of the brain controls body temperature and provides a link between the brain and the
endocrine system?
a) Amygdala
b) Pons
c) Pituitary gland
d) Hypothalamus

The figure below is for an action potential. The letters A, B, C and D refer to 4 different stages during
the action potential. Answer the next 2 questions.

14) During which stage do sodium channels open

causing depolarization?
a) A
b) B
c) C
d) D

15) Action potentials are an all-or-none

phenomena.
a) True
b) False

16) All of the following are ways to clear the synaptic cleft of neurotransmitters, EXCEPT:
a) Glial Cell Transporters
b) Pumping it back into the presynaptic neurons
c) Infiltration into bloodstream
d) Enzymes

17) Someone who is able to hear a person speak but no longer understand what is being said, probably
has damage to a brain region called
a) Wernicke’s area
b) Broca’s area
c) primary auditory cortex
d) prefrontal association areas

18) The type of memory used when you are riding a bike is
a) episodic
b) semantic
c) procedural
d) declarative

Page 3 of 9
Egypt’s Brain Bee 2020

19) Neural development begins with rapid division of nerve cells in a process called
a) cell migration
b) synaptogenesis
c) differentiation
d) neurogenesis

20) Which of the following is NOT true about human brain?

a) Average weight of newborn brain is less than that of adult brain.
b) The cerebellum is the fastest growing brain region.
c) Newborn brain have the same number of neurons as adult brain.
d) The growth rate of the whole brain slows as the baby ages.

21) In the eyes, the axons of which cells are bundled together to form the optic nerve?
a) rods
b) cones
c) ganglion cells
d) amacrine cells
e) a and b

22) Which of the following is an important factor in substance abuse?

a) Whether the substances are regularly used by other family members
b) Whether the family environment is rural or urban
c) Whether you are the oldest child
d) Whether you are born in the winter

23) Epigenetics is the study of:

a) factors that affect gene expressions
b) drosophila genes
c) the number of genes in each species’ DNA
d) A and C

24) The neurotransmitter γ-amino-butyric acid (GABA) causes the generation of an …….. postsynaptic
potential.
a) Excitatory
b) Inhibitory
c) Positive
d) None of the above

25) Lie-detection techniques are accepted and used by most courts.

a) True
b) False

Page 4 of 9
Egypt’s Brain Bee 2020

26) Which of the following can be used to study the capacity of a synapse to become stronger or
weaker in response to sensory inputs or other activity:
a) EEG
b) MRI
c) An electrode
d) DNA sequencing

27) In ancient Egypt, the brain was removed from the body before mummification. How was it
removed?
a) Through the nose.
b) Through the mouth.
c) Through a hole cut in the skull.

28) Which of these form the diencephalon?

a) thalamus and hypothalamus
b) caudate and putamen
c) frontal and prefrontal cortex
d) pons and medulla

29) Action potentials can happen in very rapid succession of each other, without any break between
them.
a) True
b) False

30) How do axonal growth cones know where to travel?

a) Special signaling cells called prions direct them
b) They travel along pre-determined cytoskeletal paths
c) They follow chemo-repulsive and chemo-attractive signals
d) Axonal growth cones don’t travel

31) Children born with down syndrome are at a high risk for developing early onset Alzheimer’s disease
because their extra copy of chromosome 21 carries the gene for:
a) Fragile X mental retardation protein
b) Amyloid precursor protein
c) Tumor suppressor enzyme
d) None of the above

32) ……….. is a region in the brain stem that emits a steady stream of action potential during the day
and become quiet at night; to coordinate the daily rhythms of the body
a) Superior salivary nucleus
b) Suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN)
c) Nucleus solitarius
d) Edinger-Westphal nucleus

Page 5 of 9
Egypt’s Brain Bee 2020

33) Fill in the blanks with words from the upper section of the following table. Each word can be used
several times, and you may write the letter before the word instead of the whole term. (6 marks)

a) taste b) hearing c) smell d) hypoglossal nerve

e) mechanical f) vagus nerve g) chemical h) olfactory nerve
i) facial nerve

Humans interact with their surrounding and study it using several sensory organs, such as hearing,
taste, and smell. Some of these sensations share common properties while differ in other aspects.
For example, both ___________ and ____________ are considered __________ receptors, while
__________ is considered a ___________ receptor. Also, __________ and ___________ share the
property of regeneration, which is not possible with the sensation of _____________.Each
sensation has its specific pathway to the brain; there are different cranial nerves carrying signals for
the different sensations. For example, ____________, ______________, and _____________ pass
through thalamus first, while ____________ travels directly to the cerebral cortex.

34) The neurotransmitter that influences the synapses in the reward pathway — the hippocampus,
amygdala, and the prefrontal cortex — to create emotional associations with rewards is
a) dopamine
b) serotonin
c) epinephrine
d) norepinephrine

35) Which of these is a good definition of semantic memory?

a) emotional memory associated with strong smells
b) explicit memory of facts
c) implicit memory of procedures and skills
d) instinctual memory

36) Which of these brain regions is NOT typically involved in movement?

a) The amygdala
b) The basal ganglia
c) The cerebellum
d) The cerebral cortex

37) A woman developed a tumor that diminished her ability to form new long-term memories. Though
memory involves numerous parts of the brain, the part most likely affected by the tumor is the
a) midbrain
b) amygdala
c) hippocampus
d) thalamus

Page 6 of 9
Egypt’s Brain Bee 2020

38) The brain’s main relay station for incoming sensory information is the
a) thalamus
b) hypothalamus
c) basal ganglia
d) cerebral cortex

39) ………… is the largest part of human brain associated with higher order functioning such as thinking,
perceiving, planning and understanding language as well as the control of voluntary behavior.
a) spinal cord
b) brain stem
c) cerebrum
d) cerebellum

40) Which of the following scenarios would test a person’s episodic memory?
a) The doctor asks the patient to recall a series of words.
b) The doctor asks the patient to describe her wedding day.
c) The doctor asks the patient about the current president
d) The doctor asks the patient to button a blouse.

41) A new genetic engineering technology has been developed to prevent children from developing
autism. A neuroscientist used it to modify the genes of a foetus with the consent of the parents.
However, this procedure has not been approved for testing in humans by the authorities. The
behaviour of the neuroscientist
a) is ethical
b) is non-ethical
c) depends on his/her intentions

42) A neurotransmitter that can work on both ionotropic and metabotropic receptors is:
a) Dopamine
b) Acetylcholine
c) Noradrenaline
d) Histamine

43) Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a disease caused by the death of sensory neurons
a) True
b) False

44) What is the neural plate?

a) A structure that will go on to form the brain and the spinal cord.
b) Another name for the base of the brain.
c) The connective tissue between the two hemisphere of the brain.
d) The part of the fetus that goes on to form the brain.

Page 7 of 9
Egypt’s Brain Bee 2020

45) ………. cations activate enzymes that race around and end up releasing neurotransmitters.
a) Magnesium
b) Sodium
c) Potassium
d) Calcium

Fill in the blank:

46) The thick bundle of neurons connecting your left and right cerebral hemispheres is called the
…………………………………………….

47) ……………………………………………. are the muscles that bend a joint, bringing the bones closer together, while
……………………………………………. are the muscles that straighten the joint, increasing the angle between the bones.

48) ……………………………………………. are a class of steroid hormones that produce an array of effects in response to
stress like mobilizing energy into blood stream, increasing cardiovascular tone, mediate stress response
and re-establish homeostasis

49) The main excitatory neurotransmitter in the brain is …………………………………………….

50) Receptors in the muscle called muscle ……………………………………………. send information to the spinal cord and
brain about the length and speed of the shortening or lengthening of a muscle.

51) The optic nerves from the two eyes cross at the …………………………………………….

52) The pineal gland secretes ……………………………………………. into the blood stream at night.

53) Mention 3 methods that have been successfully used in pain management to inhibit the emotional
component of pain rather than stopping the painful stimulus:

1) …………………………………………………………………………….….
2) …………………………………………………………………………….….
3) …………………………………………………………………………….….

54) A stressful situation activates three major communication systems in the brain:
1) ……………………………………………………………… (sends messages to muscles).
2) ……………………………………………………………… (made up of parasympathetic and sympathetic branches.
3) ………………………………………………………………system (maintains body’s internal functioning).

Page 8 of 9
Egypt’s Brain Bee 2020

55) Name the imaging technology. Abbreviation is accepted.

Measures blood flow or energy consumption in the brain based on the

detection of radioactivity emitted when positrons, positively charged ………………………………………………………………

particles, undergo radioactive decay in the brain.

Provides a high-quality, three-dimensional image of organs and
………………………………………………………………
structures inside the body using magnetic fields.
This technique compares brain activity under resting and active
conditions by detecting increases in blood oxygen levels when brain
………………………………………………………………
activity brings fresh blood to a particular area of the brain a correlate
of neuronal activity.
This is a recently developed technique that reveals the source of weak
………………………………………………………………
magnetic fields emitted by neurons.

56) Name an anatomical part of the central nervous system that:

is involved in daily activities such as eating (hunger) and drinking

………………………………………………………………
(thirst).
Is responsible for knee jerk and the rapid withdrawal of limb from a
………………………………………………………………
hot object.

plays a central role in balance and timing of movement. ………………………………………………………………

influences breathing and posture. ………………………………………………………………

controls vital functions such as heart rate and breathing. ………………………………………………………………

Good Luck!

Page 9 of 9