Neurological Functions Worksheet

University of Phoenix Material

Neurological Structures and Functions Worksheet

Short-Answer Essays

1. Describe why humans have a blind spot.

There is a point in the eye that were the optic nerve leaves the eye and there are no receptors there to communicate to the brain. Because of this there is a blind spot that does not transmit any images to the brain. (University of Phoenix, 2012).

2. Describe the functional and anatomic differences between rods and cones.

The difference in their anatomy is that the rod has a long rod shape at the end the body structure and the cone has a cylinder shape at the end of its body. Each of them serve a different purpose when it comes to vision, the cone has to do with
the fovea and provides most of what the brain perceives, including color. The rod is more abundant in the peripheral area and is effected more by faint light fluctuations. (University of Phoenix, 2012).

3.
Describe the trichromatic and opponent-process theories of color vision.

The Trichromatic theory states that the length of the cones in your eyes defines the colors that we perceive. Shortwave cones see the color blue, medium wavelength cones see green and long wavelength cones see red. Depending on the ratio of wavelengths our perceptions can see many combinations of colors. (University of Phoenix, 2012). The opponent process believes that color is perceived on a scale from red to green and another from blue to yellow. The mechanism in the part of the brain that deciphers the colors has bipolar cells. The bipolar cells are believed to be excited by one set of wave lengths and inhibited by the other set. (University of Phoenix, 2012).

4. Trace the process of interpreting auditory information from the stimulus to the interpretation. The first step would be the stimulation whether it be air noises, water noises, music or someone coughing. The sound then travel to the outer ear where it is the reflected into the middle ear where it is amplified into the inner ear. The sound is then transferred through the viscous fluid in the cochlea. Inside the cochlea are tubes that are filled with fluid and hair cells. The hair cells are moved by the sound waves and become receptors for the primary auditory cortex. The cortex then processes the sounds into an interpretation. (University of Phoenix,
2012).

5. Name and describe the major structures of the middle ear.

The middle ear also known as the ear drum is made up of three bones, the malleus, the incus and the stapes. These bones amplify the sound waves so that they can be heard in the inner ear. (University of Phoenix, 2012).

6.
Describe the factors that contribute to sound localization. There are three factors that contribute to sound localization, sound shadow, time of arrival and phase difference. The sound shadow are created by high frequencies. Time of arrival is the difference that the sound arrives at each ear and phase difference between the ears that provides the localization of lower frequencies. (University of Phoenix, 2012).

7. What is the function of the somatosensory system?
8.
The function of the somatosensory system is the perception of touch and movement of the body. The feelings of moving your arm or if someone brushes against you and it can include the feeling of pain. (University of Phoenix, 2012).

9. Name and describe the parts of the brain involved in the chemical sense of taste. The somatosensory would be decipher the constancy of the object in the mouth. Whether it be firm like a fruit or mushy like mashed potatoes. The insula plays the primary role in taste. The insula is the primary taste cortex and that is where the sweet or salty flavor is decided. Small also plays a factor in taste and smell is deciphered in the cerebral cortex. (University of Phoenix,
2012).

10. Describe the areas and major functions of the primary motor cortex. There are four areas of the primary motor cortex that helps control the bodies movement. The posterior parietal cortex helps keep a person aware of where and what their body is doing, what position they are in, this helps with planning their movements. The prefrontal cortex to sensory signals like lights, sounds that helps predict outcomes and movemntsmovementremotor cortex helps focus in on a specific object, it helps coordinate where and when to move like catching a football or catching yourself when you fall. The supplementary motor cortex helps coordinate sequential movemntsmovemenhappen quickly like running and jumping hurdles. (University of Phoenix, 2012).

11. Describe Parkinson’s disease and Huntington’s disease. Parkinson’s disease has symptoms of loss of control of the motor functions of their bodies and minds. According to Kalat, J. (2013), ”the immediate cause of Parkinson’s disease is the gradual progressive death of neurons, especially in the substantia nigra, which sends dopamine-releasing axons to the caudate nucleus and putamen”.(module 8.3) Since there is such a decrease in dopamine making axons the mental function of a Parkinson’s suffer starts to decline also. Making simple physical and mental decisions become problematic. (Kalat, J.W. 2013)

Hutchinson’s disease is a hereditary neurological disorder. The symptoms of Hutchinson’s disease usually start with arm jerks or facial twitches that turn into tremors of other parts of the body. (Kalat, J.W. 2013) As the disease progresses the use of common motor functions become harder and harder to control. According to Kalat, J. (2013) “The disorder is associated with gradual, extensive brain damage, especially in the caudate nucleus, putamen, and globus pallidus but also in the cerebral cortex”. (module 8.3) Once the brain damage has occurred the death is then immenantimminent.

References

Kalat, J.W. (2013). Biological psychology, (11th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.

University of Phoenix. (2012). Sensory and motor systems [Multimedia]. Retrieved from University of Phoenix, PSY340 website.