Welcome to the Brain Game

1
Welcome to the Brain Game!
2
Rules

• Form groups of four
• For each question, raise your hand if your group
  knows the answer.
• Each correct answer is worth 1 chip. These chips
  are worth something later
• Report the names of your group members and
  chips won at the end of the game.

3

• Antoine has had a recent onset of depression.
  His doctors determine that his depression is due
  to a lack of what neurotransmitter?

4
Answer Serotonin
5

• Following the Monica Lewinsky affair, President
  Clinton was heard making this lame excuse to
  Hillary . Well, its my brains fault. You
  know my __________ is just way overactive.

6
Answer

• Hypothalamus - It helps regulate sexual urges.
  Its part of the limbic system.

7

• Daniel suffers from focal epilepsy (seizures
  localized in just 1 part of the brain). His
  seizures trigger extreme emotions - most often
  extreme fear followed by rage. What general part
  of the brain is likely affected?

8
Answer

• The amygdala in the limbic system - its known
  for its influence on anger, fear, and anxiety.

9

• Carlos, a soccer goalie, was having the game of a
  lifetime. Toward the end of the game, he dove to
  stop a blazing corner shot. The ball struck him
  in the face and sent his head slamming back into
  the hard edge of the goal post. Carlos slowly
  sat up and wondered why he was seeing stars. What
  area of his brain was jolted?

10
Answer

• Occipital lobe - Hitting the back of his head
  stimulated the occipital lobe and this produced
  visual sensations such as seeing stars.

11

• During an operation for the removal of a brain
  tumor, Dr. Brantley stimulated Kims brain with
  an electrode. Kim reported hearing loud sirens.
  In what brain area did Dr. Brantley place the
  electrode?

12
Answer

• The temporal lobe.

13

• Dr. Williams was working in the ER, when a young
  gunshot victim arrives. She begins frantically
  working to save his life, but quickly gives up
  after locating the bullet wound. The patients
  blood pressure and heart rate dropped to
  essentially zero and he stopped breathing within
  seconds. Where most likely is the bullet?

14
Answer

• The medulla -- in the bottom most part of the
  brainstem. It takes care of life-sustaining
  reflexes such as breathing and heart rate and
  blood pressure.

15

• Jessica was not obviously injured in a recent
  auto accident, but received a hard blow to her
  head. Since that day she has noticed a dramatic
  decrease in her sex drive she hardly eats at
  all. What part of her brain might have been
  affected by the accident?

16
Answer

• Hypothalamus. A tiny structure that is is
  critical for basic behaviors and drives like
  hunger, thirst, body temperature, and sexual
  behavior.

17

• Rachel is in the Ten Hoor parking deck at 2 AM
  when she sees a large person in a hockey mask
  slowly walking toward her. She hauls butt out of
  there. Which nervous system was activated here?

18
Answer

• The autonomic nervous system arouses our fight
  or flight responses (increases heart rate,
  breathing, releases hormones and increases blood
  sugar, etc..) and allows us to go into action
  when necessary.

19

• Which two brain areas would have to be
  extraordinarily advanced in Baby Bethany to
  enable her to dance in a well coordinated fashion?

20
Answer

• Cerebellum, located in the brainstem, is involved
  in coordinated complex voluntary movements,
  balance, and posture.
• The motor cortex in the frontal lobe, functions
  to help control muscle movement by sending
  impulses to voluntary muscles.

21

• Claire was having a really bad week. On Mon.,
  she was studying when her vision got blurrier
  blurrier until she could no longer see. On
  Tues., she was practicing the violin when she
  realized she couldnt hear. On Wed. she was
  eating in the cafe when she realized she couldnt
  taste her food at all. On Thu. she realized she
  couldnt feel anything touching her skin. Her CAT
  scan revealed that a single brain tumor was
  probably producing all of these deficits. What
  one part of Claires brain was likely causing
  this inability to see, hear, taste, and feel?

22
Answer

• The thalamus - sensory information could not be
  relayed to her brain. Thus, Terri lost her
  ability to taste, see, hear, and touch. The
  thalamus receives sensory info then relays this
  info to other areas of brain.

23

• Muhammad Ali and Michael J. Fox have Parkinsons
  disease. It often leads to uncontrollable tremors
  among other things. Alis and Foxs disease may
  be linked to what neurotransmitter in what way?

24
Answer

• A shortage of dopamine

25

• Grandpa McDowell has begun to lose his spatial
  abilities - he gets lost in his familiar
  neighborhood, he cant put dishes or clean
  laundry away because he no longer knows where
  things go in his home of 40 years. The doctors
  say he also could not arrange blocks to form a
  design. What hemisphere of the brain controls
  these tasks?

26
Answer

• The right hemisphere - (The parietal lobe is
  particularly important in spatial processing).
  He may have difficulty processing music,
  recognizing faces, working jigsaw puzzles, etc)

27

• Alicia had a normal attention span and was a good
  sleeper. She often napped in the library and
  even in class. When playing football this fall,
  however, she received an exceptionally hard blow
  to the back of her head and neck. Now she
  suffers insomnia regularly and cant seem to
  focus her attention for very long. What part of
  her brain may have been damaged?

28
Answer

• The reticular formation, in the brainstem, is
  responsible for controlling sleep, arousal, and
  attention.
• Ill also accept, pons.

29

• Today is Saras birthday and she and her buddies
  celebrated a bit too much. When the police
  stopped her car, Saras speech was slurred, she
  couldnt walk a straight line or stand on one
  foot. The impaired functioning of what part of
  her brain is most responsible for these
  difficulties?

30
Answer

• Cerebellum, located in the brainstem, has control
  over coordinated voluntary movement, balance, and
  posture.
• One reason the police use dexterity tests, is
  that the cerebellum is one of the first brain
  areas affected by alcohol.

31

• Its raining out, so Zane and Kate take a short
  cut to get to Kates car. Unfortunately two
  unrestrained, hungry Dobermans catch sight of
  them and begin pursuit. Zane and Kate run faster
  than they ever have before and dive into the car
  just in the nick of time. It took 10 minutes for
  their pulse and breathing to return to normal.
  What part of the nervous system helped their
  bodies return to a normal state afterwards?

32
Answer

• The parasympathetic division of the autonomic
  nervous system. It reduces arousal by slowing
  heart breathing rate, restricting pupils,
  relaxing muscles, and decreasing body temp.

33

• Charlie was on an expedition in the Amazon when
  he was bitten by a large, strange insect. At
  first, nothing much happened, but soon he began
  to have some muscle spasms in his leg near the
  bite. Soon afterward, he began to have massive
  muscle contractions that eventually resulted in
  his death. The insect bite likely affected which
  neurotransmitter in Charlies nervous system?

34
Answer

• Acetylcholine (ACh) -- A NT that links the motor
  neurons muscles. The insects venom likely
  contained a strong concentration of ACh causing
  the motor neurons to be overloaded.

35

• Jordan suffered a case of encephalitis (a brain
  infection) while in college. The infection took
  its toll on certain parts of his brain. Although
  he can still recall events that happened before
  the infection, he cant do things like summarize
  yesterdays news report or recall his birthday
  party that took place a few weeks after his
  illness. What part of the brain did the
  encephalitis likely damage?

36
Answer

• Hippocampus (part of the limbic system). The
  hippocampus seems essential to our ability to
  form and store new memories in their more
  permanent, long-term form.

37

• Its year 118233 and a human-like species has
  made its way to Earth. Members of this highly
  advanced species are able to react, see, hear,
  feel, and move much quicker than regular human
  beings. What neuron structure is advanced in this
  species?

38
Answer

• Myelin - Helps speed movement of electrical
  impulses

39

• Dr. Frankenstein made a mistake during
  neurosurgery on his monster. After the
  operation, the monster saw with his ears and
  heard with his eyes. It is likely that Dr.
  Frankenstein rewired neural connections in the
  monsters __________.

40
Answer

• Thalamus

41

• Unfortunately your schools star basketball
  player suffered a severe head injury that damaged
  part of her cortex during a recent game. She
  shows some signs of weakness and partial
  paralysis of her right leg. She can no longer
  move her leg very well. What specific area and
  in what hemisphere of her brain was affected by
  the stroke?

42
Answer

• The motor cortex in the frontal lobe of the left
  hemisphere. The injury must have deprived the
  blood flow to the strip of the motor cortex in
  the frontal lobe of the left hemisphere.

43

• Katherine had a rare and severe form of epilepsy
  that could not be controlled by medication.
  Surgery stopped the seizures and seemed to have
  little effect on her everyday behaviors. Indicate
  the likely location of the surgery.

44
Answer

• Corpus Callosum
• Katherine is now a split-brain patient.

45

• Following a recent accident, Sarah Catherines
  personality changed dramatically. Once outgoing
  and lively, she is now reserved and rather shy
  around others. What brain area was most likely
  damaged in the accident?

46
Answer

• Frontal lobes or frontal cortex