brain.json

{
  "name": "Brain and Behaviour",
  "questions": [
    {
      "question": "During graded force production, the typical order of motor unit recruitment described in the notes is:",
      "options": [
        "larger, fast motor units first; smaller, slow units later",
        "smaller, slower motor units first; then progressively larger, more powerful units",
        "random recruitment that depends mainly on visual feedback",
        "simultaneous recruitment of all motor units once a movement begins"
      ],
      "answer": "smaller, slower motor units first; then progressively larger, more powerful units"
    },
    {
      "question": "In the Stroop task description, which statements are consistent with the mechanisms highlighted in the notes?",
      "options": [
        "Interference is greatest when the written word and ink colour match",
        "The task depends primarily on occipital cortex processing with minimal prefrontal involvement",
        "The task is explained as a pure test of motor output without attentional selection demands",
        "all of the above"
      ],
      "answer": "all of the above"
    },
    {
      "question": "In the basal ganglia indirect pathway description, inhibiting the external globus pallidus (GPe) has which key downstream consequence?",
      "options": [
        "It increases inhibition of the subthalamic nucleus (STN), suppressing its output",
        "It reduces inhibition of the STN, allowing the STN to drive GPi/SNr activity",
        "It directly excites thalamic neurons projecting to motor cortex",
        "It blocks dopamine release from substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc) into the striatum"
      ],
      "answer": "It reduces inhibition of the STN, allowing the STN to drive GPi/SNr activity"
    },
    {
      "question": "Which event is described as critical for NMDA-receptor mediated LTP induction in hippocampal synapses?",
      "options": [
        "Chloride influx through GABA receptors in the postsynaptic neuron",
        "Sodium efflux that hyperpolarises the postsynaptic membrane",
        "Calcium influx through NMDA receptors after sufficient depolarisation removes the magnesium block",
        "A presynaptic decrease in glutamate release probability"
      ],
      "answer": "Calcium influx through NMDA receptors after sufficient depolarisation removes the magnesium block"
    },
    {
      "question": "In the rTMS intervention study on hemispatial neglect described, which outcome was reported?",
      "options": [
        "Improvements were reported only after a single stimulation session",
        "Improvements were absent in the multiple-session stimulation group",
        "both A and B",
        "Significant improvements were observed in the group receiving repeated stimulation sessions (ten applications)"
      ],
      "answer": "Significant improvements were observed in the group receiving repeated stimulation sessions (ten applications)"
    },
    {
      "question": "Dysdiadochokinesia (in the context of cerebellar dysfunction) refers to:",
      "options": [
        "difficulty recognising objects despite intact primary vision",
        "tremor that occurs only at rest and disappears during movement",
        "impaired ability to perform rapid alternating movements",
        "a profound loss of motivation and slowed goal-directed behaviour"
      ],
      "answer": "impaired ability to perform rapid alternating movements"
    },
    {
      "question": "According to the ATOM account in the dyscalculia notes, time, space and number are proposed to share a common neural underpinning in:",
      "options": [
        "the right intraparietal sulcus",
        "the hippocampus",
        "the ventral occipito-temporal stream",
        "the amygdala"
      ],
      "answer": "the right intraparietal sulcus"
    },
    {
      "question": "In the emotion regulation paradigm described for depression, which pattern most directly captured the reward-related abnormality reported?",
      "options": [
        "Greater sustained nucleus accumbens activation to positive images specifically during amplification trials",
        "No group differences in nucleus accumbens activity across any instruction conditions",
        "Depressed participants failed to sustain nucleus accumbens activation when amplifying positive emotion",
        "Selective hyperactivation of occipital cortex to negative images regardless of instruction"
      ],
      "answer": "Depressed participants failed to sustain nucleus accumbens activation when amplifying positive emotion"
    },
    {
      "question": "Regarding cortical hyperarousal during sleep in PTSD (as summarised), which statements are consistent with the notes?",
      "options": [
        "Hyperarousal is indexed as increased power in higher frequency EEG bands during sleep",
        "Hyperarousal during sleep was described as interacting with daytime hyperarousal domains",
        "Hyperarousal was linked to disturbed sleep continuity (eg more awakenings / difficulty falling asleep)",
        "all of the above"
      ],
      "answer": "all of the above"
    },
    {
      "question": "Sleep spindles were described as being generated in the thalamic reticular nucleus (TRN), which is composed predominantly of:",
      "options": [
        "dopaminergic projection neurons",
        "GABAergic inhibitory neurons",
        "cholinergic motor neurons",
        "glutamatergic pyramidal neurons"
      ],
      "answer": "GABAergic inhibitory neurons"
    },
    {
      "question": "Which observation best captures the classic demonstration that non-declarative learning can be preserved despite profound amnesia (as described in the notes)?",
      "options": [
        "Normal delayed recall of a complex figure after a 15-minute distractor period",
        "Normal acquisition of new episodic memories for post-surgery daily events",
        "Improved performance across repeated mirror-drawing trials despite no recollection of having practised",
        "Above-chance recognition of recently studied paired associates after distraction"
      ],
      "answer": "Improved performance across repeated mirror-drawing trials despite no recollection of having practised"
    },
    {
      "question": "Which pattern of impairment best matches the notes' summary of what defines the core deficit in dense hippocampal amnesia across many tasks?",
      "options": [
        "Performance collapses only when material is nonverbal; verbal learning is intact",
        "Impairment is most evident when information must be retrieved after a delay in which the person is not actively rehearsing it",
        "Immediate repetition and short-term maintenance are profoundly impaired even without distraction",
        "all of the above"
      ],
      "answer": "Impairment is most evident when information must be retrieved after a delay in which the person is not actively rehearsing it"
    },
    {
      "question": "Which region is described as the primary gateway between the hippocampus and the broader neocortex?",
      "options": [
        "perirhinal cortex",
        "parahippocampal cortex",
        "entorhinal cortex",
        "anterior cingulate cortex"
      ],
      "answer": "entorhinal cortex"
    },
    {
      "question": "In the anterior–posterior distinction described for hippocampal connectivity, the anterior hippocampus is characterised as receiving relatively greater input from:",
      "options": [
        "parahippocampal cortex (spatial layout coding)",
        "amygdala and perirhinal cortex (emotional/item-related inputs)",
        "primary motor cortex and cerebellum (motor timing inputs)",
        "occipital cortex (early visual inputs)"
      ],
      "answer": "amygdala and perirhinal cortex (emotional/item-related inputs)"
    },
    {
      "question": "Which of the following was explicitly listed as one of the four inhibition functions associated with DLPFC control?",
      "options": [
        "initiating tetanic muscle contractions at the neuromuscular junction",
        "removing irrelevant information from working memory",
        "generating place-cell firing fields in CA1",
        "increasing reward sensitivity via nucleus accumbens activation"
      ],
      "answer": "removing irrelevant information from working memory"
    },
    {
      "question": "Within prospect theory (as described), which component captures the idea that people do not treat objective probabilities linearly (eg overestimating rare outcomes)?",
      "options": [
        "diminishing marginal utility",
        "expected value maximisation",
        "probability weighting",
        "normative rationality"
      ],
      "answer": "probability weighting"
    },
    {
      "question": "Which statements match the notes' description of motor programs?",
      "options": [
        "They centrally organise and control many degrees of freedom in an action",
        "They can be used without ongoing feedback from the moving limb",
        "They show equivalence (actions can be produced independently of specific muscle groups)",
        "all of the above"
      ],
      "answer": "all of the above"
    },
    {
      "question": "When discussing learned motor skills becoming less reliant on external monitoring, which pattern was described as evidence for supplementary motor area (SMA) involvement?",
      "options": [
        "SMA activity decreases as sequences become well learned, indicating it is mainly a novice-learning region",
        "SMA activity increases as a task becomes learned and can be performed without strong reliance on visual cues",
        "both A and B",
        "SMA activity is selectively driven only by nociceptive interoceptive afferents"
      ],
      "answer": "SMA activity increases as a task becomes learned and can be performed without strong reliance on visual cues"
    },
    {
      "question": "According to the anatomical description of the insula, interoceptive inputs first enter the insular cortex primarily via:",
      "options": [
        "anterior insula",
        "posterior insula",
        "ventrolateral prefrontal cortex",
        "angular gyrus"
      ],
      "answer": "posterior insula"
    },
    {
      "question": "In schizophrenia sleep physiology, which observation was used to argue for a broader thalamic dysfunction beyond spindle count alone?",
      "options": [
        "Thalamus–cortex hyperconnectivity correlated with fewer sleep spindles",
        "Hippocampus–amygdala hypoconnectivity correlated with increased slow-wave sleep",
        "both A and B",
        "Thalamus–cortex hyperconnectivity correlated with fewer sleep spindles"
      ],
      "answer": "Thalamus–cortex hyperconnectivity correlated with fewer sleep spindles"
    },
    {
      "question": "Which symptom triad was described as necessary for a diagnosis of Balint's syndrome?",
      "options": [
        "Simultanagnosia, optic ataxia, oculomotor apraxia",
        "Simultanagnosia, prosopagnosia, optic ataxia",
        "Hemispatial neglect, simultanagnosia, oculomotor apraxia",
        "Acalculia, agraphia, finger agnosia"
      ],
      "answer": "Simultanagnosia, optic ataxia, oculomotor apraxia"
    },
    {
      "question": "In the systems consolidation account described, hippocampal damage is predicted to show what temporal profile in memory loss?",
      "options": [
        "Older memories are more vulnerable than recent memories because the cortex is fragile",
        "Recently acquired memories are especially vulnerable, whereas older memories are relatively preserved as information is transferred out of hippocampus",
        "No temporal gradient is expected if the hippocampus is damaged",
        "Only semantic memory should be affected, not episodic memory"
      ],
      "answer": "Recently acquired memories are especially vulnerable, whereas older memories are relatively preserved as information is transferred out of hippocampus"
    },
    {
      "question": "In the interference-resolution paradigm described (negative recency), increased ventrolateral PFC activity was associated with which probe type?",
      "options": [
        "A probe that was present in the current set (positive trial)",
        "A probe absent from the current set but present in a recent previous set (negative recency)",
        "A probe that had never been presented at any point (novel foil)",
        "A probe that had been repeatedly practised during retrieval training"
      ],
      "answer": "A probe absent from the current set but present in a recent previous set (negative recency)"
    },
    {
      "question": "Which findings were described as evidence that slow-wave sleep plays an active role in stabilising declarative memories?",
      "options": [
        "Enhancing slow-wave rhythm via stimulation improved paired-associate learning",
        "During slow-wave sleep, reactivation/replay of prior learning was described as strengthening memory traces",
        "Odour cue re-presentation during sleep improved later memory relative to wake, while wake cueing could worsen memory",
        "all of the above"
      ],
      "answer": "all of the above"
    },
    {
      "question": "In the retrieval-and-control lecture summary, which region was highlighted as being recruited during both episodic and semantic retrieval when task-relevant information is weak and competition must be controlled?",
      "options": [
        "posterior cingulate cortex",
        "hippocampus",
        "angular gyrus",
        "ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (left inferior frontal gyrus)"
      ],
      "answer": "ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (left inferior frontal gyrus)"
    },
    {
      "question": "According to the basal ganglia account in Parkinson's disease, which imbalance best matches the notes' description?",
      "options": [
        "excess direct pathway output with insufficient indirect pathway output",
        "insufficient direct pathway output with insufficient indirect pathway output",
        "excess indirect pathway output with excess direct pathway output",
        "insufficient direct pathway output with excess indirect pathway output (hypokinesia)"
      ],
      "answer": "insufficient direct pathway output with excess indirect pathway output (hypokinesia)"
    },
    {
      "question": "In Garfinkel's interoception framework, interoceptive awareness is best captured by which combination?",
      "options": [
        "objective interoceptive accuracy alone",
        "subjective self-report of bodily feelings irrespective of objective accuracy",
        "both A and B",
        "heartbeat-evoked potentials without any metacognitive judgement"
      ],
      "answer": "both A and B"
    },
    {
      "question": "In Avery et al.'s mapping work described, which pattern of insula activation best matches the summary in the notes?",
      "options": [
        "Interoceptive attention preferentially activated anterior insula, while taste attention activated posterior insula",
        "Interoception and taste activated entirely non-overlapping insula territories with no shared regions",
        "Interoceptive attention showed greater posterior insula activity, while exteroceptive taste attention showed greater anterior insula activity (with some overlap in mid/posterior regions)",
        "Only mid-insula differentiated the tasks; anterior and posterior insula did not"
      ],
      "answer": "Interoceptive attention showed greater posterior insula activity, while exteroceptive taste attention showed greater anterior insula activity (with some overlap in mid/posterior regions)"
    },
    {
      "question": "Which outcome was reported in the smoking–insula lesion example used to illustrate the insula's role in conscious urges?",
      "options": [
        "Smokers with insula lesions became more relapse-prone due to loss of autonomic regulation",
        "Smokers with insula damage were reported as over 100 times more likely to quit smoking without relapse than smokers with lesions elsewhere",
        "Smokers with insula damage showed improved sleep spindles and memory consolidation but unchanged smoking behaviour",
        "Smokers with insula lesions lost procedural learning but retained craving"
      ],
      "answer": "Smokers with insula damage were reported as over 100 times more likely to quit smoking without relapse than smokers with lesions elsewhere"
    },
    {
      "question": "In the monoamine treatment discussion, why were antidepressant effects described as typically taking weeks to emerge?",
      "options": [
        "because dopamine itself must first cross the blood–brain barrier",
        "because treatments must overcome homeostatic feedback mechanisms (often requiring ~2–4 weeks)",
        "because hippocampal place cells must reorganise during REM sleep before symptoms change",
        "because antipsychotic D2 blockade must first reduce hallucinations"
      ],
      "answer": "because treatments must overcome homeostatic feedback mechanisms (often requiring ~2–4 weeks)"
    },
    {
      "question": "In the fear conditioning/extinction work described, which pair of findings characterised PTSD patients at extinction recall (24 hours later) relative to trauma-exposed controls?",
      "options": [
        "enhanced extinction retention with increased vmPFC activity",
        "normal extinction learning but reduced fear acquisition",
        "both A and B",
        "enhanced amygdala activity only during extinction learning, with no recall differences"
      ],
      "answer": "both A and B"
    },
    {
      "question": "Which sequence best matches the reaching-related visuomotor pathway described in the advanced movement lecture?",
      "options": [
        "parieto-occipital extrastriate area (PO) → mediodorsal parietal (MDP) → medial intraparietal (MIP) → dorsal premotor area (PMd)",
        "dorsal extrastriate cortex (ES) → anterior intraparietal sulcus (AIP) → ventral premotor area (PMv)",
        "primary visual cortex → amygdala → ventromedial PFC → primary motor cortex",
        "thalamus → cerebellum → spinal cord → supplementary motor area"
      ],
      "answer": "parieto-occipital extrastriate area (PO) → mediodorsal parietal (MDP) → medial intraparietal (MIP) → dorsal premotor area (PMd)"
    },
    {
      "question": "In the CA1 NMDA receptor knock-out mouse work described, which behavioural profile was reported?",
      "options": [
        "Impaired spatial learning alongside preservation of other forms of learning such as classical conditioning",
        "Enhanced spatial learning due to reduced interference between similar environments",
        "Selective impairment in classical conditioning with intact spatial learning",
        "No measurable learning impairment across tasks"
      ],
      "answer": "Impaired spatial learning alongside preservation of other forms of learning such as classical conditioning"
    },
    {
      "question": "Which cueing pattern best distinguishes semantic aphasia from semantic dementia in the notes' comparison?",
      "options": [
        "Semantic dementia shows large improvements with phonological cues, whereas semantic aphasia shows little cue benefit",
        "Both disorders show no cueing benefit because semantic knowledge is equally degraded",
        "Semantic aphasia shows much larger improvement with phonological cues than semantic dementia",
        "all of the above"
      ],
      "answer": "Semantic aphasia shows much larger improvement with phonological cues than semantic dementia"
    },
    {
      "question": "In the retrieval-network summary, default mode network (DMN) engagement was reinterpreted as being driven primarily by:",
      "options": [
        "effortful controlled retrieval when target information is weak",
        "strong/easy retrieval that can come relatively automatically (often from strong cues)",
        "exclusive involvement in episodic memory with no role in semantic retrieval",
        "motor preparation demands during memory tasks"
      ],
      "answer": "strong/easy retrieval that can come relatively automatically (often from strong cues)"
    },
    {
      "question": "Which statement best captures the double dissociation described between amnesia and semantic dementia?",
      "options": [
        "Both conditions primarily show procedural learning deficits with preserved declarative memory",
        "Semantic dementia reflects hippocampal damage, whereas amnesia reflects anterior temporal lobe degeneration",
        "Amnesia typically shows episodic impairment with relative preservation of semantic memory, whereas semantic dementia shows semantic impairment with relative preservation of episodic memory",
        "Both conditions show identical impairments because episodic and semantic memory are a single system"
      ],
      "answer": "Amnesia typically shows episodic impairment with relative preservation of semantic memory, whereas semantic dementia shows semantic impairment with relative preservation of episodic memory"
    },
    {
      "question": "In the heartbeat-evoked potential (HEP) study described for general anxiety disorder, what was the pattern reported in healthy controls across eyes-open vs eyes-closed resting states?",
      "options": [
        "HEP magnitude decreased in eyes-closed relative to eyes-open",
        "HEP magnitude was greater in eyes-closed than eyes-open",
        "HEP magnitude was identical across both conditions",
        "HEP was not measurable in healthy participants and only appeared in anxiety"
      ],
      "answer": "HEP magnitude was greater in eyes-closed than eyes-open"
    },
    {
      "question": "In the attentional blink paradigm with cardiac timing described, which stimulus category showed selective facilitation at systole (heart contraction)?",
      "options": [
        "fear faces",
        "neutral faces",
        "houses",
        "all face types equally"
      ],
      "answer": "fear faces"
    },
    {
      "question": "In the cardiac-cycle manipulation work on racial stereotyping described, systole presentation was reported to:",
      "options": [
        "exacerbate stereotyped responses (eg weapon/tool judgements and shooting decisions became more biased in the threat-relevant direction)",
        "eliminate bias by increasing executive control over responses",
        "reduce stereotype-consistent responding by weakening salience signals",
        "affect only subjective confidence, with no change in behaviour"
      ],
      "answer": "exacerbate stereotyped responses (eg weapon/tool judgements and shooting decisions became more biased in the threat-relevant direction)"
    },
    {
      "question": "In Bliss and Lomo's hippocampal LTP demonstration, which observation most directly reflects synapse specificity?",
      "options": [
        "High-frequency stimulation increased responses equally for both stimulated and unstimulated pathways",
        "Conditioning reduced responses in the stimulated pathway due to habituation",
        "both A and B",
        "Conditioning increased response to stimulation of the conditioned pathway, while the unconditioned pathway's response remained unchanged"
      ],
      "answer": "Conditioning increased response to stimulation of the conditioned pathway, while the unconditioned pathway's response remained unchanged"
    },
    {
      "question": "Which set of approaches were described as ways to link hippocampal mechanisms (including NMDA-dependent processes) to spatial memory performance?",
      "options": [
        "Hippocampal lesions in animals to test task dependence on hippocampus",
        "Pharmacological disruption using an NMDA receptor antagonist during spatial learning",
        "Transgenic knock-out mice lacking NMDA receptors in CA1 to test causal contribution",
        "all of the above"
      ],
      "answer": "all of the above"
    },
    {
      "question": "According to the dopamine hypothesis summary in the schizophrenia lecture notes, which mapping is correct?",
      "options": [
        "Hyperdopaminergic mesocortical pathway → positive symptoms; hypodopaminergic mesolimbic pathway → negative symptoms",
        "Dopamine is uniformly increased throughout the brain, producing both positive and negative symptoms equally",
        "Hyperdopaminergic mesolimbic pathway → positive symptoms; hypodopaminergic mesocortical pathway → negative symptoms",
        "Dopamine is irrelevant; serotonin alone explains both positive and negative symptoms"
      ],
      "answer": "Hyperdopaminergic mesolimbic pathway → positive symptoms; hypodopaminergic mesocortical pathway → negative symptoms"
    },
    {
      "question": "In the mechanistic description of NMDA receptors during LTP, what allows calcium to pass through NMDA channels?",
      "options": [
        "GABA binding opens NMDA channels directly",
        "Sufficient depolarisation expels magnesium from the NMDA channel pore",
        "Chloride influx through NMDA channels unmasks calcium permeability",
        "Dopamine binding to NMDA receptors removes the magnesium block"
      ],
      "answer": "Sufficient depolarisation expels magnesium from the NMDA channel pore"
    },
    {
      "question": "In the think/no-think paradigm described, successful suppression was associated with which neural pattern?",
      "options": [
        "increased activation in prefrontal cortex alongside decreased activation in hippocampus",
        "decreased activation in prefrontal cortex alongside increased activation in hippocampus",
        "increased activation in occipital cortex only, with no hippocampal modulation",
        "amygdala-driven activation increases were necessary and sufficient for suppression success"
      ],
      "answer": "increased activation in prefrontal cortex alongside decreased activation in hippocampus"
    },
    {
      "question": "Sleep spindles were described as arising from which core thalamic mechanism?",
      "options": [
        "Sustained excitation of thalamocortical neurons without inhibitory input",
        "Powerful inhibition by TRN neurons followed by rebound burst firing at spindle frequency",
        "A dopaminergic burst from VTA that entrains thalamic oscillations",
        "Cerebellar re-entrant circuits that synchronise cortical networks during NREM sleep"
      ],
      "answer": "Powerful inhibition by TRN neurons followed by rebound burst firing at spindle frequency"
    },
    {
      "question": "Which set of findings were used to support interoceptive abnormalities/differences in anorexia nervosa in the notes?",
      "options": [
        "Meta-analytic evidence of lower interoceptive sensibility on eating-disorder interoception scales",
        "Reduced pleasantness ratings of affective touch relative to controls (controlling for anhedonia)",
        "Altered insula engagement during gastric interoception (eg reduced dorsal mid-insula activity during stomach-focused trials)",
        "all of the above"
      ],
      "answer": "all of the above"
    },
    {
      "question": "In the numerical distance effect imaging described for dyscalculia, which pattern distinguished controls from children with dyscalculia?",
      "options": [
        "Children with dyscalculia showed greater right intraparietal sulcus activation as distance increased, while controls did not",
        "Controls showed a numerical-distance-related activation in right intraparietal sulcus that was not observed in dyscalculia",
        "Both groups showed identical intraparietal activation but differed only in occipital cortex responses",
        "Neither group showed any right parietal involvement during numerical comparison"
      ],
      "answer": "Controls showed a numerical-distance-related activation in right intraparietal sulcus that was not observed in dyscalculia"
    },
    {
      "question": "In the direct pathway description of basal ganglia function, what is the immediate functional consequence of striatal GABAergic output onto GPi/SNr?",
      "options": [
        "It reduces GPi/SNr inhibitory output to the thalamus, effectively opening a gate for movement-related thalamocortical drive",
        "It increases inhibition of thalamic neurons, suppressing movement initiation",
        "It directly contracts skeletal muscle via acetylcholine release at the neuromuscular junction",
        "It prevents cortical motor programmes from being selected by increasing indirect pathway activity"
      ],
      "answer": "It reduces GPi/SNr inhibitory output to the thalamus, effectively opening a gate for movement-related thalamocortical drive"
    },
    {
      "question": "In the heat-pain predictive coding study summary (Geuter et al.), which region's activity patterns were described as aligning with predictive coding of pain rather than raw intensity coding?",
      "options": [
        "posterior insula",
        "primary motor cortex",
        "anterior insula",
        "all of the above"
      ],
      "answer": "anterior insula"
    },
    {
      "question": "In the Eriksen Flanker Task description, strong involvement was attributed to which region, likely due to conflict detection demands?",
      "options": [
        "anterior cingulate cortex (ACC)",
        "amygdala",
        "hippocampus",
        "cerebellum"
      ],
      "answer": "anterior cingulate cortex (ACC)"
    }
  ]
}