Week 4: Neuroesthetics & Synapses

At a synapse, where do the neurotransmitters get released from, where do they go to?

• Released from the dendrites of the post-synaptic cell; goes to the external environment

• Released from the axon terminal side of the synapse; goes to the external environment

• Released from the external environment; goes to the axon terminal side of the synapse

• Released from the axon terminal side of the synapse; goes to the dendrites of the post-synaptic cell

Where can you find the "meaning" or "intended impact" of a neurotransmitter release?

• Both in the type of neurotransmitter and in how the post-synaptic cell receptor is shaped to receive it

• Only in the type of neurotransmitter, i.e. the shape of the molecule

• By the electric charge of the neurotransmitter molecule

• Neurotransmitters do not have a "meaning"

What is the relationship between the shape and function of a molecule?

(hint... more than one correct answer)

• Little to no relationship

• Function is determined by shape

• Shape can be used to infer function

• Function overrides the shape

• Shape has no impact; function is most important

Tags

NGSS.HS-LS1-1

What impact does the acetylcholine neurotransmitter have on the post-synaptic cell that receives it?

• Excites the cell

• Inhibits the cell

• Depends on the cell which receives it

• Depends on how much acetylcholine is released

Depolarization is to _____ as hyperpolarization is to _____.

• inhibition; excitation

• excitation; inhibition

• dendrites; axons

• axons; dendrites

What does "gaze distribution" help us to understand?

• What part of an image needs to be explained to the viewer

• Where the brightest colors are in an image

• Which images a person spends the most time in front of in a museum

• Where eyes are drawn to the most in an image

Let's say you viewed a series of paintings, and noticed that when viewing images where the most interesting or critical part (such as a face) was obstructed, you felt almost a sense of frustration. What would this phenomenon best be described by?

• Abstraction

• Generic and canonical viewpoints

• Symmetry

• Visual problem-solving

What is the typical predisposition we have towards symmetry? (hint... multiple correct answers)

• We like it because symmetry can indicate health and help us recognize faces

• We like it because asymmetry can indicate disease

• We dislike it because it results in too much repetition

• We dislike it because it reduces originality

The fact that many paintings are meant to play on ambiguity means that different people can extract different, unique meanings from it.

• True

• False

"Visual puns" and "visual metaphors" show that the viewer of an artwork can bring their own contextual understanding to what they perceive in the external world. In other words, perception is both an internal and external experience.

• True

• False