Neuroscience Basics Quiz

What is the term for a brief electrical charge that travels down an axon?

• Resting potential

• Action potential

• Depolarization

• Refractory period

Match the following cells with their functions.

• Support, nourish, and protect neurons

• Glial cells

• Transmit signals from the central nervous system to effectors

• Afferent neurons

• Transmit signals from sensory receptors to the central nervous system

• Efferent neurons

• Connect neurons within the central nervous system

• Interneurons

Match the following components with their descriptions.

• The branched projections of a neuron that receive signals from other neurons.

• Neuron

• The long thread-like part of a nerve cell along which impulses are conducted.

• Axon

• The junction between two nerve cells, where impulses pass by diffusion of a neurotransmitter.

• Synapse

• The basic building block of the nervous system.

• Dendrite

Match the following terms with their definitions.

• The level of stimulation required to trigger a neural impulse.

• Depolarization

• A brief electrical charge that travels down an axon.

• Action potential

• The reabsorption of a neurotransmitter by the sending neuron.

• Reuptake

• The reduction in membrane potential that makes the inside of the neuron less negative.

• Threshold

The autoimmune disorder that affects acetylcholine receptors is (a)  

• Multiple sclerosis
• Myasthenia gravis
• Alzheimer's disease
• Parkinson's disease

What is the term for the space between the axon tip of the sending neuron and the dendrite or cell body of the receiving neuron?

• Synapse

• Axon

• Dendrite

• Myelin sheath

What is the term for neurons that carry incoming information from the sensory receptors to the brain and spinal cord?

• Interneurons

• Efferent neurons

• Afferent neurons

• Glial cells

What is the term for the bushy, branching extensions of a neuron that receive messages?

• Myelin sheaths

• Synapses

• Axons

• Dendrites

Match the following terms with their definitions.

• The level of stimulation required to trigger a neural impulse

• Refractory period

• The period after an action potential during which a neuron is unable to fire

• Action potential

• The state of a neuron when it is not firing a neural impulse

• Threshold

• A brief electrical charge that travels down an axon

• Resting potential

What is the term for neurons that carry outgoing information from the brain and spinal cord to the muscles and glands?

• Efferent neurons

• Afferent neurons

• Interneurons

• Glial cells