Ch3: The electrophysiological brain

Question 1

The electrical activity (in terms of action potentials per second) of many individually recorded neurons recorded at one or more electrodes

Answer 1

Multi-cell recordings (or multi-unit recordings)

Question 2

A hypothetical neuron that just responds to one particular stimulus

Answer 2

Grandmother cell

Question 3

The informational content of a neuron may be related to the number of action potentials per second

Answer 3

Rate coding

Question 4

The synchrony of firing may be used by a population of neurons to code the same stimulus or event

Answer 4

Temporal coding

Question 5

The study of the time course of information processing in the human nervous system

Answer 5

Mental chronometry

Question 6

A pair of positive and negative electrical charges separated by a small distance

Answer 6

Dipole

Question 7

A general method for dividing reaction times into different stages

Answer 7

Additive factors method

Question 8

An ERP component (negative potential at 170 ms) linked to perceiving facial structure

Answer 8

N170

Question 9

Reaction times are faster to stimulus X after being presented to stimulus Y if X and Y have previously been associated together (e.g. if they tend to co-occur)

Answer 9

Associative priming

Question 10

Related to properties of the stimulus

Answer 10

Exogenous

Question 11

Related to properties of the task

Answer 11

Endogenous

Question 12

The difficulty of locating the sources of electrical activity from measurements taken at the scalp (in ERP research)

Answer 12

Inverse problem

Question 13

An attempt to solve the inverse problem in ERP research that involves assuming how many dipoles (regions of electrical activity) contribute to the signal recorded at the scalp

Answer 13

Dipole modeling

Question 14

ERPs are constructed by averaging time-locked portions of which measure? A) PET B) TMS C) MEG D) EEG

Answer 14

D) EEG

Question 15

Rather than relying on reaction times, lesion methods tend to rely on which of the following? A) Introspection B) Galvanic Skin Response C) Subjective Reports D) Error Rates

Answer 15

D) Error Rates

Question 16

It is impossible to measure action potentials from a single neuron non-invasively at the scalp level largely because: A) Neurons do not produce electrical signals B) Neurons fire too rapidly C) The signal is too weak amidst the noise from other neurons D) Electrodes cannot be secured to one location on the scalp

Answer 16

C) The signal is too weak amidst the noise from other neurons

Question 17

A hypothetical grandmother cell that responds to both the sight and voice of one’s grandmother would be called: A) Integrative B) Multi-modal C) Serial D) Parallel

Answer 17

B) Multi-modal

Question 18

When all the information about a stimulus or event is carried in all the neurons of a given population, it is considered which type of representation? A) Fully distributed B) Sparse Local C) Local D) Sparse distributed

Answer 18

A) Fully distributed

Question 19

Neurons representing information via greater synchronization of firing across different neurons for a given stimulus use what type of coding? A) Rate B) Temporal C) Gradient D) Gaze

Answer 19

B) Temporal

Question 20

Axonal currents associated with the action potential are described as which type of current? A) Passive B) Latent C) Verbose D) Active

Answer 20

D) Active

Question 21

In the 10–20 system of electrodes illustrated below, the circled electrode is called:
A) Cz
B) Pz
C) T3
D) F0

Answer 21

C) T3

Question 22

In the image below, the arrow at the back of the head is called the:
A) Nasion
B) Mastoid
C) Sulcus
D) Inion

Answer 22

​D) Inion

Question 23

In ERP parlance, “N400” means the:
A) 400th negative peak
B) The maximum spatial resolution at the N4 electrode
C) The negative peak at 400ms
D) The lowest acceptable impedance at the nasion

Answer 23

C) The negative peak at 400ms

Question 24

Posner (1978) called ‘the study of the time-course of information processing in the human nervous system’ which of the following:
A) Causal modelling
B) Efficiency analysis
C) Temporal resolution assessment
D) Mental chronometry

Answer 24

D) Mental chronometry

Question 25

Who developed the additive factors method for dividing reaction times into different stages?
A) Smith
B) Schacter
C) Sternberg
D) Ekstrand

Answer 25

C) Sternberg

Question 26

It is thought that the digit probe task can be divided into a number of separate processing stages, which would be (in order):

A) Perception, encoding, execution
B) Encoding, comparing, decision, responding
C) Facilitation, inhibition, decision, execution
D) Comparing, deciding, encoding, responding

Answer 26

B) Encoding, comparing, decision, responding

Question 27

The N170 is observed for which of the following presentations:
A) All of these conditions
B) Human faces
C) Animal faces
D) Cartoony faces

Answer 27

A) All of these conditions

Question 28

Associative priming is what kind of measure?
A) Implicit
B) Topographic
C) Recollection
D) Explicit

Answer 28

A) Implicit

Question 29

Evoked potentials depend on:
A) Physical properties of the stimulus
B) Properties of the task/goal
C) Expectation
D) Motivation

Answer 29

A) Physical properties of the stimulus

Question 30

The most common way of trying to solve the inverse problem involves which procedure?
A) Fourier analysis
B) Dipole modelling
C) Bow-and-arrow diagramming
D) Logarithmic modeling

Answer 30

B) Dipole modelling

Question 31

Which of the following is not a type of rhythmic oscillation in EEG?
A) Delta
B) Omega
C) Theta
D) Gamma

Answer 31

B) Omega

Question 32

Which of the following is NOT true of the MEG technique?
A) It has millisecond temporal resolution
B) The signal is degraded by the presence of the skull and meninges
C) It is more sensitive to activity at sulci
D) It is poor at detecting deep diploes

Answer 32

B) The signal is degraded by the presence of the skull and meninges

Question 33

A whole-head MEG contains 200–300 devices called:
A) Infrared sensors
B) Dipoles
C) SQUIDs
D) TNRs

Answer 33

C) SQUIDs