BrainFacts™ Practice Questions: Brain Basics

The International Youth Neuroscience Association (IYNA) and International Brain Bee (IBB) have
compiled a set of practice questions based on the Society for Neuroscience (SfN) publication Brain Facts,
a common study material for local and national-level brain bees. To learn more about the other
educational neuroscience resources we provide, check out our websites at www.youthneuro.org and
https://thebrainbee.org/.

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Multiple Choice (choose the best answer):
1. The largest part of the human brain is the
a. Cerebrum
b. Cerebellum
c. Corpus callosum
d. Optic nerve
2. The right and left hemispheres are connected by the
a. Cerebrum
b. Cerebellum
c. Corpus callosum
d. Optic nerve
3. The surface of the cerebrum is a deeply folded layer of nerve tissue called the
a. Premotor cortex
b. Motor cortex
c. Cerebral cortex
d. Striate cortex
4. What lobes are at the most anterior aspect of the brain?
a. Frontal
b. Parietal
c. Occipital
d. Temporal
5. What lobes are located at the top of the brain?
a. Frontal
b. Parietal
c. Occipital
d. Temporal
6. What lobes are located at the most posterior aspect of the brain?
a. Frontal
b. Parietal
c. Occipital
d. Temporal
7. What lobes are located on the sides of the brain, at and below the level of the eyes?
a. Frontal
b. Parietal
c. Occipital
d. Temporal
8. What is the curved structure located beneath the cerebral cortex that means seahorse in ancient
Greek?
a. Thalamus
b. Hippocampus
c. Amygdala
d. Hypothalamus

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9. What lobe is the amygdala located in?
a. Occipital
b. Temporal
c. Frontal
d. Parietal
10. Which of the following structures is NOT a part of the limbic system?
a. Thalamus
b. Hypothalamus
c. Amygdala
d. Basal ganglia
11. Where is the midbrain located?
a. Beneath the thalamus
b. Above the thalamus
c. In the hypothalamus
d. Rostral to the pons
12. The hypothalamus sends hormonal signals to the rest of the body through which gland?
a. Pineal
b. Pituitary
c. Adrenal
d. Sudoriferous
13. Which structure has secondary roles in spatial and temporal perception?
a. Basal ganglia
b. Motor cortex
c. Cerebellum
d. Hippocampus
14. What part of the hindbrain helps control swallowing, heart rate, and breathing?
a. Medulla
b. Pons
c. Midbrain
d. Cerebellum
15. Which lobe is associated with language, memory, and emotion?
a. Frontal
b. Parietal
c. Occipital
d. Temporal
16. Which lobe integrates information from the senses?
a. Frontal
b. Parietal
c. Occipital
d. Temporal
17. Which lobe is responsible for attention, planning, and decision making?
a. Frontal

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 b. Parietal
c. Occipital
d. Temporal
18. What transmits nerve signals between the left and right temporal lobes?
a. Corpus callosum
b. Anterior commissure
c. Dorsal stream
d. Ventral stream
19. The neurons in what structure create a three-dimensional visual representation of the outside
world?
a. Parietal lobe
b. Primary visual cortex
c. Striate cortex
d. Lateral geniculate nucleus
20. What types of brain waves are produced by the awake brain?
a. Alpha and beta
b. Beta and gamma
c. Delta and theta
d. Delta and alpha
21. What machine can be used to detect rhythmic, oscillating, electrical patterns of the brain?
a. EGG
b. EMG
c. EKG
d. EEG
22. Beta waves are typically produced by what regions of the brain?
a. Frontal and parietal
b. Parietal and temporal
c. Parietal and occipital
d. Frontal and occipital
23. Which two brain waves have higher amplitudes?
a. Alpha and beta
b. Beta and gamma
c. Delta and theta
d. Delta and alpha
24. The majority of neurons in the brain are
a. Excitatory neurons that use glutamate
b. Excitatory neurons that use GABA
c. Inhibitory neurons that use GABA
d. Inhibitory neurons that use glutamate
e. Interneurons
25. Which of the following is not present in all neurons?
a. Soma
b. Dendrites

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 c. Axon
d. Flagella
26. In mammals, the voltage difference across the membrane of a resting neuron is around
a. -70 mV
b. -40 mV
c. -90 mV
d. +30 mV
27. What are the chemical signals that cross a synapse called?
a. Astroglia
b. Chemotaxins
c. Neurotransmitters
d. Interleukins
28. The existence of synapses, as opposed to a connected network of neurons, were only verified in
what decade?
a. 1800s
b. 1850s
c. 1950s
d. 1900s
29. Which is not a substance that commonly acts as a neurotransmitter?
a. Amino acid
b. Gases
c. Small organic chemicals
d. Large proteins
30. Metabotropic GABA receptors open ion channels that release
a. K+ ions
b. Na+ ions
c. Ca2+ ions
d. Cl- ions
31. What is the region with a high concentration of neurotransmitter receptors called?
a. Presynaptic density
b. Synaptic cleft
c. Soma
d. Postsynaptic density
32. Which of the following is an example of a neuromodulator?
a. Prostaglandins
b. Endocannabinoids
c. Hormones
d. Acetylcholine
33. Which of the following is due to a mutation in the fat-metabolizing enzyme Beta-hexosaminidase
A?
a. Tay-sachs disease
b. Autism
c. Down Syndrome

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 d. Adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD)
34. What structure receives signals from other neurons at junctions called synapses?
a. Dendrites
b. Axon terminals
c. Myelin sheath
d. Nodes of Ranvier
35. What structure passes signals across a synapse to other cells?
a. Dendrites
b. Axon terminals
c. Myelin sheath
d. Nodes of Ranvier
36. What is the type of glia that forms a network inside the brain to regulate ion concentration?
a. Astrocytes
b. Oligodendrocytes
c. Microglia
d. Ependymal cells
37. What is the type of glia that are the main “immune cells” of the brain?
a. Astrocytes
b. Oligodendrocytes
c. Microglia
d. Ependymal cells
38. What is the type of glia that makes the cerebrospinal fluid?
a. Astrocytes
b. Oligodendrocytes
c. Microglia
d. Ependymal cells
39. Which type of receptor on the postsynaptic membrane causes a neurotransmitter to bind directly
to a part of an ion channel?
a. Ionotropic
b. Metabotropic
c. Glutaminergic
d. Acetylcholinergic
40. Which type of receptor on the postsynaptic membrane is characterized by the receptor and the ion
channel being different proteins located at a distance from one another?
a. Ionotropic
b. Metabotropic
c. Glutaminergic
d. Acetylcholinergic

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True/False
1. Glia outnumber neurons by 10:1
2. The surface of the brain is a deeply folded layer of nerve tissue
3. Thalamocortical loops are two-way circuits that connect the thalamus with parts of the cortex and
back
4. Peptide-based neurotransmitters are built in the axon terminals
5. The brain’s most common inhibitory neurotransmitter is GABA
6. Interactions between NMDA and AMPA receptors are important in learning and memory
7. Action of AMPA receptors are slower-acting than NMDA
8. Neurons have receptors for hormones
9. Glutamate is an amino acid neurotransmitter
10. Glutamate is used by approximately half of the excitatory synapses in the brain
11. The brain’s most common inhibitory neurotransmitter is glycine
12. Chemical changes that tighten or spread out chromatin complexes in the neuron can only shut
down genes on a segment of DNA
13. Local astrocytes can mop up excess neurotransmitters at the synapse
14. Vesicles containing neurotransmitters bud off from the wall of the Golgi apparatus
15. When the nerve fibers of region-spanning neurons form distinct bundles, these are called nerve
tracts
16. In its earliest development, the human brain begins as a simple sphere
17. The signals seen on an EEG are commonly known as brain waves
18. There are five distinct types of brain waves: gamma, beta, alpha, delta, theta
19. Neurons in the thalamus can respond to the shape, color, or movement of objects
20. The hindbrain plays roles in glucose regulation and sleep and includes regions that control
movement
21. The limbic system is a group of structures located in the superficial parts of the brain that help
regulate emotion and motivation
22. The cerebellum is the largest part of the brain in volume
23. The midbrain carries nerve pathways that directly connect the brain to the spinal cord
24. A patient with cerebellar damage might have a jerky, arrhythmic gait
25. Neural networks route signals through the brain along a linear pathway
26. In one of the parallel processing streams, neurons in the temporal detect the spatial location of
objects identified in the parietal lobe
27. The neuron is the building block of the nervous system
28. The most common type of inhibitory neuron is the pyramidal neuron
29. Every neural circuit contains both excitatory and inhibitory neurons
30. Each dendrite can have a maximum of several hundred synapses, which together form complex
circuits that govern brain function

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Fill in the Blank:
1. There are approximately __________ neurons in the human brain
2. Neurons are associated with support cells called ________
3. The functional unit of neural circuits and networks is the ________
4. In many parts of the cerebral cortex, the most common type of excitatory neuron is the
_____________
5. Neurons in the ______________ detect edges of objects within the field of vision
6. When the nerve fibers of region-spanning neurons form distinct bundles, these are called
____________
7. The hippocampus and amygdala are part of the ____________
8. The ____________ helps regulate complex body movements
9. The ____________coordinates voluntary movements and helps the brain learn new motor skills
10. Beta waves are characterized by having frequencies ranging from _____ to _____ Hz.
11. The ___________ is a species with a brain modeled like a wide spot in the hollow nerve cord
running down its back
12. Signals are passed from one neuron to the next at junctions called ____________
13. Ions are electrically charged atoms that can only cross a neuron’s cell membrane through tunnel-
like proteins called ____________
14. After binding to a receptor, the neurotransmitters are either broken down or reabsorbed by the
axon terminal in a process called _________
15. The most common types of glutamate receptors are AMPA and _______ receptors

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Extended Response
Write on the lines below the term (word or short phrase) which best describes parts A-E of the
graph below, and state whether the majority of voltage gated sodium or potassium channels are
open or closed at this time point. Answer Part F with one or two sentences

1. A: __________________
Voltage-Gated Na+ Channels: ________ | Voltage Gated K+ Channels: ________

2. B: __________________
Voltage-Gated Na+ Channels: ________ | Voltage Gated K+ Channels: ________

3. C: __________________
Voltage-Gated Na+ Channels: ________ | Voltage Gated K+ Channels: ________

4. D: __________________ [the appropriate answer is NOT refractory period]

Voltage-Gated Na+ Channels: ________ | Voltage Gated K+ Channels: ________

5. E: __________________

6. F: Define the term refractory period and briefly explain why a refractory period typically follows
an action potential