Nervous System Quiz
Questions: 16 · 10 minutes
1. After a meal, which change best reflects increased parasympathetic activity?
Faster heart rate and reduced intestinal movement
Dilated pupils and reduced salivation
Increased sweating and glucose release
Slower heart rate and increased digestive activity
2. Which structures make up the central nervous system?
The brain and spinal cord
The brain and cranial nerves
The spinal cord and peripheral nerves
The cranial and spinal nerves
3. A person has difficulty coordinating precise movements despite retaining muscle strength. Which structure is most closely associated with this problem?
Hypothalamus
Cerebellum
Medulla oblongata
Occipital lobe
4. Which structure provides the largest communication pathway between the brain's left and right cerebral hemispheres?
Thalamus
Corpus callosum
Pons
Pituitary gland
5. Which division of the peripheral nervous system carries voluntary motor commands to skeletal muscles?
Sympathetic division
Parasympathetic division
Somatic nervous system
Enteric division
6. A ventral root of a spinal nerve is compressed while the dorsal root remains intact. Which deficit is most likely at that level?
Reduced motor output to muscles
Loss of all sensory input to the brain
Failure to produce cerebrospinal fluid
Loss of communication between cerebral hemispheres
7. Cerebrospinal fluid circulates around the brain and spinal cord within which meningeal space?
Epidural space
Subarachnoid space
Subdural space
Central canal only
8. Which brain structure directly helps regulate vital functions such as breathing and heart rate?
Hippocampus
Corpus callosum
Medulla oblongata
Basal ganglia
9. Damage to the left primary motor cortex would most directly affect voluntary movement on which side of the body?
Neither side because movement begins in the spinal cord
The left side
Both sides equally
The right side
10. Which cells form myelin around axons in the central nervous system?
Oligodendrocytes
Astrocytes
Schwann cells
Microglia
11. A person touches a hot surface and withdraws a hand before consciously registering the pain. Where is the withdrawal reflex primarily integrated?
Cerebral cortex
Hypothalamus
Cerebellum
Spinal cord
12. Which part of a typical neuron receives most incoming synaptic signals from other neurons?
Axon terminals
Myelin sheaths
Dendrites
Nodes of Ranvier
13. In the peripheral nervous system, what is a nerve?
A cluster of neuron cell bodies inside the brain
A fluid-filled cavity within the spinal cord
A bundle of axons traveling together outside the central nervous system
A junction where one neuron releases neurotransmitter
14. After a left frontal-lobe injury, a person understands speech but has great difficulty producing fluent words. Which region is most likely affected?
Broca's area
Wernicke's area
Primary visual cortex
Primary somatosensory cortex
15. Someone is startled by a sudden loud crash. Which response is most characteristic of sympathetic nervous system activation?
Slower heart rate and increased digestion
Faster heart rate and dilated pupils
Constricted pupils and increased salivation
Reduced alertness and relaxed airways
16. A spinal injury selectively damages a dorsal root. Which function would be most directly disrupted at that level?
Hormone release from the pituitary gland
Motor commands leaving the spinal cord
Communication between the cerebral hemispheres
Sensory information entering the spinal cord