Chapter 2: Self-assessment Questions

1. What is the difference between integrative and signaling activity of neurons?
2. Under what conditions is energy required for movement of substances across neuronal membranes?
3. What are the types of postsynaptic potentials and what neurotransmitters commonly modulate them?
4. What is glycolysis? What steps are present in aerobic glycolysis? In anaerobic glycolysis?
5. What brain activities consume major portions of the brain’s energy budget, according to Attwell and Laughlin?
6. How does Positron Emission Tomography (PET) imaging work? What are its advantages and disadvantages compared to MRI/fMRI?
7. What causes Blood-Oxygenation-Level Dependent (BOLD) contrast? Describe the mechanism for BOLD in as much detail as possible.
8. Why do Malonek and Grinvald refer to the BOLD response as “watering the entire garden for the sake of one thirsty flower”?
9. What potential role might astrocytes have in supporting neuronal signaling? What energy costs might this incur?
10. How would decreased blood transit time through capillaries affect oxygen extraction, according to the model of Buxton?
11. What neuroanatomical terms are used to indicate the following directions: 1) front of the brain, 2) back of the brain, 3) top of the brain, 4) bottom of the brain, 5) close to the midline, and 6) close to the sides?
12. Describe the arterial system that supplies blood to the brain. Trace the flow of blood from the major artery leaving the heart, through the arteries supplying the brain. What are the major cerebral arteries, and what parts of the brain do they support?
13. What are the major draining veins for the brain? What path does blood take back to the heart?
14. How does blood flow change throughout the vascular system? How does the brain control blood flow?
15. How does blood flow change within the capillary system?
16. How might neurons/neurotransmitters control blood flow directly?