Test Bank
to accompany
Life: The Science of Biology, Tenth Edition
Sadava • Hillis • Heller • Berenbaum
Chapter 45: Neurons, Glia, and Nervous Systems
TEST FILE QUESTIONS
(By Penny Molyneux)
Multiple Choice
1. Two types of cells in nervous systems that are chiefly involved in encoding,
processing, and storing information are
a. axons and dendrites.
b. neurons and glia.
c. sensory neurons and motor neurons.
d. presynaptic and postsynaptic cells.
e. nerve and muscle cells.
Answer: b
Textbook Reference: 45.1 What Cells Are Unique to the Nervous System?
Bloom’s Category: 1. Remembering
2. In looking at a section through the brain, you see a neuron with a number of shrublike
projections extending from one side of the cell body and a single long projection
extending from the other side. The shrublike projections are most likely _______, and the
single long projection is most likely _______.
a. axons; a dendrite
b. Purkinje fibers; the axon
c. dendrites; the axon
d. axon terminals; the postsynaptic process
e. presynaptic processes; the axon hillock
Answer: c
Textbook Reference: 45.1 What Cells Are Unique to the Nervous System?
Bloom’s Category: 3. Applying
3. Which of the following represents the correct order of the parts of neurons that are
involved in the flow of information, beginning with the presynaptic cell and ending
where a synapse is made with a postsynaptic cell?
a. Dendrites, cell body, axon hillock, axon, axon terminals
b. Cell body, axon terminals, axon hillock, axon, dendrites
c. Axon, cell body, dendrites
d. Axon terminals, axon hillock, cell body, dendrites
e. Synapse, axon, cell body, dendrites
Answer: a
© 2014 Sinauer Associates, Inc.
,Textbook Reference: 45.1 What Cells Are Unique to the Nervous System?
Bloom’s Category: 2. Understanding
4. In an active synapse composed of a presynaptic and postsynaptic cell, which part of the
presynaptic cell is the last to participate in the action potential?
a. Axon
b. Axon hillock
c. Dendrites
d. Cell body
e. Axon terminals
Answer: e
Textbook Reference: 45.1 What Cells Are Unique to the Nervous System?
Bloom’s Category: 3. Applying
5. Neurons have different shapes and sizes depending on their role. A bipolar cell in the
retina of the eye collects information from a few inputs and transmits it a short distance to
one or more closely spaced neurons. What shape would you predict it to have?
a. A few dendrites and a short axon with one or more terminals
b. A long axon with many axon terminals
c. A dense field of dendrites and a single axon
d. Numerous dendrites and a long axon
e. Dendrites and a highly branched axon
Answer: a
Textbook Reference: 45.1 What Cells Are Unique to the Nervous System?
Bloom’s Category: 3. Applying
6. Which of the following are not types of glial cells?
a. Oligodendrocytes
b. Bipolar cells
c. Schwann cells
d. Astrocytes
e. Microglia
Answer: b
Textbook Reference: 45.1 What Cells Are Unique to the Nervous System?
Bloom’s Category: 1. Remembering
7. The area where a neuron comes extremely close to a target cell and transmits
information to the target cell is
a. the ganglion.
b. the axon hillock.
c. a synapse.
d. the nodes of Ranvier.
e. insulated with myelin.
Answer: c
Textbook Reference: 45.1 What Cells Are Unique to the Nervous System?
Bloom’s Category: 2. Understanding
© 2014 Sinauer Associates, Inc.
,8. The region composed of a presynaptic cell, its target cell, and the space between them
is a
a. synapse.
b. nerve.
c. vesicle.
d. barrier.
e. junction.
Answer: a
Textbook Reference: 45.1 What Cells Are Unique to the Nervous System?
Bloom’s Category: 1. Remembering
9. In most vertebrate neurons, an action potential arrives at the axon terminal and causes
the release of chemical messenger molecules. These molecules are
a. ATP.
b. glucose.
c. myelin.
d. neurotransmitters.
e. vesicles.
Answer: d
Textbook Reference: 45.1 What Cells Are Unique to the Nervous System?
Bloom’s Category: 1. Remembering
10. When an action potential reaches an axon terminal, it can cause the release of
neurotransmitters into the synaptic cleft. Which of the following is a possible sequence of
events that could follow?
a. Neurotransmitters diffuse from the presynaptic neuron and cause demyelination of the
postsynaptic neuron.
b. Neurotransmitters are actively transported by vesicles into the postsynaptic neuron,
causing a local potential.
c. Neurotransmitters are reabsorbed into the presynaptic neuron, exciting the presynaptic
neuron.
d. Neurotransmitters remain in the synaptic cleft, changing the resting membrane
potential of the postsynaptic neuron.
e. Neurotransmitters diffuse across the synaptic cleft, bind to receptors on the
postsynaptic neuron, and inhibit activity in the postsynaptic neuron.
Answer: e
Textbook Reference: 45.1 What Cells Are Unique to the Nervous System?
Bloom’s Category: 3. Applying
11. The various diseases that attack glial cells
a. include multiple sclerosis.
b. may be caused by an autoimmune disorder.
c. can impair one’s ability to move.
d. may cause demyelination of nerves.
e. All of the above
© 2014 Sinauer Associates, Inc.
, Answer: e
Textbook Reference: 45.1 What Cells Are Unique to the Nervous System?
Bloom’s Category: 2. Understanding
12. In a thin section through brain tissue you see a cell that is wrapped around the axon of
a neuron, forming concentric layers of plasma membrane. This cell most likely
a. is part of the blood‒brain barrier.
b. supplies nutrients to neurons.
c. gives structural support to the axon.
d. insulates the axon for rapid conduction of action potentials.
e. recycles neurotransmitter in the synapses.
Answer: d
Textbook Reference: 45.1 What Cells Are Unique to the Nervous System?
Bloom’s Category: 3. Applying
13. The blood–brain barrier protects the brain
a. mostly during fetal development.
b. from exposure to toxic chemicals.
c. by maintaining a blood supply for the brain that is separate from the rest of the body.
d. through the action of astrocytes that reduce the permeability of small blood vessels.
e. Both b and d
Answer: e
Textbook Reference: 45.1 What Cells Are Unique to the Nervous System?
Bloom’s Category: 2. Understanding
14. Anesthetics and alcohol can permeate the blood–brain barrier because
a. they are small molecules.
b. they are water-soluble.
c. they are lipid-soluble.
d. they pass through gated channels.
e. there are receptors for them on blood vessels.
Answer: c
Textbook Reference: 45.1 What Cells Are Unique to the Nervous System?
Bloom’s Category: 2. Understanding
15. A disease in which antibodies destroy myelin produced by oligodendrocytes would
most likely cause which of the following?
a. The blood–brain barrier would be weakened and toxins would easily pass into the
brain.
b. Neurons in the brain and spinal cord would conduct action potentials more slowly.
c. Action potential conduction in neurons in the peripheral nerves would be slower.
d. Neurons in the brain would be deprived of nutrients.
e. The dendrites of peripheral nerves would not process information from other neurons.
Answer: b
Textbook Reference: 45.1 What Cells Are Unique to the Nervous System?
Bloom’s Category: 3. Applying
© 2014 Sinauer Associates, Inc.
to accompany
Life: The Science of Biology, Tenth Edition
Sadava • Hillis • Heller • Berenbaum
Chapter 45: Neurons, Glia, and Nervous Systems
TEST FILE QUESTIONS
(By Penny Molyneux)
Multiple Choice
1. Two types of cells in nervous systems that are chiefly involved in encoding,
processing, and storing information are
a. axons and dendrites.
b. neurons and glia.
c. sensory neurons and motor neurons.
d. presynaptic and postsynaptic cells.
e. nerve and muscle cells.
Answer: b
Textbook Reference: 45.1 What Cells Are Unique to the Nervous System?
Bloom’s Category: 1. Remembering
2. In looking at a section through the brain, you see a neuron with a number of shrublike
projections extending from one side of the cell body and a single long projection
extending from the other side. The shrublike projections are most likely _______, and the
single long projection is most likely _______.
a. axons; a dendrite
b. Purkinje fibers; the axon
c. dendrites; the axon
d. axon terminals; the postsynaptic process
e. presynaptic processes; the axon hillock
Answer: c
Textbook Reference: 45.1 What Cells Are Unique to the Nervous System?
Bloom’s Category: 3. Applying
3. Which of the following represents the correct order of the parts of neurons that are
involved in the flow of information, beginning with the presynaptic cell and ending
where a synapse is made with a postsynaptic cell?
a. Dendrites, cell body, axon hillock, axon, axon terminals
b. Cell body, axon terminals, axon hillock, axon, dendrites
c. Axon, cell body, dendrites
d. Axon terminals, axon hillock, cell body, dendrites
e. Synapse, axon, cell body, dendrites
Answer: a
© 2014 Sinauer Associates, Inc.
,Textbook Reference: 45.1 What Cells Are Unique to the Nervous System?
Bloom’s Category: 2. Understanding
4. In an active synapse composed of a presynaptic and postsynaptic cell, which part of the
presynaptic cell is the last to participate in the action potential?
a. Axon
b. Axon hillock
c. Dendrites
d. Cell body
e. Axon terminals
Answer: e
Textbook Reference: 45.1 What Cells Are Unique to the Nervous System?
Bloom’s Category: 3. Applying
5. Neurons have different shapes and sizes depending on their role. A bipolar cell in the
retina of the eye collects information from a few inputs and transmits it a short distance to
one or more closely spaced neurons. What shape would you predict it to have?
a. A few dendrites and a short axon with one or more terminals
b. A long axon with many axon terminals
c. A dense field of dendrites and a single axon
d. Numerous dendrites and a long axon
e. Dendrites and a highly branched axon
Answer: a
Textbook Reference: 45.1 What Cells Are Unique to the Nervous System?
Bloom’s Category: 3. Applying
6. Which of the following are not types of glial cells?
a. Oligodendrocytes
b. Bipolar cells
c. Schwann cells
d. Astrocytes
e. Microglia
Answer: b
Textbook Reference: 45.1 What Cells Are Unique to the Nervous System?
Bloom’s Category: 1. Remembering
7. The area where a neuron comes extremely close to a target cell and transmits
information to the target cell is
a. the ganglion.
b. the axon hillock.
c. a synapse.
d. the nodes of Ranvier.
e. insulated with myelin.
Answer: c
Textbook Reference: 45.1 What Cells Are Unique to the Nervous System?
Bloom’s Category: 2. Understanding
© 2014 Sinauer Associates, Inc.
,8. The region composed of a presynaptic cell, its target cell, and the space between them
is a
a. synapse.
b. nerve.
c. vesicle.
d. barrier.
e. junction.
Answer: a
Textbook Reference: 45.1 What Cells Are Unique to the Nervous System?
Bloom’s Category: 1. Remembering
9. In most vertebrate neurons, an action potential arrives at the axon terminal and causes
the release of chemical messenger molecules. These molecules are
a. ATP.
b. glucose.
c. myelin.
d. neurotransmitters.
e. vesicles.
Answer: d
Textbook Reference: 45.1 What Cells Are Unique to the Nervous System?
Bloom’s Category: 1. Remembering
10. When an action potential reaches an axon terminal, it can cause the release of
neurotransmitters into the synaptic cleft. Which of the following is a possible sequence of
events that could follow?
a. Neurotransmitters diffuse from the presynaptic neuron and cause demyelination of the
postsynaptic neuron.
b. Neurotransmitters are actively transported by vesicles into the postsynaptic neuron,
causing a local potential.
c. Neurotransmitters are reabsorbed into the presynaptic neuron, exciting the presynaptic
neuron.
d. Neurotransmitters remain in the synaptic cleft, changing the resting membrane
potential of the postsynaptic neuron.
e. Neurotransmitters diffuse across the synaptic cleft, bind to receptors on the
postsynaptic neuron, and inhibit activity in the postsynaptic neuron.
Answer: e
Textbook Reference: 45.1 What Cells Are Unique to the Nervous System?
Bloom’s Category: 3. Applying
11. The various diseases that attack glial cells
a. include multiple sclerosis.
b. may be caused by an autoimmune disorder.
c. can impair one’s ability to move.
d. may cause demyelination of nerves.
e. All of the above
© 2014 Sinauer Associates, Inc.
, Answer: e
Textbook Reference: 45.1 What Cells Are Unique to the Nervous System?
Bloom’s Category: 2. Understanding
12. In a thin section through brain tissue you see a cell that is wrapped around the axon of
a neuron, forming concentric layers of plasma membrane. This cell most likely
a. is part of the blood‒brain barrier.
b. supplies nutrients to neurons.
c. gives structural support to the axon.
d. insulates the axon for rapid conduction of action potentials.
e. recycles neurotransmitter in the synapses.
Answer: d
Textbook Reference: 45.1 What Cells Are Unique to the Nervous System?
Bloom’s Category: 3. Applying
13. The blood–brain barrier protects the brain
a. mostly during fetal development.
b. from exposure to toxic chemicals.
c. by maintaining a blood supply for the brain that is separate from the rest of the body.
d. through the action of astrocytes that reduce the permeability of small blood vessels.
e. Both b and d
Answer: e
Textbook Reference: 45.1 What Cells Are Unique to the Nervous System?
Bloom’s Category: 2. Understanding
14. Anesthetics and alcohol can permeate the blood–brain barrier because
a. they are small molecules.
b. they are water-soluble.
c. they are lipid-soluble.
d. they pass through gated channels.
e. there are receptors for them on blood vessels.
Answer: c
Textbook Reference: 45.1 What Cells Are Unique to the Nervous System?
Bloom’s Category: 2. Understanding
15. A disease in which antibodies destroy myelin produced by oligodendrocytes would
most likely cause which of the following?
a. The blood–brain barrier would be weakened and toxins would easily pass into the
brain.
b. Neurons in the brain and spinal cord would conduct action potentials more slowly.
c. Action potential conduction in neurons in the peripheral nerves would be slower.
d. Neurons in the brain would be deprived of nutrients.
e. The dendrites of peripheral nerves would not process information from other neurons.
Answer: b
Textbook Reference: 45.1 What Cells Are Unique to the Nervous System?
Bloom’s Category: 3. Applying
© 2014 Sinauer Associates, Inc.
