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9.1 Somatosensory Receptors

1.
Jill has suffered a bad burn on an area of her skin. She has damaged the epidermis and upper part of the dermis. The deeper dermis layers are intact and undamaged. Which touch receptors are likely to be impaired?
  1. Ruffini endings and Pacinian corpuscles
  2. Merkel disks and Pacinian corpuscles
  3. Merkel disks and Meissner’s corpuscles
  4. Ruffini endings and Meissner’s corpuscles
2 .
What is the stimulus that activates touch receptors?
  1. Chemical transmitters binding to the receptors.
  2. Physically pulling open protein complexes in the cell membrane.
  3. Photons of light.
  4. Temperature-dependent changes in protein shape.
3.
Which receptors have small, accurate receptive fields and are encapsulated?
  1. Free nerve endings
  2. Pacinian corpuscles
  3. Meissner’s corpuscles
  4. Ruffini’s endings
4 .
You are testing a touch receptor to see what kind of stimulus it responds to. You apply a constant touch stimulus and find that the receptor fires rapidly at first but then stops firing, even though you have continued to provide the constant touch stimulus. Based on this information, what kind of receptor could this be?
  1. Meissner’s corpuscles only
  2. Pacinian corpuscles only
  3. Neither Meissner’s nor Pacinian corpuscles
  4. Both Meissner’s and Pacinian corpuscles
5.
Nociceptors transduce which kind of sensory information?
  1. Mechanical pain
  2. Thermal pain
  3. Chemical pain
  4. All of the above
6 .
Which of the following does NOT have a role in nociception following tissue injury?
  1. Mast cells
  2. C-fibers
  3. Pacinian corpuscles
  4. A-delta fibers
7.
Which of the following fibers has the fastest conduction speed?
  1. A-alpha
  2. A-beta
  3. A-delta
  4. C fiber
8 .
Why do A-alpha fibers have the fastest conduction speed of the 4 major sensory fibers?
  1. Because they have the widest diameter.
  2. Because they have the most myelination.
  3. Both A and B.
  4. Neither A nor B.

9.2 Somatosensation in the Central Nervous System

9.
Pain and touch:
  1. are transduced by the same receptors.
  2. follow the same spinal pathways.
  3. use only myelinated fibers
  4. none of the above.
10 .
In the Gate Control Theory of pain, why does touch sensation reduce pain sensation?
  1. Because the brain centers for interpreting pain can only handle limited input and adding touch information overwhelms pain processing.
  2. Because A-beta fibers have inhibitory connections to pain projection neurons.
  3. Because C fibers have touch receptors that are inhibitory.
  4. Because C fibers are unmyelinated and slow.
11.
Mechanosensitive touch sensation information from the right side of the body is processed by which side of the primary somatosensory cortex?
  1. Left
  2. Right
  3. Both sides
  4. We don’t know which side of the primary somatosensory cortex processes information from which side of the body
12 .
Pain sensation from the right side of the body ascends on which side of the spinal cord?
  1. Right side mainly
  2. Left side mainly
  3. Both sides equally
  4. We don’t know where these pathways are located
13.
You have encountered a patient in a clinic reporting widespread loss of pain and sensation on her left side after a recent fall. Where would her injury most likely be to cause these symptoms?
  1. In her right cortex
  2. In her left cortex
  3. In her right thoracic spine
  4. In her left thoracic spine
14 .
Which of the following is true about pain and touch sensation?
  1. Pain is just extreme stimulation of the touch sensory system.
  2. They are separate sensory systems, but they follow mostly the same pathways from the periphery to the primary sensory cortex.
  3. The touch sensory system sends input to the primary sensory cortex while the pain sensory system does not.
  4. They are separate sensory systems that follow independent pathways from the periphery to the primary sensory cortex.
15.
Descending inhibition of pain acts primarily on which part of the pain sensory system?
  1. The primary pain afferents in the spinal cord
  2. The S1 neurons that receive pain information
  3. The limbic system
  4. The thalamic nuclei
16 .
In S1, the cortical surface area dedicated to receiving sensory information from a particular body part is:
  1. proportional to the surface area of the skin on that body part.
  2. proportional to the amount of sensory innervation that area receives.
  3. similar for all body parts.
  4. not organized in any particular way.

9.3 Pain and Itch

17.
Which of the following can influence pain perception?
  1. Gender/sex
  2. Social factors
  3. Psychological factors like attention
  4. All of these
18 .
Pain that is physical in origin activates brain regions that are _____________ brain regions activated by psychological pain.
  1. the same as
  2. different from
19.
Which brain system is most responsible for the emotional response to pain?
  1. Limbic system
  2. Primary somatosensory cortex
  3. Thalamus
  4. Descending inhibitory system
20 .
Pain:
  1. is adaptive.
  2. is maladaptive.
  3. can be adaptive or maladaptive, depending on duration and context.
21.
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors have been shown to reduce chronic pain in some cases. Where could these drugs be acting to have this effect?
  1. At the terminals of dorsal raphe serotonergic neurons in the limbic system
  2. In the spinal cord terminals of dorsal raphe serotonergic neurons
  3. Both A and B
  4. Neither A nor B
22 .
Itch:
  1. is adaptive.
  2. is maladaptive.
  3. can be adaptive or maladaptive, depending on duration and context.

9.4 Pain Relief

23.
Pain treatment:
  1. can be achieved with a variety of methods, including drugs, surgery, and non-invasive techniques.
  2. requires opioids.
  3. is pharmacological (drugs) or invasive (involving surgery).
  4. is not possible.
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