Section B — Coach Brain — Cognitive Neuroscience
This section covers the Associates chapter on Cognitive Neuroscience, Lessons 1 through 5: Neuroscience Foundations, Neuroplasticity and Memory, Stress and the HPA Axis, Attention/Executive Function/Reward, and Brain and the Other Coaches. All material is already in the chapter — no new content.
Part A — Vocabulary (20 points, 2 points each)
Select the single best answer for each question.
1. Action potential is best described as:
A) A graded membrane voltage change B) An all-or-nothing rapid depolarization-repolarization sequence in an excitable cell, mediated by voltage-gated sodium and potassium channels, propagated along the axon C) The same as a synaptic potential D) A potential change limited to dendrites
2. Long-Term Potentiation (LTP) is:
A) A transient strengthening of a synapse lasting seconds B) A long-lasting strengthening of synaptic transmission, classically demonstrated at hippocampal Schaffer collateral–CA1 synapses; the principal cellular model of associative learning C) A pathological process D) An obsolete concept
3. Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) is:
A) A neurotransmitter B) A neurotrophin protein supporting neuronal survival, differentiation, and plasticity; particularly elevated in the hippocampus after aerobic exercise C) A type of glial cell D) A circulating cortisol metabolite
4. HPA axis refers to the:
A) Hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis: the principal endocrine stress response system, producing CRH → ACTH → cortisol B) Hippocampus-prefrontal-amygdala circuit C) High-pressure arterial pathway D) Heart-pulmonary-aortic system
5. Allostatic load (McEwen) is:
A) The acute stress response B) The cumulative wear-and-tear of repeated stress responses across the body's regulatory systems over time C) The same as homeostasis D) A measure of muscle mass
6. Working memory in the Baddeley model is:
A) Long-term storage of facts B) A limited-capacity, short-duration system for holding and manipulating information online during cognitive tasks, with phonological loop, visuospatial sketchpad, and central executive components C) Implicit motor memory D) Episodic recall
7. Reward prediction error (Schultz) is:
A) An error in motor planning B) The dopaminergic signal encoding the difference between expected and received reward, with phasic firing increasing for better-than-expected and decreasing for worse-than-expected outcomes C) A type of memory failure D) An emotional response unrelated to dopamine
8. Glymphatic system (Nedergaard) is:
A) Lymph vessels in the brain B) A waste-clearance pathway in which cerebrospinal fluid exchanges with interstitial fluid through perivascular spaces, clearing metabolic byproducts including amyloid-β; most active during sleep C) The same as the blood-brain barrier D) A blood-flow regulation system
9. Adult neurogenesis refers to:
A) The formation of new neurons throughout the brain in adulthood B) The formation of new neurons in adults, principally documented in the hippocampal dentate gyrus; magnitude and human relevance remain actively contested C) Repair of damaged neurons D) Synaptic pruning
10. Inhibitory control (Diamond) is:
A) Suppression of motor activity only B) The executive function component encompassing the capacity to override prepotent responses, resist distraction, and modulate emotional reactions C) An obsolete construct D) The same as working memory
Part B — Concept Comprehension (20 points, 2 points each)
Select the single best answer for each question.
11. Kandel's Aplysia work was foundational because it demonstrated:
A) That memory is purely psychological B) That memory has a molecular basis — specifically, that learning produces measurable biochemical changes (CREB-mediated gene expression, synaptic strengthening) at identified synapses, eventually recognized with the 2000 Nobel Prize C) That memory is only short-term D) That memory exists only in humans
12. Cortisol's effects on the brain include:
A) Universally beneficial neuroprotection B) Acute beneficial mobilization but chronic dysregulation associated with hippocampal volume reduction, prefrontal cortex impairment, and amygdala hyper-reactivity — an inverted-U dose-response C) No effect on cognition D) Effects only in animal models
13. Sapolsky's wild baboon work demonstrated:
A) Stress responses are identical across species B) Social hierarchy position predicts chronic cortisol exposure patterns and stress-related disease risk in non-human primates, with implications for understanding human social-determinants-of-health research C) Baboons do not experience stress D) Dominance always reduces stress
14. Posner's three attention networks are:
A) Visual, auditory, somatosensory B) Alerting, orienting, executive (with associated neural circuits including the locus coeruleus-noradrenergic system, frontoparietal network, and anterior cingulate-prefrontal circuits) C) Conscious, unconscious, preconscious D) Memory, perception, motor
15. Berridge's distinction between wanting and liking describes:
A) The same neural system serving both B) Dissociable systems — wanting (incentive salience, mediated principally by mesolimbic dopamine) and liking (hedonic pleasure, mediated by hedonic hotspots involving opioid and endocannabinoid signaling) — that can be experimentally dissociated C) An untested hypothesis D) Cognitive enhancement only
16. The hippocampus is particularly vulnerable to chronic stress because:
A) It is small B) It expresses high glucocorticoid receptor density, making it directly responsive to cortisol exposure; chronic elevation produces dendritic atrophy and reduced neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus C) It is far from the bloodstream D) It lacks blood supply
17. Major depression is associated with:
A) No measurable brain changes B) Multi-domain changes including reduced hippocampal volume, altered amygdala reactivity, prefrontal cortex hypoactivation, and disrupted HPA axis function — descriptively, with active research on whether changes are cause, consequence, or correlate C) Increased neurogenesis D) Larger amygdala in all cases
18. Coach Brain Associates' integrator move — receiver — describes the brain as:
A) A passive recorder B) The functional position of integrating inputs from every other modality (food substrate, sleep consolidation, exercise output, cold/heat stress, breath autonomic regulation, light timing, water-electrolyte regulation) into coherent cognition, behavior, and physiological coordination C) The same as a computer D) Independent of the body
19. Exercise's effect on the brain, per the Erickson hippocampal volume study and related work:
A) Has no measurable effect B) Includes increased hippocampal volume, elevated BDNF, improved cognitive performance in older adults, and reduced depression risk — with aerobic exercise producing the most consistent effects across studies C) Damages the brain D) Only matters for athletes
20. Crisis-resource awareness at adult depth, as developed in this chapter, includes:
A) Mentioning the NEDA helpline (1-800-931-2237) as primary B) Knowing 988 (Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, call or text), Crisis Text Line (text HOME to 741741), and the National Alliance for Eating Disorders (866-662-1235) — and recognizing that the NEDA helpline shut down in 2023 C) Avoiding any mention of mental health resources D) Self-diagnosis through online quizzes
Part C — Application (30 points, 6 points each)
Write 3-5 complete sentences for each question.
21. Describe Long-Term Potentiation (LTP) at the cellular level, including the role of glutamate, NMDA receptors, AMPA receptors, and calcium signaling. Why is LTP considered the principal cellular substrate of learning?
22. Explain allostatic load per McEwen. How does it differ from acute stress, and what are the consequences of chronic allostatic load on the hippocampus, prefrontal cortex, and amygdala?
23. Apply reward prediction error (Schultz) and wanting vs liking (Berridge) to explain modern compulsive behaviors around social media and ultra-processed food. Why does the dopaminergic system respond to engineered reward schedules differently than to natural rewards?
24. Safety recognition / resource awareness. A close friend has shown persistent low mood for over three weeks, withdrawn from social activity, and made vague comments suggesting they "don't want to be here." Walk through what the chapter teaches about recognition, what to say, and what verified resources to mention. Identify which older resource is non-functional.
25. Apply the Brain Associates integrator position — receiver — to explain the brain's relationship with at least three other Coach domains. Use Lesson 5 cross-references at lesson-level specificity.
Continue to Section C — Coach Sleep.