PAST NEUR3001 EXAM PAPERS (note that the course code changed from BIOS3001 in 2011/12)
Candidates should answer THREE questions with at least one being chosen from the Basic section, and at least one chosen from the Advanced section. Credit will be given for imaginative and critical discussion of experimental evidence relevant to the question being answered. Use separate answer books for each question.
1. Describe the main steps in the visual transduction cascade.
2. How is the electroretinogram (ERG) generated and recorded, and what does it tell us?
3. How are the signals from cones processed to generate the receptive fields of retinal ganglion cells?
4. What can visual illusions reveal about brain function?
5. “Form and movement are processed by independent systems in the eye and the brain" Discuss.
6. What can "visual crowding" tell us about spatial vision?
7. How have scientists attempted to clarify the 'neural correlate of consciousness'?
8. What is 'colour'? How does the visual system generate this percept?
9. What factors determine the firing patterns of thalamic relay neurones, and what impact does this have on the transmission of visual information?
10. What are the strengths and weaknesses of current theories of human face recognition?
11. How does motion processing develop in infancy?
12. How are ON responses of ON rod bipolars and Retinal Ganglion cells generated from rod signals under scotopic conditions?
13. Much of what we have learned about reading in patients with vision loss comes from studies that simulate visual impairment. Describe some of the key findings and discuss the advantages and limitations of the simulation approach?
14. What is 'selective visual attention'? Describe what it might involve in neural terms.
Candidates should answer THREE questions with at least one being chosen from Section A, and at least one chosen from Section B. Credit will be given for imaginative and critical discussion of experimental evidence relevant to the question being answered. Be sure to use separate answer books for each question.
1. How does the basic structure of the vertebrate eye vary among species?
2. How is visual acuity measured? What limits it?
3. How does the retina generate distinct ON and OFF responses to light?
4. How are opponent centre-surround receptive fields of retinal ganglion cells formed?
5. What mechanisms underlie our perception of motion?
6. How does it help to understand the workings of visual cortex by defining separate 'areas'?
7. Describe the mechanisms by which the visual system regulates its sensitivity.
8. What's the best way to assess if someone can detect a visual object?
9. What functions might be served by the presence of a visual input to the cerebellum?
10. What factors determine the firing patterns of thalamic relay neurones, and what impact does this have on the transmission of visual information?
11. How is the electroretinogram (ERG) generated and recorded, and what does it tell us?
12. Describe studies of the motion blind patient LM. What do these studied tell us about normal vision?
13. What is the anatomical nature of the magnocellular sub-system within visual cortex and subcortex? What does it permit us to see?
14. Give an account of neural mechanisms associated with either (a) visual attention, OR (b) visual memory.