Chapter 7: Vision
SA1. Phototransduction Cascade
Describe the phototransduction cascade from photon absorption to photoreceptor hyperpolarization. Why does light cause hyperpolarization rather than depolarization, and what advantage does this "inverted" signaling provide?
SA2. Cortical Magnification Function
Explain cortical magnification in V1 and why evolution devoted 50% of visual cortex to processing just 1% of the visual field. What are the computational costs and benefits of this extreme allocation?
Chapter 8: Attention and Chemical Senses
SA3. Cochlear Frequency Analysis
Describe how the basilar membrane performs frequency analysis mechanically before any neural processing. Why is this mechanical solution more efficient than neural computation?
SA4. Olfactory Glomerular Organization
All olfactory receptor neurons expressing the same receptor type converge onto single glomeruli in the olfactory bulb. What computational advantages does this convergence provide?
Chapter 9: Motor Control
SA5. Gamma Motor System
What is the gamma motor system and why is alpha-gamma coactivation necessary during voluntary movement? What would happen to proprioception without gamma motor neurons?
SA6. Motor Cortex Plasticity
How does motor cortex reorganize with training, and what does this plasticity reveal about the relationship between practice and neural representation? Include specific examples.
Chapter 10: Learning and Memory
SA7. Cerebellum vs Basal Ganglia
Compare and contrast the cerebellum's supervised learning (using error signals) with the basal ganglia's reinforcement learning (using reward signals). Why does the brain need both systems?
SA8. Epigenetic Inheritance
Explain how epigenetic modifications can transmit experience across generations, using examples like the Dutch Hunger Winter. Why is this "Lamarck's revenge"?
Chapter 11: Executive Function
SA9. Neglect in Imagination
The Piazza del Duomo study showed that neglect patients ignore the left side of imagined scenes. What does this reveal about how attention operates over internal representations?
SA10. Split-Brain Consciousness
When conflicting instructions are presented to each hemisphere of a split-brain patient, the two hemispheres compete for motor control. What does this reveal about consciousness and the unified sense of self?
Chapter 12: Sleep and Consciousness
SA11. Sleep Deprivation Effects
Randy Gardner stayed awake for 11 days, showing progressive cognitive deterioration. Explain the mechanisms by which sleep deprivation impairs brain function and why recovery requires actual sleep, not just rest.
SA12. Synaptic Homeostasis
Explain the synaptic homeostasis hypothesis—why synaptic downscaling during sleep is necessary for continued learning and memory formation.
Chapter 13: Psychopharmacology
SA13. Tolerance Mechanisms
Distinguish between metabolic, cellular, and learned tolerance. Why does understanding these different mechanisms matter for addiction treatment?
SA14. Behavioral Addictions
Why can behaviors like gambling, video games, or social media become addictive? Explain using the same neural mechanisms that underlie substance addiction.
Chapter 7: Vision
ES1. From Photons to Perception: The Visual Hierarchy
The human visual system compresses 130 million photoreceptors into 1.2 million ganglion cell outputs before signals even leave the eye. Argue that vision is fundamentally a multi-stage computation rather than passive image capture. Use specific evidence from retinal processing, subcortical pathways, and cortical organization to support your case. What does this hierarchical architecture reveal about how the brain solves the problem of seeing?
Chapter 8: Attention and Chemical Senses
ES2. Chemical Senses: Olfaction and Gustation
Olfaction is the only sense that bypasses the thalamus and projects directly to limbic structures, yet we rarely think of smell as our most important sense. Argue that olfaction is fundamentally different from other sensory systems in both its neural organization and its relationship to emotion and memory. Compare olfaction with gustation, and explain why what we call "taste" is actually a multisensory construction. What does the unique anatomy of the chemical senses reveal about how the brain evolved to process different types of information?
Chapter 9: Motor Control
ES3. Motor Units and the Size Principle
Bernstein's degrees of freedom problem asks: with hundreds of muscles and joints, how does the brain choose one movement solution from infinite possibilities? Argue that the size principle and the motor unit architecture represent an evolutionary solution to this problem. How do the biophysical properties of motor neurons constrain the control space, and what role does proprioceptive feedback from muscle spindles and Golgi tendon organs play in this system? What evidence supports or challenges the view that these constraints are beneficial rather than limiting?
Chapter 10: Learning and Memory
ES4. Memory Systems and Patient H.M.
Patient H.M. could learn new motor skills but had no memory of ever having practiced them. Use H.M.'s case and other evidence to argue that memory is not a single system but a collection of independent modules. What are the key dissociations that prove this, what brain structures support each system, and how do memories move between systems over time? What does this modular architecture mean for our understanding of what it is to "remember"?
Chapter 11: Executive Function
ES5. Hemispatial Neglect and Spatial Attention
Neglect patients in Milan could recall every building in the Piazza del Duomo—but only those on their imagined right, and which buildings those were changed when they imagined facing a different direction. Argue that contralateral neglect is not a sensory deficit but reveals something fundamental about the relationship between attention, internal representation, and consciousness. Use evidence from neglect, Balint's syndrome, and related findings. If attention determines what reaches awareness, can you be conscious of something you don't attend to?
Chapter 12: Sleep and Consciousness
ES6. Sleep Architecture and Functions
Humans spend one-third of their lives unconscious, paralyzed, and vulnerable to predators. Argue that sleep is not wasted time but performs functions that cannot be accomplished during waking. What evidence supports specific functional roles for different sleep stages? Why is sleep, rather than quiet rest, biologically necessary? Consider evidence from memory consolidation, synaptic homeostasis, the glymphatic system, and sleep deprivation studies in building your argument.
Chapter 13: Psychopharmacology
ES7. Addiction Neuroscience: From Pleasure to Compulsion
Addicts often report that drugs no longer bring pleasure, yet they continue using compulsively. Using the neuroscience of reward, learning, and executive control, argue that addiction is best understood as a brain disorder rather than a failure of willpower. How does the distinction between "wanting" and "liking" explain the paradox of compulsive use without pleasure? What neural changes make recovery so difficult, and why do the same principles apply to behavioral addictions like gambling or social media?