MCAT Anki Master Study Deck Exam (2,000 Questions) with Answers 2026/2027 (220pages)

MCAT Anki Master Study Deck What comprises the central nervous system (CNS)? - Answer: brain and spinal cord What comprises the peripheral nervous system (PNS)? - Answer: all nerves in the body except the brain and spinal cord sensory neurons (afferent neurons) - Answer: nerves sending information to the brain (arriving) motor neurons (efferent neurons) - Answer: neurons conveying information from the brain (exiting) these are quick and involuntary responses to environmental stimuli - Answer: reflexes. controlled by direct transmission between afferent and efferent neurons in the spinal cord. the two subdivisions of the peripheral nervous system - Answer: somatic and autonomic somatic nervous system (SNS) - Answer: responsible for voluntary movement of large skeletal muscles autonomic nervous system (ANS) - Answer: controls the nonskeletal muscles (non conscious body functions such as heartbeat, breathing, and digestion) MCAT Anki Master Study Deck the two subdivisions of the autonomic nervous system - Answer: sympathetic and parasympathetic sympathetic nervous system - Answer: responsible for heightened state of physiological arousal what system is associated with 'fight or flight response'? - Answer: sympathetic nervous system what system returns the body to homeostasis after a fight or flight response? - Answer: parasympathetic nervous system oldest part of the brain to develop - Answer: hindbrain 3 distinct regions of the brain - Answer: hindbrain, midbrain, and forebrain components of the hindbrain - Answer: cerebellum, medulla oblongata, reticular activating system, and pons cerebellum - Answer: hindbrain, controls muscle tone and balance medulla oblongata - Answer: hindbrain, controls involunatry actions, such as breathing, digestion, heart rate, and swallowing MCAT Anki Master Study Deck Reticular Activating System (RAS) - Answer: hindbrain, controls arousal (wakefulness) function of the pons - Answer: hindbrain, a waystation for passing neural information from one brain region to another what part of the hindbrain is implicated in REM sleep? - Answer: Pons function of the Thalamus - Answer: forebrain, relays sensory information, receives and directs sensory information from visual and auditory systems. major components of the midbrain - Answer: tectum and tegmentum the brain's roof - Answer: tectum the brain's floor - Answer: tegmentum governed by tectum and tegmentum - Answer: auditory and visual reflexes two sections of the forebrain - Answer: limbic system and cerebral cortex 3 components of the limbic system - Answer: hippocampus, amygdala, hypothalamus MCAT Anki Master Study Deck hippocampus function - Answer: forebrain, limbic system, involved in processing and integrating new memories. amygdala - Answer: forebrain, limbic system, implicated in anger and frustration. what is the function of the hypothalamus? - Answer: forebrain, limbic system, controls temperature and water of the body, hunger and sex drives, and the sympathetic and endocrine system activation. the "on switch" for eating - Answer: lateral hypothalamus the "off switch" for eating - Answer: ventromedial hypothalamus wrinkled outer layer of the brain - Answer: cerebral cortex hemisphere associated with language processing - Answer: left damage to Broca's area results in? - Answer: loss of ability to speak damage to Wernicke's area causes? - Answer: the inability to comprehend speech hemisphere of the brain that processes visual and spatial information - Answer: right