• 51 questions

AP Psychology Brain Practice Test

Unofficial multiple-choice practice on the brain, neurons and the nervous system from Unit 1 of AP Psychology.

Signals from the skin and the ears travel up toward the cerebral cortex. Which structure relays them on their way?

Pick an answer, then press Check answer. Then you see Correct or Not quite, with the reason. Keys: A to D pick, Enter checks.

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Unofficial practice questions, not affiliated with the College Board. Bank checked October 10, 2026.

Next step All of Unit 1, with sleep and sensationAP Psych Unit 3 practice test

All 51 questions

Topic 1.2: The nervous system 8

  • A doctor says an injury is in the peripheral nervous system, not the central nervous system. Which of these could be the injured part? APA Dictionary of Psychology, "peripheral nervous system"; course topic 1.2
  • The autonomic nervous system has two divisions. What are they? APA Dictionary of Psychology, "autonomic nervous system"; course topic 1.2
  • During the fight-or-flight response, what happens to digestion? APA Dictionary of Psychology, "fight-or-flight response"; course topic 1.2
  • What is the main work of the central nervous system? APA Dictionary of Psychology, "central nervous system"; course topic 1.2
  • Which division of the nervous system brings about the secretion of adrenaline in an emergency? APA Dictionary of Psychology, "sympathetic nervous system"; course topic 1.2
  • Which of these actions is governed by the somatic nervous system? APA Dictionary of Psychology, "somatic nervous system" and "autonomic nervous system"; course topic 1.2
  • Which pair of changes does the parasympathetic nervous system produce? APA Dictionary of Psychology, "parasympathetic nervous system"; course topic 1.2
  • Why is the autonomic nervous system described as involuntary? APA Dictionary of Psychology, "autonomic nervous system"; course topic 1.2
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Topic 1.3: Neurons and neural firing 18

  • A disease destroys the neurons whose axons connect directly to muscle fibers. What is the most direct effect? APA Dictionary of Psychology, "motor neuron"; course topic 1.3
  • A dog lunges at a jogger. Within seconds a hormone pours into his blood and his heart beats faster and harder. Which hormone is it? APA Dictionary of Psychology, "epinephrine"; course topic 1.3
  • A drug attaches to a receptor and acts on it much as the body's own neurotransmitter would. What is such a drug called? APA Dictionary of Psychology, "agonist"; course topic 1.3
  • A girl steps on a sharp stone. Which neurons carry the information from receptor cells in her foot to the central nervous system? APA Dictionary of Psychology, "sensory neuron"; course topic 1.3
  • A neuron is at rest, not firing. How does the charge inside its membrane compare with the charge outside? APA Dictionary of Psychology, "resting potential"; course topic 1.3
  • A neurotransmitter binds to a receiving neuron and makes that neuron less likely to fire. What kind of message has it delivered? APA Dictionary of Psychology, "inhibitory postsynaptic potential"; course topic 1.3
  • Alcohol slows reaction times and lowers breathing and heart rate. To which class of psychoactive drugs does it belong? APA Dictionary of Psychology, "CNS depressant"; course topic 1.3
  • An impulse reaches the end of an axon. How does the signal get to the next neuron? APA Dictionary of Psychology, "neurotransmitter"; course topic 1.3
  • Every action potential a neuron fires has the same size. How, then, can the nervous system signal that a touch is firm and not light? APA Dictionary of Psychology, "all-or-none law"; course topic 1.3
  • How does a hormone reach the cells it acts on? APA Dictionary of Psychology, "hormone"; course topic 1.3
  • What does the myelin sheath do for an axon? APA Dictionary of Psychology, "myelin sheath"; course topic 1.3
  • What is the threshold of a neuron? APA Dictionary of Psychology, "threshold"; course topic 1.3
  • Which hormone is known for promoting social affiliation, the forming of bonds with others? APA Dictionary of Psychology, "oxytocin"; course topic 1.3
  • Which neurons are neither sensory nor motor and connect other neurons within the central nervous system? APA Dictionary of Psychology, "interneuron"; course topic 1.3
  • Which neurotransmitter carries the signal from nerves to skeletal muscles, making them contract, and also plays a part in memory formation? APA Dictionary of Psychology, "acetylcholine"; course topic 1.3
  • Which neurotransmitter has an important role in motor behavior, so that the loss of the neurons that make it produces the tremor and rigidity of Parkinson's disease? APA Dictionary of Psychology, "dopamine"; course topic 1.3
  • Which neurotransmitter has roles in mood, appetite and sleep? APA Dictionary of Psychology, "serotonin"; course topic 1.3
  • Which neurotransmitter is concentrated in the spinal cord, where it helps modulate pain? APA Dictionary of Psychology, "substance P"; course topic 1.3

Topic 1.4: The brain 25

  • A hiker who once met a rattlesnake on a trail now tenses up each time she walks that trail. Which structure has an important role in learning a fear like this? APA Dictionary of Psychology, "amygdala"; course topic 1.4
  • A patient with an injury in the brainstem cannot stay alert and drifts in and out of wakefulness. Which system is most likely damaged? APA Dictionary of Psychology, "reticular activating system" and "reticular formation"; course topic 1.4
  • A phone game hands out prizes at moments players cannot predict, and they keep coming back to it. The release of which neurotransmitter in the brain's reward center helps explain the pull? APA Dictionary of Psychology, "nucleus accumbens"; course topic 1.4
  • A researcher wants to see which brain regions become more active while volunteers solve arithmetic problems. Which tool fits, since it tracks changes in blood flow? APA Dictionary of Psychology, "functional magnetic resonance imaging"; course topic 1.4
  • A stroke damages the motor cortex on the left side of a woman's brain. What is the most likely result? APA Dictionary of Psychology, "motor cortex" and "contralateral"; course topic 1.4
  • A tumor presses on the temporal lobe's upper side. Which ability is it most likely to disturb first? APA Dictionary of Psychology, "auditory cortex"; course topic 1.4
  • A volunteer learns to blink at the sound of a tone that has been paired many times with a puff of air to the eye. Which structure is required for this kind of motor conditioning? APA Dictionary of Psychology, "cerebellum"; course topic 1.4
  • After a stroke, a man with his eyes closed can no longer tell a key from a coin by feeling its size, shape and texture. Which lobe was most likely damaged? APA Dictionary of Psychology, "parietal lobe"; course topic 1.4
  • After a stroke, a woman talks easily and at length, but her sentences make little sense and she cannot follow what others say to her. Damage to which area fits this pattern? APA Dictionary of Psychology, "Wernicke's aphasia" and "Wernicke's area"; course topic 1.4
  • After damage to one small structure deep in the brain, a lab rat no longer eats or drinks in the normal way. Which structure is involved in appetite and thirst? APA Dictionary of Psychology, "hypothalamus"; course topic 1.4
  • An accident badly damages a patient's cerebral cortex but leaves the brainstem working. Which functions are most likely to continue? APA Dictionary of Psychology, "brainstem"; course topic 1.4
  • Aphasia, a loss of language ability after brain damage, typically follows damage to which part of the brain? APA Dictionary of Psychology, "aphasia"; course topic 1.4
  • Before a brain-scan study, each volunteer is told what the scan involves, what the risks are, and that they may withdraw at any time. They then sign a form. Which ethical requirement does this meet? APA Dictionary of Psychology, "informed consent"; course topic 1.4
  • During surgery on an awake patient, a surgeon briefly stimulates a point on the somatosensory cortex. What is the patient most likely to report? APA Dictionary of Psychology, "primary somatosensory area"; course topic 1.4
  • The hippocampus and the amygdala both belong to a network of structures involved in emotion, memory and learning. What is the network called? APA Dictionary of Psychology, "limbic system"; course topic 1.4
  • In most people, speech production is controlled more by the left hemisphere than by the right. What is this kind of difference between the hemispheres called? APA Dictionary of Psychology, "hemispheric lateralization"; course topic 1.4
  • The motor cortex and the prefrontal cortex are both found in which lobe? APA Dictionary of Psychology, "frontal lobe" and "motor cortex" and "prefrontal cortex"; course topic 1.4
  • Signals from the skin and the ears travel up toward the cerebral cortex. Which structure relays them on their way? APA Dictionary of Psychology, "thalamus"; course topic 1.4
  • Some regions of the cerebral cortex are not mainly sensory or motor. They combine information from other regions. What are they called? APA Dictionary of Psychology, "association cortex"; course topic 1.4
  • Teenagers grow steadily better at holding back an impulse and thinking ahead. The development of which region goes along with this change? APA Dictionary of Psychology, "prefrontal cortex"; course topic 1.4
  • What is the job of the corpus callosum? APA Dictionary of Psychology, "corpus callosum"; course topic 1.4
  • Which gland at the base of the brain releases its hormones in response to signals from the hypothalamus? APA Dictionary of Psychology, "pituitary gland"; course topic 1.4
  • Which pairing of a brain structure and its main role is correct? APA Dictionary of Psychology, "hippocampus"; course topic 1.4
  • Which statement describes neural plasticity? APA Dictionary of Psychology, "neural plasticity"; course topic 1.4
  • Why can cutting the corpus callosum help a patient whose severe epilepsy has not responded to other treatment? APA Dictionary of Psychology, "split brain"; course topic 1.4

How this list was compiled: Our own questions, written to topics 1.2 (Overview of the Nervous System), 1.3 (The Neuron and Neural Firing) and 1.4 (The Brain) of Unit 1, Biological Bases of Behavior, in the College Board's AP Psychology Course and Exam Description, https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/media/pdf/ap-psychology-course-and-exam-description.pdf, read 2026-10-10. Each fact was read on 2026-10-10 in the entry of the APA Dictionary of Psychology (American Psychological Association, https://dictionary.apa.org) named under its question. Licence: Own work.

How it works

This AP Psychology brain practice test has 51 questions of our own on the brain, neurons and the nervous system, the core of Biological Bases of Behavior. It is unofficial and not affiliated with or endorsed by the College Board.

Read the full guide

What the questions cover

The bank follows three topics of Unit 1 in the College Board's course description, read October 10, 2026: the brain (25 questions), the neuron and neural firing (18) and the nervous system (8). The description gives topics no weights, so the spread is ours. The unit's other topics, heredity, sleep and sensation, are on the AP Psych Unit 1 practice test, which shares no question with this page.

Where the answers come from

Under each answer is the APA Dictionary of Psychology entry its fact was checked in, with a link to open it.

  • Study what each structure does before where it sits. Most questions are scenarios: an injury, a drug or a scan, and what follows.
  • Sort four limbic structures by job: the thalamus relays, the hypothalamus regulates, the hippocampus forms memories, the amygdala handles fear.
  • Damage on one side of the motor cortex shows up on the opposite side of the body.

Questions and answers

What is in the AP Psychology biology unit?

Unit 1, Biological Bases of Behavior, has six topics: heredity and environment, the nervous system, the neuron and neural firing, the brain, sleep, and sensation. It carries 15 to 25% of the multiple-choice section, by the College Board's course page.

Do you have to label parts of the brain on the AP Psychology exam?

The course description says the multiple-choice questions on this unit focus on functions, not structures, and that students will not be asked to identify the parts of a neuron. Expect to explain what damage to a region would change.

Which hormones and neurotransmitters does AP Psychology cover?

Five hormones: adrenaline, leptin, ghrelin, melatonin and oxytocin. Eight neurotransmitters: dopamine, serotonin, norepinephrine, glutamate, GABA, endorphins, substance P and acetylcholine. The description puts the endocrine glands beyond the exam, except the pituitary.

Is this an AP Psychology brain study guide?

It is practice, not a summary. Each explanation gives the fact in a sentence or two, so a missed question shows what to reread.

Are these real AP Psychology exam questions?

No. The College Board owns the real questions, and none appears here, even in other words. Every question was written for this page from the topics the course description lists.

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