Biological Monitoring - Eppp Knowledge

1. Which method measures muscle electrical activity and is used to assess neuromuscular function?

   Electromyography (EMG). Records bioelectric signals from muscle fibers, aiding diagnosis of disorders affecting motor units and innervation.

2. What is the primary clinical utility of EEG in neurology and behavioral health settings?

   Detecting and characterizing seizures and epilepsy. Identifies abnormal brain wave patterns characteristic of epileptic discharges, guiding diagnosis and management in clinical practice.

3. Which sleep study method combines EEG, EOG, and EMG to stage sleep and detect disorders?

   Polysomnography (PSG). Integrates multiple signals to classify sleep architecture and identify pathologies like apnea in comprehensive evaluations.

4. Which monitoring method is most appropriate for continuous, real-time glucose tracking in diabetes care?

   Continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). Employs interstitial sensors for frequent sampling, enabling dynamic insulin adjustments and hypoglycemia alerts.

5. Which electrophysiological test assesses peripheral nerve conduction velocity and latency?

   Nerve conduction studies (NCS). Stimulates nerves electrically to measure response speed, identifying pathologies like neuropathy or entrapment.

6. Which toxicology specimen best detects very recent alcohol use (hours) in clinical monitoring?

   Breath alcohol concentration (BrAC). Correlates exhaled ethanol with blood levels, providing immediate evidence of intoxication for safety monitoring.

7. Which endocrine biomarker is commonly sampled in saliva to index HPA-axis activity?

   Cortisol. Serves as a non-invasive proxy for stress response, correlating with adrenal gland activation in endocrine assessments.

8. Which method measures heart electrical activity and is used to detect arrhythmias and HRV?

   Electrocardiography (ECG or EKG). Captures cardiac depolarization via electrodes, enabling arrhythmia detection and variability analysis for health assessment.

9. Which immune biomarker is frequently measured in blood to index systemic inflammation in clinical research?

   C-reactive protein (CRP). Acts as an acute-phase reactant elevated in inflammatory states, useful for monitoring disease activity and risk.

10. What does heart rate variability (HRV) primarily index in psychophysiology?

    Autonomic (especially parasympathetic) regulation. Quantifies beat-to-beat fluctuations influenced by vagal tone, reflecting autonomic balance in stress and emotion research.

11. Which specimen is most useful for detecting recent drug use over days in routine clinical toxicology?

    Urine drug screen. Detects metabolites with a wider detection window than blood or breath, suitable for compliance and screening programs.

12. Which biological monitoring method provides a long-term index of average glycemic control over ~3 months?

    Hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c). Measures glycated hemoglobin to reflect sustained blood glucose levels over erythrocyte lifespan in diabetes management.

13. Which ERP component is most associated with attentional allocation to novel or salient stimuli?

    P300 (P3). Elicited by task-relevant or unexpected stimuli, it reflects context updating and resource allocation in cognitive processing.

14. Which electrophysiological method records scalp electrical activity with millisecond resolution?

    Electroencephalography (EEG). Records voltage fluctuations from neuronal ion currents on the scalp, providing high temporal precision for brain activity analysis.

15. What does an event-related potential (ERP) represent in EEG methodology?

    Stimulus-locked averaged EEG response. Averages EEG signals time-locked to events to extract cognitive responses from background noise in neurophysiological studies.

16. Which respiratory monitoring method uses belts to estimate thoracic and abdominal expansion?

    Respiratory inductance plethysmography. Employs inductive bands to quantify breathing movements, providing estimates of tidal volume without invasive tools.

17. Which physiological signal does EMG measure, and what is a key clinical use in sleep assessment?

    Skeletal muscle activity; REM atonia and bruxism. Detects action potentials in muscles, revealing tone loss in REM and disorders like grinding during sleep studies.

18. Which catecholamine is most directly associated with sympathetic-adrenomedullary activation?

    Epinephrine. Released from adrenal medulla during acute stress, mediating fight-or-flight physiological changes.

19. Which autonomic branch primarily drives increases in skin conductance during stress?

    Sympathetic nervous system. Innervates eccrine glands to increase sweat and conductivity as part of the acute stress response mechanism.

20. Which oxygenation monitoring method estimates arterial oxygen saturation noninvasively?

    Pulse oximetry (SpO₂). Utilizes differential light absorption by hemoglobin to compute saturation levels via fingertip sensors.

21. Which method measures peripheral blood volume pulse and can estimate heart rate noninvasively?

    Photoplethysmography (PPG). Detects light absorption variations in vascular tissue to monitor pulsatile blood flow and derive cardiac metrics.

22. Which electrophysiological signal is recorded by EOG and is essential for identifying REM sleep?

    Eye movements (corneo-retinal potential changes). Captures voltage shifts from ocular dipole movements, distinguishing rapid saccades characteristic of REM stage.

23. Which method records magnetic fields from neuronal activity and offers better spatial localization than EEG?

    Magnetoencephalography (MEG). Detects magnetic fields undistorted by tissue, enabling precise mapping of neural sources compared to electrical methods.

24. Which monitoring method measures skin conductance changes as an index of sympathetic arousal?

    Electrodermal activity (EDA/GSR). Tracks sweat-induced conductance changes, serving as a reliable marker for emotional and stress-related sympathetic activation.

Study these flashcards