Section: Coach Brain — Sleep, Dopamine, and Your Developing Brain
This section covers Chapter 3, Lessons 3.1 through 3.3.
Part A — Vocabulary (20 points, 2 points each)
Select the best answer for each question.
1. Dopamine is most accurately described as the neurotransmitter of:
A) Pleasure and satisfaction B) Anticipation, motivation, and wanting; hypersensitive in adolescence C) Sleep D) Pain
2. Dopamine baseline is:
A) Maximum dopamine level B) Resting dopamine level determining overall mood and motivation; lowered by chronic spike-and-crash activities C) The same as serotonin level D) Dopamine before exercise
3. Variable ratio reinforcement is:
A) A consistent reward B) An unpredictable reward schedule — the most powerful reinforcement pattern; used by social media and gaming C) A school grading method D) A muscle training principle
4. Hedonic adaptation refers to:
A) Pleasure increasing over time B) Pleasure from a constant stimulus fading over time; a feature of the reward system, not a character flaw C) An eating pattern D) A vitamin deficiency
5. Synaptic pruning during adolescence:
A) Kills brain cells B) Eliminates unused connections while strengthening frequently used ones C) Only occurs during sleep D) Is complete by age 12
6. Myelination refers to:
A) The same as synaptic pruning B) Coating axons in myelin for faster signaling; proceeds back-to-front, with the PFC last, completing in the mid-twenties C) A type of memory D) Hormone production
7. Executive function refers to:
A) Business decision-making B) PFC-managed abilities including planning, decisions, impulse control, and working memory; the last to fully mature C) A learning style D) An exercise routine
8. Sensitive period in adolescent neurodevelopment refers to:
A) Emotional fragility B) A developmental window of heightened brain responsiveness — both vulnerability and opportunity C) A medical disorder D) A specific year only
9. Tolerance in the context of brain reward refers to:
A) Patience B) Diminishing response to repeated stimulation as the brain downregulates receptors C) Acceptance of others D) Resistance to illness
10. Neurological sensitivity (in the chapter's substance discussion) refers to:
A) Allergies B) The developing brain being more vulnerable to substance effects than the adult brain C) Skin sensitivity D) A diagnosis
Part B — Concept Comprehension (20 points, 2 points each)
Select the best answer for each question.
11. During sleep, the glymphatic system:
A) Produces new neurons B) Flushes metabolic waste from brain tissue using cerebrospinal fluid C) Releases dopamine D) Strengthens muscles
12. Adolescent melatonin release is delayed by approximately:
A) 30 minutes B) 1-2 hours C) 4-5 hours D) No difference from adults
13. Variable ratio reinforcement is:
A) A fixed schedule of regular rewards B) An unpredictable reward schedule that produces the highest dopamine anticipation C) A training method D) A medication
14. The prefrontal cortex is the last brain region to fully mature because:
A) It is the least important B) Myelination proceeds from back to front, reaching the PFC last C) Teenagers do not use their PFC D) It develops only with education
15. Sleeping 6 hours per night for two weeks produces cognitive impairment equivalent to:
A) Mild fatigue B) One missed night of sleep C) Two nights of total sleep deprivation D) No measurable impairment
16. The difference between "spike-and-crash" and "sustained-effort" dopamine is:
A) Spike-and-crash produces more total dopamine B) Spike-and-crash drops below baseline afterward; sustained-effort does not C) There is no difference D) Sustained-effort dopamine only comes from exercise
17. Cannabis use before age 18 is associated in research with:
A) Improved creativity B) Changes in white matter development and reduced PFC connectivity C) No measurable effects D) Stronger memory formation
18. The "sensitive period" of adolescence means:
A) Teenagers are too fragile for challenging experiences B) The brain is especially responsive to input — both harmful and beneficial C) Brain development is complete D) Only negative experiences leave lasting effects
19. Reward prediction error is:
A) A mistake in decision-making B) The difference between expected and actual reward; how the brain learns what to pursue C) A type of cognitive bias D) An error message
20. Gray matter "thinning" during adolescence:
A) Means the brain is shrinking and weakening B) Reflects synaptic pruning — the brain becoming more efficient, not weaker C) Is a sign of disease D) Only happens with substance use
Part C — Application (30 points, 6 points each)
Write 2-4 complete sentences for each question. Show your reasoning.
21. Explain why pulling an all-nighter before a test often produces worse results than sleeping normally, using the concept of memory consolidation and sleep architecture.
22. A classmate says they can "catch up on sleep" by sleeping 12 hours on weekends. Using the concepts of sleep debt and circadian rhythm, explain why this strategy is limited.
23. Describe how social media platforms use variable ratio reinforcement to engage the adolescent dopamine system, and explain why this is more powerful than predictable rewards.
24. Explain the "use it or lose it" principle of synaptic pruning and describe one practical implication for how a teenager spends their time during the sensitive period.
25. Why does Coach Brain present substance effects on the developing brain as "neurological observations" rather than moral arguments? What is the practical value of this framing?
Continue to the next section.