A second, independent practice exam on the same material as the Hard exam — entirely new questions, same graduate-school standard. Take the Hard exam first; use this one to check what actually stuck.
Covers S1.1–S1.6 (Basics → ANS → Skeletal Muscle)Length 44 items + 5 integrative cases (49 total)Built by Cody, 2026-09-08
Fill in a bubble for every question, then hit Submit Exam — each question reveals right where it sits: your answer, the correct one, and why every option (not just the right one) is right or wrong. No peeking ahead; nothing reveals until you submit.
Dr. Ratliff, S1.1. Feedback loops, gain, and what actually counts as a "regulated" variable.
Field note
"Redundant control" isn't inefficiency — it's the whole point. Blood pressure alone has a fast neural reflex, a slower hormonal one (renin-angiotensin-aldosterone), and a third (ADH/vasopressin) acting on volume. When you give a fluid bolus in the field, you're intervening downstream of all three at once.
MODULE 2
Ions & Membrane Transport
Dr. Fisher, S1.2. Same 61 mV constant as the Hard exam (RT/F·ln10 at 37 °C) — different numbers, different angles.
Nernst equation — single ion, 37 °C
Eion=61 mVz· log₁₀
([ion]out[ion]in)
Memory hook"Symporters ride together, antiporters swap seats." A symporter moves two solutes the SAME direction across the membrane; an antiporter moves them in OPPOSITE directions. Both can be secondary active transport — the direction pairing is the only thing the name is telling you.
MODULE 3
Excitable Membranes & Action Potentials
Dr. Fisher, S1.3. Threshold at −55 mV, consistent with the Hard exam.
Field note
Hypocalcemic tetany (Q17 below) is why a crush-injury or massive-transfusion patient can develop the same carpopedal spasm and perioral tingling you associate with hyperventilation — two completely different causes (low ionized Ca²⁺ vs. respiratory alkalosis shifting Ca²⁺ protein-binding) landing on the same excitability problem.
MODULE 4
Synaptic Transmission
Dr. Fisher, S1.4. Summation, presynaptic modulation, and receptor speed.
MODULE 5
Autonomic Nervous System
Dr. Ratliff, S1.5. Receptor locations, the sweat-gland exception, and the reflex circuitry behind it all.
Cholinergic receptor locations — who uses which
Receptor
Location
Ligand source
Nicotinic
All autonomic ganglia (both divisions), adrenal medulla, skeletal NMJ
ACh from a sympathetic postganglionic neuron — the one sympathetic pathway that stays cholinergic instead of switching to norepinephrine
Memory hook"Sweat is the sympathetic system's one cholinergic exception." Every other sympathetic postganglionic fiber switches to norepinephrine after the ganglion. Sweat glands are the one target where it never switches — still ACh, still on a muscarinic receptor, despite the pathway being sympathetic start to finish. It's also why anticholinergics (atropine, some antihistamines) cause dry, hot skin — they block the one sympathetic pathway that was cholinergic to begin with.
MODULE 6
Skeletal Muscle
Dr. Ratliff, S1.6. The sliding filament mechanism, proprioceptive reflexes, and the ATP economy of contraction.
Field note
Golgi tendon organs (Q41 below) are why a controlled max-effort lift sometimes fails right at the sticking point even when the lifter feels capable — the reflex is quietly protecting the tendon from a force it's read as excessive, not the muscle running out of fuel.
CASES
Integrative Cases
Five vignettes, none repeated from the Hard exam — different conditions, same mechanisms underneath.
Review Grid
Click a cell to jump to that question. Never shows the correct answer — just what's answered, flagged, and (once checked or revealed) right or wrong.
not answered answered, not graded correct incorrect⚑ flagged