Learning and Memory
Differentiate between instrumental and classical conditioning. Describe the biology behind both of them
talk through the two diagrams from the slides
Define metastasis. What kind of tumors metastasize?
Metastasis means to move throughout the body. Malignant tumors metastasize because they don't have borders
What type of medication is used to treat schizophrenia/ What side effects occur as a result?
dopamine antagonists eliminate some positive symptoms and dopamine agonists produce schizophrenia like symptoms; tardive dyskinesia and supersensitivity results from prolonged treatment of dopamine agonists
What kind of medication was initially used to treat anxiety?Explain its mechanism of action
Benzos - work on GABA receptors -> suppresses GABA - > sedation (this is not a very long term/effective treatment due to amount of cons)
now first line - SSRIS
What are the 3 opiate receptors and what are each responsible for
mu, delta, kappa
mu and delta -> reinforcement
kappa -> aversive effects (e.g. hangover)
Explain what causes an NMDA channel to open
*really know the names of what's involved*
NMDA receptor is sensitive to glutamate but not enough to pop out magnesium so ampa receptor comes and causes depolarization which pops out the magnesium
*this is related to LLTP and without this combo of NMDA and AMPA we wouldn't have as much learning
Describe TBI sequela.
***Really know the neuronal death is not specifically from lack of oxygen and that glutamate plays a role in neuronal death as it feeds the cell so decreased glutamate is important in the neuronal death process
Describe brain differences seen in those with symptoms of schiophrenia?
50% more pruning when adolescents, less gray matter, enlarged ventricles (become enlarged to "fill up the space" left by gray matter loss)
What are treatments for OCD? What areas of the brain are involved?
Drug treatment or behavior therapy that reduces activity of orbitofrontal cortex and caudate nucleus (most effective are serotonin agonists such as clomipramine)
Cingulotomy – destruction of fibers in subcortical frontal lobe (cingulate cortex) and region with fibers connecting BG to prefrontal cortex
DBS of subthalamic nucleus (plays role in cortical-basal ganglia pathway)
Explain the biological basis for the development and maintenance of addiction
all about that mesolimbic and VTA (rewards center)
Differentiate between associative and non-associative long-term potentiation (learning)
associative -> instrumental (operant) conditioning
non-associative -> classical conditioning
NAme treatment options for Strokes
Blood thinner to prevent future clots/strokes
Medication to reduce high BP
Brain surgery to seal off weak/damaged blood vessels
Antibiotics if result of infection
Clot-dissolving drug (tPA, tissue plasminogen activator) if within 3 hours
Mechanical (surgical) means to remove clots (corkscrew or suction)->Problem if difficult to reach
Describe treatments used for depression
electroconvulsive therapy, transcranial magnetic stimulation, deep brain stimulation, Tryptophan Depletion Procedure, selective sleep deprivation, total sleep deprivation
What differences in brain activity and anatomy are seen in those with Autism? What do they reflect?
faster development first 2-3 years then slower; Fusiform face area (FFA), located on region of visual association cortex on base of brain, involved in recognition of individual faces – decreased activity in autism; also decreased activity in mirror neuron system -> no yawning contagion
**reflect increased difficulty reading social cues and subtle social cues on individual faces
**also increased volume in caudate nucleus - Hollander and colleagues found volume of right caudate nucleus was positively correlated with ratings of repetitive behavior in patients with ASD
Describe nicotine in the brain
nicotine has specific receptor - > nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (look at diagram)
Name all parts of the limbic cortex and explain their function
HAT Hippo
Hypothalamus - really important because it's right on top of the pituitary gland and helps stimulate stress
amygdala - emotion
thalamus - relay center
hippocampus - memory
What's a glioma? Name the 4 kinds we learned in class
Cancerous brain tumor composed of one of several types of glial cells; astrocytoma, ependymoma, medulloblastoma(this is the only glioma not named after a glial cell), oligodendrocytoma
Name and describe the 3 biological treatments for affective disorders that are not medication.. Which has the lowest relapse rate?
ECT, TMS, DBS - DBS has lowest relapse rate
ECT - almost immediate effects, decreases brain activity and raises seizure threshold of brain – mechanism for alleviating depression is unclear (high relapse)
TMS -strong, localized magnetic field into prefrontal cortex of brain; response rates <30%, high relapse rates
DBS- of subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (medial PFC), nucleus accumbens – better improvement and remissions rates, less relapse
What neuropsychological tests would you use to assess for attention?
continuous performance tests -Conners CPT
*also behavioral observations, clinical symptom reporting, working memory/EF tasks such as stroop
Name the author that found that cannabis users can outperform others if properly motivated in a task
Dr. Hirst
Explain Alzheimer's disease from a neuronal level (think back to the diagram in the slides and the vocab that was used)
review 6 ppt slide 21
*focus on what they can NOT do
transcortical motor aphasia (not fluent), transcortical sensory aphasia(no comprehension), mixed transcortical aphasia (not fluent, no comprehension), wernicke (not repeating, no comprehension), conduction (no repeating), brocas (not fluent, no repeating)
Define hypofrontality
Decreased activity of prefrontal cortex believed responsible for negative symptoms of schizophrenia
***under activation in the frontal cortex, depressive symptoms can also lead to lack of attention
- Poor performance on neuropsychological tests that are sensitive to prefrontal damage, Poor performance on concentration and focused attention tasks
Explain the physiology of the stress response
glucocorticoids (especially secreted during times of stress - adrenal cortex hormone); check out the diagram on the glucocortcoids slide
Alcohol produces 2 effects that act on different receptors. What are those effects and what receptors are involved?
sedation and impacts on memory
impacts on memory -> NMDA receptor on hippocampal area
sedation -> GABA receptors