Review for Exam 4

General Psychopathology

100

The goals of the _______ are to diagnose mental disorders using clear definitions that include all cases and exclude all non-cases.

Diagnostic & Statistical Manual

200

A very effective treatment for psychopathological problems is _______; however it isn’t normally used as a first choice treatment due to risk of permanent long-term memory impairment

Electroconvulsive shock therapy

300

Most cases of psychopathology are believed to involve dysfunction in the _______, which is influenced by many nervous system structures, such as _________ (there are many-- name a few).

frontal lobe; other lobes, hypo, pineal gland, pituitary gland, limbic system, basal ganglia, endocrine system

400

Investigations of patients with damage to the _____ and the ______ has led to the theory that emotional expressions are both _______ and _______.

motor cortex, limbic system, voluntary, involuntary

500

The ________ model theorizes that individuals are more or less likely to have a mental disorder based on an interaction between their biological or experiential predispositions and environmental stressors.

vulnerability-stress model (from the text)

Anxiety

100

Anxiety is distinguishable from _____ because it is an inappropriate response that disrupts daily functioning

fear

200

90% of patients with anxiety are co-morbid with _______.

other psychiatric disorders

300

While there are multiple theories about the etiology of anxiety, two are that patients with anxiety have overactivation of _______ & ______ or under-activation of _____.

serotonin & norepinephrine; GABA

400

Two types of _____ receptor agonists used to treat anxiety are _______ and ______.

GABA: barbiturates & benzodiazepines

500

Alice has been totally focused on writing her senior thesis all semester; she rarely gets sick, but in the past two months she’s had three colds. Her situation may be an example of how chronic ______ can weaken the immune system by putting the body into a perpetual state of _________ mode.

stress; sympathetic

Depression

100

Depression is distinguishable from grief due to three main symptoms: _______, _______, and ________.

feelings of worthlessness, thoughts of suicide, and psychomotor retardation

200

What are some of the proposed theories for why depression is diagnosed twice as often in women as men?

reproductive hormones, coping styles (women ruminate), concern with interpersonal relations, women are more likely to report

300

What treatments are used for depression, and in what order should they be prescribed?

therapy, SSRIs, tricyclics, MAOIs, ECT

400

What is the main hypothesis for why reuptake inhibitors lessen symptoms of depression? What are possible other theories?

downregulation (why they take 2-3 weeks, and why symptoms worsen at first); OR neurogenesis (rats on SSRI had much more neurogenesis than rats on placebo after 2-3 weeks); OR maybe they work immediately but we can’t tell (tests are sensitive enough, some symptoms reduce/others don’t, full dose isn’t given immediately)

500

What patterns of brain activity to individuals with depression have in their frontal cortices and amygdalas?

decreased in frontal (although increased in vPFC) and increased in amygdala

Now YOU be the psychiatrist

100

Eric has been taking anti-depressants for months and his depression symptoms have not been relieved. What procedure might be your next step?

electroconvulsive shock therapy

200

How might soldiers returning from WWII in 1945 have been differently treated for PTSD than soldiers returning from the Middle East today?

barbiturates; Today: benzodiazepines/NE antagonists/SRIs

300

Don has been smoking for over three years; every day he takes several smoke breaks with his co-workers behind the store where he works. What advice would you give Don to help him quit?

drug that reduces craving; change environment

400

Herman has been taking Valium (a benzodiazepine) for three days, and comes to you complaining of feeling sedated and uncoordinated. What would you say to encourage him to keep taking his medication?

Symptoms such as unwanted sedation, impaired coordination, and slow reflexes are common when first taking Valium, but he should develop a tolerance to them after 6-8 weeks

500

Marco has a severe heart condition and has been experiencing symptoms of anxiety for several months. What anxiolytic would you prescribe?

Serotonin reuptake inhibitor (GABA agonists and NE antagonists could affect the heart by altering the autonomic nervous system); he should also participate in some form of therapy

Review of pharmacology/addiction

100

Anesthetics and paralytics can stop the creation of action potentials in the pre-synaptic neurons by ________.

blocking Na+ channels = no voltage change/no action potential

200

What are the 5 commonly abused types of drugs? What NT system(s) they affect, and how?

depressants (GABA agonist), stimulants (multiple; agonist/antagonist/uptake inhibitors), cannabinoids (ananamide agonist), psychedelics (5HT2 agonists), opiates (endorphin agonists)

300

Assume that serotonin is inhibitory. How would taking an SSRI affect the firing rate of a neuron post-synaptic to a 5HT-releasing neuron when the presynaptic neuron is firing? What about when the presynaptic neuron is NOT firing?

Decrease the firing rate (5HT remains in the synapse longer and interacts more with the receptors) and no change to the firing rate (the uptake inhibitor has no effect if there’s no 5HT in the synapse to begin with)

400

An individual going through severe withdrawal may be suffering these symptoms because their neurons have undergone what change? What has happened once their symptoms end?

downregulation; upregulation

500

What are examples of drug use that would cause PERMANENT changes to the brain? Use that would cause temporary changes?

Excessive alcohol use, neurotoxic drug use, memory (temporal)/cravings (limbic)/decision-making (maybe; frontal); down-regulation