Autism, ADHD, depression Flashcards
Mental illnesses can occur at any age, and they can be ______
Temporary
Neurodevelopmental disorders are clearly evident in childhood or at birth, and they last for ___
Life
Neurodvelopmental disorders
Autism, intellectual disability, ADHD, and motor disorders such as Tourette’s syndrome.
Mental illnesses that affect males and females at similar rates
schizophrenia and bipolar disorder
Mental illnesses that are more common in women
Anxiety disorders, major depressive disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, PTSD, Anorexia and Bulimia
Neurodevelopment disorders that are more common in males
Autism, ADHD, intellectual disability, Tourette
Perceptual biases
Could create an illusion of a sex difference between male and female behavior
Socialization
Maybe males and female have the same underlying symptomology, but they express it differently.
Males are _ times as likely as womoen to receive a diagnosis of autism.
4
On average, males who get the diagnosis have significantly ____fewer/more harmful gene variants than females who have the diagnosis.
Fewer
Rare gene copy number variations (CNV)
A section of the genome (chromosome) is duplicated or missing. Can cause autism
CNVs seem to cause autism at much higher rate in ___males/females
Males
Females with CNVs present with much ___ and ____ severe symptoms than males do.
Fewer and less
Rare CNVs are inherited from ____mothers/fathers
Mothers (less affected = more reproductive success)
Heterogametic sex
Sex with different chromosomes
Heterogametic sex in mammals and most insects
XY (male)
Heteogametic sex in birds, butterflies, some fish & reptiles
ZW (female)
The heterogametic sex tends to show more ____ at a very young age on all kinds of traits (from body morphology to cell physiology)
Variability
Having one X chromosome creates developmental _____ , whereas two XX chromosomes promotes developmental robustness.
Instability
Social explanation for more mental illnesses in women
Women experience higher rates of abuse, poverty, discrimination, etc.
The incidence and severity of anxiety and depression fluctuate with changes in _____ signaling in females, particularly around puberty, childbirth, and menopause.
Hormone
Hormone signaling dramatically affects ___ network dynamics, and the brains of females must constantly adapt
Neural
In menopause hot flashes, the _____ mistakenly believes body temperature is way too high when there is slight body temperature shifts
Hypothalamus
Symptoms of autism
Troubles with social interaction and communication, and restricted and repetitive behavior.
The incidence of autism is around __% of population.
2
Parents usually notice signs of autism during the first ___ or ___ years of their child’s life.
2 or 3
First autism symptom to emerge
Social impairment
Some autistic children do not like to be ___ by their parents
Held
Many people with autism have abnormal or even nonexistent _____
Language
A third of people with autism do not develop enough natural ____ to meet their daily communication needs.
Speech
Autistic people may exhibit compulsive or ______ behaviour.
Ritualistic
___most/few people diagnosed with autism have clear cognitive impairments and reduced imaginative ability
Most
Comorbidities of autism
intellectual disability, seizure disorder, ADHD, depression, and anxiety disorder.
A __ of autistic people have seizures or intellectual disability
Third
__% of autistics have sensory processing issues
80
The ______ of autism is between 70% and 90%
Heritability
10% of autism cases have been linked to rare ______ abnormalities
Chromosomal
Some autism cases are associated with multigene interactions involving common and uncommon gene ____.
Variants
Some rare autism cases have been linked to maternal viral _____ during pregnancy.
Infections
In autistics, brain ____ often proceeds abnormally quickly
Growth ( brain volume may be 10% larger than average by 2–3 years of age.)
Altered neuronal _____ during early gestation may explain abnormal brain growth
Migration
Abnormal formation of _____ and dendritic _____ may explain abnormal brain growth
Synapses and dendritic spines
_______ in key brain regions may explain abnormal brain growth
Overactivity
_______ excitatory–inhibitory neural networks may explain abnormal brain growth
Unbalanced
Some autistic people show less activity in the ____ area when they look at photos of human faces
Fusiform face area
Effect of anticonvulsants
↑ GABA receptor activity
Effect of antidepressants
↑ serotonin receptor activity
Effect of antipsychotics
↓ dopamine receptor activity
Effect of stimulants
↑ dopamine receptor activity
ADHD
Mental disorder characterized by problems paying attention, difficulty controlling (inhibiting) behavior in an age-appropriate manner, and hyperactivity.
More than __% of children in North America are now being treated for ADHD.
5
ADHD symptoms usually appear before __ years old
12
ADHD is usually first identified in this environment
School
Symptoms of ADHD
–show reckless and impetuous behavior
–act without reflecting
–let interfering activities intrude into ongoing tasks (distraction)
–have difficulty withholding a response
Many children with ADHD have a ____ attention span for tasks they find interesting
Good
Comorbidities of ADHD
Learning disabilities, depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, aggression, and conduct disorder.
The _____of ADHD is 75% to 90%, but diagnosis rates vary widely across communities, ranging from 1% to 16% of children.
Heritability
Boys are diagnosed ___ times more often than girls with ADHD
3-4
Risk factors for getting ADHD
Drug & alcohol, infections during pregnancy, low birth weight, trauma
Stimulants that ____reduce/increase dopamine levels by blocking or reversing the dopamine reuptake transporter (e.g., Ritalin and Adderall) can be used to treat ADHD
Increase
Why do we give stimulants that increase dopamine to treat ADHD ?
When basal dopamine levels are low, animals do not have as much motivation and are usually easily distracted by stimuli that raise dopamine.
Affect
Feelings or emotions
Affective disorders are characterized by disordered _____.
Feelings
Mood (affective) disorder
Serious mood disorder in which emotions are not just a reaction to the environment
2 principal types of mood disorder
Bipolar disorder and major depressive disorder.
Environmental factors increasing mood disorder risks
Traumatic/abusive childhood experiences
Common feelings in mood disorders
Unworthy, hopeless, and strong feelings of guilt (feel undeserving of successes)
Major depressive disorder (MDD)
A serious mood disorder that consists of unremitting depression or periods of depression that do not alternate with periods of mania
Prevalence of MDD in men and women
Approximately 7% in women and 3% in men.
Percentage of MDD due to genetics
Around 40%
2 types of drugs that increase serotonin and/or norepinephrine signaling
Monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOi) & tricyclics and serotonin specific reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs)
How do MAOis increase serotonin and/or norepinephrine signaling ?
By inhibiting their enzymatic breakdown
How do SSRIs increase serotonin and/or norepinephrine signaling ?
By blocking their reuptake
Other depression treatments
Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)
–Ketamine (NMDA glutamate receptor blocker)
–Deep brain stimulation
–Transcranial magnetic stimulation
–Vagus nerve stimulation
–Bright-light therapy (phototherapy)
-Sleep deprivation
Tricyclic antidepressant
Inhibits the reuptake of serotonin and norepinephrine (but also affects other neurotransmitters).
Serotonin specific reuptake inhibitor (SSRI)
A class of drugs that specifically inhibit the reuptake of serotonin without affecting the reuptake of other neurotransmitters.
Most common SSRI
Prozac (fluoxetine)
Serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SNRI)
Antidepressant drug that specifically inhibits reuptake of norepinephrine and serotonin without affecting reuptake of other neurotransmitters.
Monoamine hypothesis of depression
Depression may relate to insufficient monoamine receptor activity (the monoamines are serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine).
Symptoms of depression are generally not relieved by dopamine receptor _____agonists/antagonists
Agonists
Serotonin is made from the amino acid ______.
Tryptophan
Giving people a low-tryptophan diet and then a tryptophan-free amino acid “cocktail” tends to ____ decrease/increase tryptophan levels and serotonin (5-HT) synthesis.
Decrease
SSRIs and SNRIs _____ slowly/rapily increase brain levels of 5-HT and norepinephrine
Rapidly, but long lasting
This area was found to be less active once people’s depression lifted
Anterior cingulate (subgenual ACC)
Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is best for ___ depression
Severe
ECT can also treat this mood disorder
Bipolar disorder
Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)
Seizures are electrically induced by applying brief electrical shocks to the head
Time needed for ECT to improve mood disorder symptoms
A day or two. It is faster than SSRIs
People with depression often have shallow, _____ sleep
Fragmented
Depressed people also tend to awaken frequently, especially toward _____
Morning
In general, depressed people spend more time in stage __ sleep
1
Depressed people spend less time in ___, slow-wave sleep (stages 3 and 4).
Deep
People with depression enter REM sleep ___earlier/later after falling asleep
Earlier
Total sleep deprivation tends to have an immediate ______ effect
Antidepressant effect and mania
When depression lifts after staying up overnight, it returns after ____.
Sleep
Perhaps a _____ builds up during waking hours that has some antidepressant effect, and it gets cleared away during sleep.
Chemical
REM sleep deprivation treats depression ____slowly/rapidly
Slowly
Bipolar disorder
A serious mood disorder characterized by cyclical periods of mania and depression
Prevalence of bipolar disorder
~2% of the population.
Percentage of bipolar disoder attributed to genetics
80%
Mania
Episodes of mania are characterized by a sense of euphoria that is not justified by the circumstances
Symptoms of mania
Nonstop speech and motor activity, risky behavior
Length of mania before depression transition
Few days or weeks
Lithium
Chemical element commonly prescribed for bipolar disorder
Phase of bipolarity treated by lithium
Mania
Once mania is eliminated, does depression follow ?
Usually not
The therapeutic effect of lithium is very ____slow/rapid.
Rapid
Some anticonvulsant drugs, particularly voltage-gated _____ channel blockers, are prescribed as mood stabilizers for bipolarity.
Sodium
Anticonvulsant drugs slightly ____reduce/increase neural activity.
Reduce
In bipolar disorder, antipsychotics and antidepressants may be prescribed, often in combination with a ____ stabilizer.
Mood
