Chapter 16 Flashcards
neuroanatomical changes in PTSD
reductions bilaterally, both in the volume of the hippocampus and amygdala of the temporal lobes and of the frontal cortex; Reduced cortical thickness; reduced cerebral blood flow
posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
Syndrome characterized by physiological arousal symptoms brought on by recurring memories and dreams related to a traumatic event for months or years after the event.
virtual-reality (VR) exposure therapy
Controlled, virtual-immersion environment that, by allowing individuals to relive traumatic events, gradually desensitizes them to stress.
ID
Primitive functions, including the “instinctual drives” of sex and aggression, are lo- cated in the id, the part of the mind that Freud thought operated on an unconscious level.
Ego
The rational part of the mind he called the ego. Much of the ego’s activity Freud also believed to be unconscious, although experience (to him, our perceptions of the world) is conscious.
Superego
The super ego aspect of mind acts to repress the id and to mediate ongoing interactions between the ego and the id.
Genetic errors
Huntington’s disease
Epigenetic mechanisms
at work prenatally, later in life, even in succeeding generations
Progressive cell death
resulting from neurodegenerative causes, as in Parkinson’s or Al- zheimer’s disease
Rapid cell death
as in stroke or traumatic brain injury
Loss of neural function and connections
seen in disorders such as multiple sclerosis and myasthenia gravis
Causes of abnormal behavior
- genetic errors 2. epigenetic mechanisms 3. progressive cell death 4. loss of neural function and connections
neuropsychoanalysis
Movement within neuroscience and psychoanalysis to combine the insights of both to yield a unified understanding of mind and brain.
phenylketonuria (PKU)
Behavioral disorder caused by elevated levels of the amino acid phenylalanine in the blood and resulting from a defect in the gene for the enzyme phenylalanine hydroxylase; the major symptom is severe mental retardation.
what do babies with PKU have in their blood?
elevated levels of phenylalanine in their blood.
how can PKU be treated?
by restricting the dietary intake of phenylalanine—foods high in protein, including beef, fish, cheese, and soy
what makes it difficult to know more about behavioral disorders?
their subjective nature
major obstacles to investigating behavioral disorders
- organizational complexity 2. systemic complexity 3. neuronal plasticity 4. compensatory plasticity 5. technological resolution 6. modeling simplicity 7. modeling limitations
organizational complexity
The brain has a wider variety of cell types than does any other organ, and the cells and their connections are plastic
systemic plasticity
multiple receptor systems serve many different functions; no clear demonstration of a single receptor system with a specific relation to a specific behavior has as yet been made
neuronal plasticity
brain’s compensatory plasticity is considerable. When diseases progress slowly, the brain has a remarkable ca- pacity for adapting.
compensatory plasticity
Just as brain lesions do not always produce behavioral symptoms, behavioral symptoms are not always linked to obvious neuropathology. Clearly, people display compensatory plasticity: they can change their behavior to adapt to neural change, and they can display abnormal behavior without obvious brain pathology.
technological resolution
The resolution of technology may always lack the detail to detect subtle neuronal change
modeling simplicity
One problem with animal models is that the view they provide of the neurobiology behind behavioral abnormali- ties is oversimplified. The fact that a drug reduces symptoms does not necessarily mean that it is acting on a key biochemical aspect of the pathology
modeling limitations
Modeling human disorders is a complex task, so use caution when you encounter news stories about studies using animal models that point toward possible cures for human behavioral diseases.
how many people in the US suffers from a mental disorder in any given year?
1 in 4
what percentage of the US will have a mental disorder in their lifetime?
50%
what is the leading cause of disability after age 15?
behavioral and neurological disorders
Epidemiology
is the study of the distribution and causes of diseases in human populations.