Chapter 2: integrative approach to psychopathology Flashcards
components of the multidimensional integrative approach
-biological influences
-behavioral influences
-emotional and cognitive influences
-social influences
polygenic
influenced my many genes
best estimate is that ___ of our personality traits and cognitive abilities are due to genetics
half
Kandel: brain and other organs are subject to change in response to
environment
diathesis-stress model
individuals inherit tendencies to express certain traits or behaviors which may be activated under the conditions of stress
diathesis
inherited tendency or condition that makes someone susceptible to develop a disorder
diathesis is ___ based
genetically
stressor is ___ based
environmentally
the smaller the vulnerability (diathesis), the ___ the life stress required to induce disorder
greater
the greater the vulnerability (diathesis) , the ___ the life stress required to induce disorder
lesser
Capsi study
-studied participants in New Zealand and looked at 5-HTT gene (serotonin gene)
-one long (L), one short (S) allele of the gene
-individuals with LL were better able to cope with stress than those with SS allele
-those with SS had doubled risk of depression if they had 4+ stressful life events
-those with LL had lower incidence rates of depression when also having stressful childhood experiences than compared to those with SS
gene-environment correlation model
hypothesis that people with a genetic predisposition for a disorder may also have a genetic tendency to create environmental risk factors that promote the disorder (ex: people with depression seek out hard relationships)
the probability if you divorcing ___ if your fraternal twin is also divorced
doubles
the probability if you divorcing ___ if your identical twin is also divorced
increases 6x
epigenetics
the study of factors other than inherited DNA sequence such as new learning or stress that alter the phenotypic expression of genes
Chang and Eng
-1810 conjoined twins that shared identical genetics
-twins had distinct personalities (Chang was moody and depressed while Eng was cheerful and quiet)
central nervous system components
brain and spinal cord
peripheral nervous sytem components
somatic and autonomic nervous system
spinal cord function
facilitate the sending of messages to and from the brain
neuron function
control our thoughts and actions by transmitting information throughout nervous system
neuron structure
central body, one end has dendrite (branch) and other is axon (branch)
dendrites
have many receptors that receive messages (as chemical impulses) from other nerves and convert message to electrical impulse
axon
transmits electrical impulses to other neurons
synapse
the connection between 2 neurons, often called synaptic cleft
how information is transmitted in neuron
action potentials (electrical impulses) travel along axon and reach end (terminal button( which then send chemical messengers into synaptic cleft
neurotransmitters
chemicals that crosses synaptic cleft to transmit impulses from one neuron to the next
glial cells
recently learned that they play active roles in neural activity
major neurotransmitters
norepinephrine, serotonin, dopamine, GABA, glutamate
excitatory neurotransmitters
increase the likely hood that connecting neuron will fire (activate)
inhibitory neurotransmitters
decrease the likely hood that connecting neuron will fire (inactivate)
the brain is made up of
brain stem and forebrain
brain stem
-most essential automatic functions (breathing, sleeping, moving)
-made up of hindbrain, midbrain, thalamus, and hypothalamus
hindbrain
made up of medulla, pons and cerebellum
-regulates automatic activity like breathing, HR, and digestion
midbrain
coordinates movement with sensory input and has parts of RAS
reticular activating system
contributes to process of arousal and tension (ex: awake and asleep)
thalamus and hypothalamus
regulate behavior and emotion, serve as relay between forebrain and lower areas of brainstrem
limbic system
-hippocampus, cingulate gyrus, septum, amygdala
-helps regulate emotional experiences and expressions
-ability to learn and control impulses
-basic drives of sex, aggression, hunger and thirst
basal ganglia
- at base of forebrain and includes caudate nucleus
-controls motor activity
cerebral cortex
-largest part of forebrain (80% of neurons)
-allows for us to plan, reason and create
-divided into 2 hemispheres that are different
left hemisphere
verbal and cognitive processes
right hemisphere
better at perceiving the world around us and creating images
4 lobes
temporal, parietal, occipital and frontal
temporal lobe
recognizing sights and sounds
long term memory storage
parietal lobe
recognizing sensations of touch and monitoring body positioning
occipital lobe
integrating and making sense of visual inputs
frontal lobe
-prefrontal cortex: higher cognitive function (thinking, reasoning and long term memory)
what part of the brain synthesizes all information received from other parts of brain and decides how to respond
prefrontal cortex
somatic nervous system
controls muscles
2 divisions of autonomic nervous system
sympathetic and parasympathetic
autonomic nervous sytem
regulates cardiovascular and endocrine systems, aids in digestion and regulates body temp
endocrine system
composed of glands that produce hormones (chemical messenger)
adrenal glands produce
-epinephrine; in response to stress
-salt regulating hormones
thyroid gland produces
thyroxine which regulates energy metabolism and growth
sympathetic nervous system
-mobilizes body during times of stress (fight or flight)
- increase HR and respiration, stimulate adrenal glands
parasympathetic nervous system
-calm/balance to sympathetic
-facilitates storage of energy by helping digestion
agonists
chemical substance that increases the activity of a neurotransmitter by imitating its effects
antagonists
chemical substance that decreases or blocks the effects of a neurotransmitter
inverse agonists
chemical substance that produces effects opposite of a particular neurotransmitter
reuptake
action by which a neurotransmitter is quickly drawn back into the discharging neuron after being released into the synaptic cleft
monoamines
norepinephering, serotonin and dopamins
amino acid neurotransmitters
gamma-animobutyric acid (GABA) and glutamate
glutamate
excitatory transmitter that turns on many neurons
GABA
inhibitory neurotransmitter that regulates/stops transmission of action potentials and info
best known effect of GABA
to reduce anxiety
benzodiazepines
make it easier for GABA molecules to attach themselves to neuron receptors which leads to becoming more calm (minor tranquilizer)
GABA system reduces levels of
anxiety, muscle movement, anger, aggression and positive emotional states such as eager anticipation and pleasure
serotonin (5HT)
-6 major circuits in midbrain
-regulates behavior, moods and thought processes
extremely low levels of serotonin
less inhibition and instability, impulsivity and overreaction
low levels of serotonin
aggression, suicide, impulsive overeating and excessive sexual behavior
norepinephrine
stimulates alpha and beta adrenergic receptors, regulates certain behavioral tendencies (panic) and is not directly related to psychological disorder
beta blockers
block beta adrenergic receptors so that response to surge of norepinerpherine is reduced which keeps BP and HR lower
dopamine
-often associated with schizophrenia and addiction, and depression and ADHD
L-dopa
dopamine circuit that is an agonist to dopamine
-circuit that regulates ability to move in coordinated way
-can be used to treat parkinsons and tremor diseases
initiating factors
the reasons why the problem develops
maintaining factors
the reasons why the problems persists
exposure and response prevention (using CBT)
found that brain circuits had been changed on patients that had been treated by CBT
study on psychosocial factors and levels of neurotransmitters
-group 1: monkeys living in cage with control (access to toys)
-group 2: monkeys living in cage with no control (only get toys when group 1 played with the toys)
-both groups given benzodiazepine (extreme anxiety)
-group 2: panicked and severe anxiety
group 1: did not seem anxious but were angry and aggressive
-conclusion: chemical substance had different effects depending on psychological and environmental histories
study on psychosocial effect on brain structure and function
the nervous system of rats raised in rich environment that required they do a lot of learning and motor behavior developed differently than rats that were couch potatoes
-rich environment rats had more connections between nerve cells in cerebellum and grew more dendrites
cognitive science
examines how humans acquire, process, store and retrieve information
complex conditional processing of information as well as emotional processing is involved when
conditioning occurs
learned helplessness
Seligmans theory that people become anxious and depressed when they make an attribution that they have no control over the stress in their lives (whether or not they do in reality)
learned optimism
if people faced with considerable stress and difficulty display an optimistic, upbeat attitude, they are likely to function better psychologically and physically
those who had positive views about themselves and aging lived
7.5 years longer
modeling/ observational learning
learning through observation and imitation of the behavior of other individuals and consequences of that behavior
prepared learning
we have become highly prepared for learning about certain types of objects or situations over the corse of evolution because the knowledge contributes to the survival of the species
implicit memory
condition of memory in which a person cannot recall past events despite acting in response to them
explicit memory
conscious memory for events
fight or flight response
biological reaction to alarming stressors that activate the body’s resources
physiology of fear
-blood vessels constrict to raise arterial pressure and decrease flow to extremities
-excess blood redirected to muscles where it is available to vital organs
-breathing increases to bring in more O2 to give to brain to stimulate cognitive processes and sensory functions to make more alert and think quickly
-glucose mobilized from liver to energize muscle and organs
emotion
patter of action elicited by an external events and a feeling state accompanied by a characteristic physiological response
mood
persustent period of affect or emotionality
affect
conscious, subjective aspect of an emotion that accompanies an action at a given time
circumplex model
describes different emotions as points in a 2 dimensional space of valence and arousal
valence
goodness/badness of a situaiton, often associated with “affect”
3 components of emotion
behavior, physiology, cognition
emotion scientists conc on behavior
think that basic patterns of emotion differ from one another in fundamental ways (ex: anger differs from sadness), think emotion is way of communicating with each other
emotion scientists conc on physiology
view emotion as a brain function, areas of brain are associated with emotional expression and are more ancient/primitive, neurobiological connections between emotional centers and eye/ear
emotion scientists conc on cognitive aspects
Lazarus thought that changes in a persons environment are analyzed in terms of their potential impact on that person and the type of analysis you make determines the emotion you perceive (thinking and feeling cannot be separated) but others disagreed with him saying cognitive and emotional systems interact and overlap
hearts efficiency to pump blood throughout the body decreases during times of
anger (but not stress or exercise)
fright disorders
exaggerates startle responses and other observable fear and anxiety reactions
susto
various anxiety symptoms (insomnia, irritability, phobias and marked somatic symptoms) that are attributed to the individual believing they are object of black magic or witchcraft
Haitian voodoo death
sentence of death by a medicine man can create intolerable autonomic arousal in someone who has no ability to cope (has no social support), eventually leads to damage of internal organs and death
insect or small animal phobias more likely in
females
social phobias affect men and women
equally
the more social relations and interactions you have
the longer you are likely to live
risk of schizophrenia for those who live in cities is
higher
equifinality
developmental psychopathology principle that a behavior or disorder may have several causes
