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Psych Exam 2 > Enhancement > Flashcards

Enhancement Flashcards

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1
Q

neurotransmitters

A

chemical messengers that transmit signals across synapses (the gaps between neurons) in the nervous system

when neurons communicate w/ one another (squirt chemicals)

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1
Q

Reuptake

A

the process by which a neuron reabsorbs a neurotransmitter after it has been released to transmit a nerve impulse

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2
Q

what are 3 ways drugs can alter neural activity?

A

can enable body to create more neurotransmitters
–> Parkinson’s disease: give the brain the dopamine precursor (L-DOPA; “levodopa”)

Can enable body to slow down reuptake
–> Depression: inhibit presynaptic neurons from reabsorbing serotonin (Serotonin-selective reuptake inhibitor SSRI; eg. “Prozac”)

Enable body to release more neurotransmitters
–> ADHD: make synapses release more dopamine & norepinephrine (Adderall)
–> Use of stimulants (ie. coffee, cocaine, adderall)

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3
Q

What is the number of adults who use prescription stimulants for non-medical use?

A

~15 million prescriptions nationwide

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4
Q

cognitive enhancement

A

People use unprescribed drugs to try to improve their mind/cognitive abilities

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5
Q

Medical use definition for Adderall?

A

prescribed by a healthcare professional for clinical symptoms of inattention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity

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6
Q

Nonmedical use definition for adderall?

A

used (or abused), often illegally by people to whom the medication is not prescribed (eg. addiction, recreation, or (perceived) enhancement)

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7
Q

why are some people on drugs told not to drink citric juice?

A

makes body process the drug faster if you drink grapefruit juice → makes it seem like you’re taking a higher dose than you actually are

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8
Q

what are 2 assumptions that prescription stimulant users make?

A

Most enhancement users BELIEVE…
1. They are worse at studying, paying attention, focusing, than their peers
2. That stimulants such as Adderall will improve their focus and attention even when such drugs have not been prescribed to them

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9
Q

Sustained attention

A

the ability to stay focused on a specific task for an extended continuous period of time

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10
Q

What is the Go / No-Go Task and what can it be used for?

A

Go / No-Go Task: tell them a cue to respond to (ie. clap when you see green, don’t clap when you see any other color)
–> a very boring task that you need to be vigilant at

can be used to study sustained attention: once you have a measure of sustained attention, you can compare it to when you drink coffee or take enhancement drugs for example

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11
Q

meta-analysis definition?

A

a study of studies

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12
Q

Does AMP enhance…
Go/No Go task?
Stroop (color vs text) text?
Word recall?
Intelligence tests (ie. SAT)?
Long-term memory?
“Feelings” of productivity?

A

Go/No Go task? NO
Stroop (color vs text) text? NO
Word recall? NO
Intelligence tests (ie. SAT)? NO
Long-term memory? MAYBE
“Feelings” of productivity? YES (even when it doesn’t enhance actual productivity)

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13
Q

what is the analogy to prescription stimulants?

A

prescription stimulants are like a pair of glasses (only useful for the person that it is being PRESCRIBED to)

Someone who can’t see needs glasses, but people with 20/20 vision don’t need glasses and could almost worsen their eyesight

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14
Q

What DOES Adderall change?

A

Adderall changes how much you think your cognition has been enhanced
AMP enhances feelings of productivity

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15
Q

What are 4 costs of enhancement with nonmedical use of prescription stimulants?

A

Dangerous
Illegal
Economical
Doesn’t enhance cognition
You probably don’t need it in the first place
It probably doesn’t ACTUALLY enhance cognition (even if it makes you FEEL like you are enhanced)
It may even impair you

16
Q

Remote Associates Test: do Adderall users become less creative and how did researchers test this?

A

Remotes Associates Test:
Given three words and need to think of one word can go before or after all three words that still makes sense
- Ie. manners, table, tennis → table

Results:
If you need adderall, your creativity is not hindered by adderall
If you don’t need adderall, your creativity actually decreases slightly

17
Q

Coffee and Go/ No Go task results?

A

Go/No go task: people who take coffee/caffeine makes less mistakes (it only helps to some point thought–around 80 to 150 mg of caffeine)
- too much and it is slightly worse than the sweet spot for coffee enhancement
It is a cognitive enhancer to some extent

18
Q

coffee and enhancement effects?

A

Legal
Not particularly dangerous
Might be even healthy

19
Q

What is the sweet spot for coffee enhancement?

A

one cup of coffee (100mg)

20
Q

sleep and enhancement?

A

Legal
safe
Can’t overdose
Healthy in every way
Free, not addictive

21
Q

Sleep with Go/No Go Task Results?

A

Restricts how much people sleep for two weeks (4, 6, 8 hours a night for 2 weeks) and then does Go/no go task
Results: people w/ most sleep had the shortest + least amount of lapses

22
Q

lapses

A

how LONG and how OFTEN someone “doses” off for a bit

23
Q

the cumulative cost of additional wakefulness study results?

A

comparing chronic sleep restriction (ie. 4 hours a night for a certain amount of time) vs total sleep deprivation (pulling an all nighter for X nights)

Results:
4 hours of sleep for 7 days = 0 hours of sleep for 1 night
6 hours of sleep for 10 days = 0 hours of sleep for 1 night

Significance: “claims that humans adapt to chronic sleep restriction within a few days…are NOT supported by the present findings”

24
Q

what is the equivalent of pulling an all nighter?

A

4 hours of sleep for 7 days
6 hours of sleep for 10 days

25
Q

Sleep-deprived young drivers and the risk for crash study and results?

A

People who have less than 6 hours of sleep vs people who have more than 6 hours of sleep per WEEKNIGHT: 15% more run-off-road car crashes

People who have less than 6 hours of sleep vs people who have more than 6 hours of sleep per WEEKEND night: 55% more run-off-road car crashes

26
Q

The phantom menace of sleep-deprived doctors Reading

A

Tested: How many clinical errors would a medical resident make if they were sleep deprived vs they were drunk?

Results: 24 hours of being awake is equivalent in performance cost of a blood-alcohol level of 0.085% (cannot legally drive; 3 beers drunk)

27
Q

What is the equivalent of being awake for 24 hours? (in alcohol)

A

24 hours of being awake is equivalent in performance cost of a blood-alcohol level of 0.085% (cannot legally drive; 3 beers drunk)

28
Q

Just sleeping __ to __ hours more → MASSIVE improvement

A

Just sleeping 1 to 2 hours more → MASSIVE improvement

29
Q

Which enhances the best?

A

ranked from best to worst
Sleeping two more hours
A cup of coffee
A dose of adderall

30
Q

give an example for each of the different ways neurotransmitters can alter neural activity

A
  1. create more neurotransmitters: Parkinson’s disease (give the brain the precursor for dopamine which is L-DOPA or aka levodopa to make it as easy as possible for the cell to make more dopamine)
  2. slow down reuptake: depression (inhibit the presynaptic neurons from reabsorbing serotonin –> serotonin-selective reuptake inhibitor: Prozac)
  3. release more neurotransmitters: ADHD (make synapses release more dopamine or norepinephrine) and use of stimulants (ie. coffee, cocaine, adderall)
31
Q

Why even have this conversation of cognitive enhancement?

A
  1. psychology is the quest to understand interesting human behaviors and this is one of them –> the fact that so many people choose to alter this mind is simply interesting
  2. because YOU (us) make decisions about substances that affect your mind without knowing the science
32
Q

what is the percentage of college students who use prescription stimulants for non-medical use? But it is higher for schools with what 3 properties? and it is even higher for what types of college students?

A

> 7% nationally
higher for schools with: competitive admissions, northeast US, non-commuter school
higher for students who are: male, white, and in fraternities

33
Q

around what percentages of scientists use prescription stimulants for nonmedical use?

A

20%

34
Q

What is the answer to enhancement user’s first belief that they are worse at studying, paying attention, and focusing than their peers?

A

The Go/ NO GO task results determined that those who believed they were worse than studying are not ACTUALLY worse

Researchers gave people either Adderall, no adderall, or a placebo
Adderall
results: the people taking adderal did not perform better at the GO/NO GO task than people who were taking the placebo adderall
- HOWEVER, all groups taking adderall (10mg or 20mg) and placebo adderall did better than the group taking no drugs at all

Psych Exam 2 (6 decks)

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