Health Psychology Flashcards
What is Health?
a complete state of physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity
What is Health Psychology?
The study of biological, psychological and social influences on a. how people stay healthy, b. why they become ill, c. how they respond when they get ill
What is the Biomedical Model?
Illness due to basis of abnormal somatic process (mind-body dualism); psychological and social factors are irrelevant
What are the problems of biomedical model?
Overly reductionist: reduce illness to low-level, cellular and chemical processes
Emphasis on illness over health promotion/maintenance
Cannot account for variation among individual in the development and treatment of illnesses
What is the biopsychosocial model?
Interplay of social, psychological and biological factors that determine health and illness
What are the advantages of the biopsychosocial model?
Focus on micro and macro level
Highlight importance of patient-practitioner relationship
Why do we need health psychologist?
a. Rise in chronic illness
b. Expanded healthcare services
c. Advancement in research, tech, and treatment
d. increased medical acceptance
What is a theory
Set of analytic statements that explain a set of phenomena
What are the advantages of a theory
generates specific predictions that can be tested and modified
Provides guidelines for how to do research and interventions
What is a correlation study?
Measures whether changes in one variable correspond with changes in another variable
What is prospective research
Looks forward in time to examine how people and/or health-related variables change over time
Is prospective research the same as longitudinal research?
NO. Longitudinal research: same group of people observed at multiple points in time + able to look for a bi directional r/s
What is a Retrospective design?
Looks backward in time to reconstruct the conditions that led to a current situation
What is an experiment
Two or more differing conditions created to which people are randomly assigned and their responses are measured
What are randomized clinical trials?
Conducted to evaluate effectiveness of treatment or intervention over time
What is evidence-based medicine?
Medical interventions that go thru rigorous testing and evaluation of their benefits before they become the standard of care
What is a Quasi experiment?
Use of per-existing groups with no random assignment
What is Meta-analyses?
Combines results from different primary studies to identify how strong the evidence is for particular research findings
What makes up the nervous system?
Central Nervous system and the Peripheral Nervous system
What does the Central Nervous system contain?
Brain and Spinal cord
What does the Central Nervous system do?
Receives sensory information form the peripheral nervous system and sends motor impulses to internal organs for movement
What makes up the Peripheral nervous system?
Somatic Nervous system and Autonomic Nervous system
What does the somatic nervous system control?
Controls voluntary movement
What role does the autonomic nervous system play?
Controls organs that operate involuntarily
What systems makes the autonomic nervous system?
Sympathetic Nervous system and Parasympathetic Nervous system
When do we use the sympathetic nervous system
Fight or flight, experiencing strong emotions and stress
When does the parasympathetic system kicks in?
Rest and digest - the normal state of the body
What are the major regions of the brain?
Hindbrain, Midbrain and Forebrain
What parts form the Hindbrain?
Medulla, Pons, Cerebellum
What does the Medulla control?
Regulation of heart rate, blood pressure and respiration
What role does the pons play?
The link between the hindbrain and midbrain and controls respiration
What roles does the cerebellum play?
coordinates muscle movement, maintenance of balance and equilibrium, maintenance of muscle tone and posture
What role does the midbrain fulfill?
major pathway for sensory and motor impulses between forebrain and hindbrain + coordination of visual and auditory reflexes
What parts form the Forebrain?
Thalamus, Cerebal Cortex and the Limbic system
What does the Thalamus do?
recognition of sensory stimuli and sends? sensory impulses to cerebral cortex
What role does the Cerebal Cortex play?
Higher order intelligence, memory, and personality - it receives and interpret sensory impulses from peripheral areas
What are the 4 lobes that make up the Cerebal Cortex?
Frontal Lobe, Parietal Lobe, Temporal Lobe and Occipital Lobe
What does the frontal lobe do?
is the motor cortex - controls voluntary movement
What type of cortex is the Parietal lobe?
Somatosensory cortex: sensations of pain, touch, temperature and pressure
What kind of cortex is the Temporal Lobe?
Cortical lobe: controls auditory and olfactory
What does the Occipital lobe do?
Visual cortex
What does the Limbic system do?
handles our stress and emotional responses
What 3 parts makes the Limbic system?
Hypothalamus, Amygdala and the Hippocampus
What does the hypothalamus do?
Releases hormones, linked to emotional functioning
What role does the amygdala play?
General arousal, threat detection
What does the hippocampus do?
Emotionally charged memories
What are neurotransmitters?
Chemicals that regulate the nervous system functioning
What kind of neurotransmitter does the sympathetic nervous system release?
Catecholamines - adrenaline and noradrenaline
What is dementia?
Serious loss of cognitive ability
What is the endocrine system?
Glands that secrete hormones into blood, stimulating changes in targeting organs
What is the difference between the responses of the endocrine system and of the central nervous system?
Endocrine system responses are slow acting of long duration while CNS is fast acting of short duration
What 2 parts is the adrenal glands made of?
Adrenal Medualla + Adrenal Cortex
what does the pituitary glands do?
Regulate the endocrine system (together with the hypothalamus)
What does the adrenal glands do?
Control the secretion of hormones to stress responses
Is diabetes a endocrine disorder?
Yes, it is a chronic endocrine disorder when the body cannot produce insulin which absorbs carbs, fats and proteins
What is type 1 diabetes?
Autoimmune disease: falsely identifies cells in the pancreas and compromise/eliminate ability to produce insulin
What is type 2 diabetes?
Insufficient insulin produced by the body - common after 40 + largely life style choice
Explain the process of one pump of the heart
- Left Ventricle contracts after receiving O2 blood from lungs
- Contraction forces the aortic valve to open
- O2 blood pump through the aorta to the body
- Right ventricle contracts after receiving de-O2 blood
- Contraction force forces the pulmonary valve to open
- de-O2 returns to lungs
What are the 4 factors of heart health/Cardiac efficiency
Blood pressure, Pre-ejection Period, Cardiac Output and Total Peripheral Resistance
What is Blood pressure?
The force on the blood vessel from systolic and diastolic processes
What is systole?
heart contracts to pump blood out
What is diastole?
heart relaxes to take in blood
What is Pre-ejection period (PEP)?
Time between left ventricle contraction and aortic valve opening
What kind of measure is the Pre-ejection period
Pure measure of sympathetic nervous system
What is Cardiac Output (CO)?
Volume of blood per minute
What is Total Peripheral Resistance (TPR)?
Vascular resistance to blood flow - index of ‘stiffness’/elasticities in arteries
What is the sound of our heartbeat?
Sound of the valve closing
What is cardiac efficiency?
an index of general cardiac functioning
What is high cardiac efficiency?
blood is pumped quickly (short PEP) in high volume (high CO) and at low resistance (low TPR)
What is low cardiac efficiency?
Blood is pumped quickly/slowly (high/low PEP) in low volumes (low CO) and at high resistance (high TPR)
What are the 2 key differentiators when it comes to heart health?
CO and TPR
What is heart-rate-variability/Vagal tone?
The variation in time between heart beats
Is higher HRV or lower HRV generally better?
Higher HRV - better fitness, adaptability, cognition, general health and lower sympathetic nervous system activation
What causes heart-rate-variability
result of sympathetic and parasympathetic responses - balances body’s ability to balance itself in respond to stimuli
Is low HRV always bad?
No - low HRV can occur when you engage in attention or mental effort
Explain the process of the respiratory system
Inspiration causes lungs to expand in thorax (O2 in)-> expiration reduces volume in lungs (CO2 out)
What veins are the lungs connected to the heart?
Pulmonary artery and pulmonary vein
What is an infection?
The invasion and growth of microbes in the body