Lecture 5 Flashcards
Diathesis stress paradigm
-interaction of disease (diathesis) and environmental or life disturbances (stress)
Diathesis
-predisposition toward illness
-increases risk
—does not guarantee it
-stress impacts how disathesis may become a disorder
—psychopathology is unlikely to result from any one thing
Schizophrenia in the Diathesis stress paradigm
-innate high levels of dopamine
-first psychotic break common in 20s
—big life changes (increase in stressors)
-so, already high levels of dopamine + plus stress leads to symptoms
-people in collectivist cultures tend to have less severe symptoms
Diathesis/vulnerability stress model
Interacting biological, psychological, and social factors + stress > disorder
Biological paradigm
-mental disorders derive from defective biological processes
—the medical model (or disease model)
Neuroscience
Study of brain and nervous system
hindbrain
- Pons
-sleeping - Medulla
-breathing - Cerebellum
-coordinated movements
Midbrain
Relay station for auditory and visual info
Forebrain
-cerebral hemisphere and cortex
-subcortial structures
-cortex divided into 4 lobes
Parts of the neuron
4 major parts
1. Cell body
2.dendrites
3. Axons
4. Terminal buttons
-myleyin sheath
-synapse
—presynaptic and post synaptic
Communication between neurons
Controlled by type and level of neurotransmitter
-biochemical messages
Dopamine
-schizophrenia
-Parkinson’s
Norepinephrine
Stress
Serotonin
Depression
Acetylcholine
Alzheimer’s
Amino acids
GABA (anxiety)
-glutamate
Genotype
Genetic makeup
-unobservable
Phenotype
-observable behavioral characteristics
-dynmaic (changes over time)
-Product of interaction between genotype and environment
Twins
Concordance rate
-when the MZ concordance rate is higher than DZ rate, characteristic is said to be heritable
Genetic data
Difficult to interpret
-the ability to offer a genetic interpretation of data from twin studies hinges greatly on what is called equal environment assumption
MZ twins
-are supposed to be identical
—BUT differ in terms of developmental changes in gene expression
Biological approach to treatment
Prevention or treatment by altering bodily functioning
Gene-environment interactions
-a disorder (or related symptoms) are the joint product of a genetic vulnerability and specific environmental experiences or conditions
