Lecture 7: Mood Disorders Part 1 Flashcards
What is the most basic form of behavior for all locomotor animals?
Approach vs avoidance = move towards resources/away from danger
What is the reward system and what does it mediate?
A neural circuit that mediates
1) Pleasure: positive sensory experience
2) Positive emotion eg. Joy, pride
3) Conditioning - operant/respondent
4) Approach behavior
Where is the reward system largely localized? (Which brain regions)
- The mesolimbic dopamine pathway
- The prefrontal cortex
The mesolimbic dopamine pathway what does it connect?
The ventral tegmental area (VTA) to the nucleus accumbens
Where is the VTA located?
In the midbrain at the top of the brainstem
Where is the nucleus accumbens located?
In the forebrain
The VTA is one of two primary regions of the cell bodies of ________ neurons
Dopaminergic neurons (dopamine producing)
What projections does the VTA have?
- Mesolimbic pathway connects VTA to nucleus accumbens
- Mesocortical pathways connect VTA to cortex
What do the mesolimbic dopamine pathways mediate? (4)
- Pleasure
- Positive emotion
- Reinforcement learning (especially determining how pleasant/unpleasant of a stimulus)
- Approach behavior
People with depression often have ______ activation of the mesolimbic dopamine pathway which leads to less _____________________
UNDERACTIVATION of the MDP leading to
LESS APPROACH BEHAVIOR
People with mania often have ____-activation of the mesolimbic dopamine pathway which leads to _________________
OVER-activation of the MDP leading to
MORE APPROACH BEHAVIOR
Approach behavior
Behavior that is exploratory/goal directed
The nucleus accumbens of people with depression is often ____ than people without depression
SMALLER
The connectivity between the VTA and the prefrontal cortex are _____ robust in people with depression
LESS
The connectivity between the nucleus accumbens and the prefrontal cortex is _____ in people with bipolar disorder which possibly contributes to ______
GREATER in people with bipolar disorder which possibly—> contributes to MORE APPROACH BEHAVIOR
People with depression often have what kind of prefrontal cortex
- Underactive prefrontal cortex
- Volume reduction in prefrontal cortex
People with depression and bipolar disorder often have structural and functional changes to the prefrontal cortex for example?
- Decreased dendrites aborization —> leads to impacted executive functioning
What are the common mood descriptors in clinical settings: (4)
1) Euphoric
2) Euthymic
3) Dysthymic
4) Dysphoric
Euphoric
Extremely high elevated moods
Euthymic
Mildly
Dysthymic
Slightly lowered mood
Dysphoric
Extremely low mood
Mood disorders are extremes of a one-dimensional continuum from _____ to _____
Elevated to depressed
What are the multidimensional conceptualizations of mood disorders (5)
1) Cognitive outlook
2) Emotional Tone
3) Motivational Drive
4) Behavioral initiation
5) Physiological regulation
For cognitive outlook what’s the unidimensional continuum. It ranges from ____ to ____?
Optimistic to pessimistic
For emotional tone what is the unidimensional continuum? It ranges from ___ to ____?
Euphoric to Dysphoric
For Motivational Drive what is the unidimensional continuum? It ranges from ___ to ____?
Expansive to depleted
For Behavioral initiation what is the unidimensional continuum? It ranges from ___ to ____?
Disinhibited to Inhibited
For Physiological regulation what is the unidimensional continuum? It ranges from ___ to ____?
Up-regulated to down-regulated
Physiological regulation refers to:
1) Energy
2) Wakefulness
3) Movement
4) Appetite
5) Sexual interest
If your mood state is elevated what are the symptoms? (5)
- Optimistic
- Euphoric
- Expansive
- Disinhibited
- Up-regulated
If your mood state is depressed what are the symptoms? (5)
- Pessimistic
- Dysphoric
- Depleted
- Inhibited
- Down-regulated
If your mood state is mixed what are the symptoms?
Any combo of the symptoms in the multidimensional model
Many people with depression experience ______ mood alongside low mood
Irritable
Many people with depression also have ______ anxiety
COMORBID ANXIETY
Comorbid anxeity: typically experiences (3)
1) under active reward system = decreased approach behavior
2) overactive threat system = increased avoidance behavior
3) underactive prefrontal cortex = impaired executive functioning
What is a beneficial/adaptive effect of elevated mood and when would it be beneficial? (2)
1) INCREASES goal directed behavior when circumstances are FAVORABLE!
2) REDIRECTS goal directed behavior to exploit UNEXPECTED opportunities that arise eg. New job offering!
How and when is low mood adaptive/beneficial? (2)
1) DECREASES goal-directed behavior when circumstances are UNFAVORABLE
2) REDIRECTS goal directed behavior to discover new opportunities
When are mood states adaptive?
When they fulfill their adaptive function
In what ways can mood states fail to be adaptive? (3)
When they fail to fulfill their adaptive function:
1) Circumstances/mood mismatch
2) Mood/behavior mismatch
3) When the mood states become very severe
Example when circumstances and mood mismatch
A person has elevated mood under unfavorable circumstances eg. Feeling good when life circumstances are bad
Example when mood and behavior mismatch
A person with elevated mood fails to increase/redirect goal-directed behavior eg. “Self-sabotage” or “self-defeating behavior
When moods are maladaptive it becomes severe what can it result in?
1) intolerable distress
2) major impairment of functioning eg. Psychotic features
Are are two specific pathways to depression suggested by evolutionary psychopathology?
- Failure to achieve adaptive goals
- Defeat in conflicts that determine social rank
Optimal foraging theory provides evidence that
Animal fitness is strongly influenced by foraging strategies
What are some key metrics of foraging? (2)
- Productivity
- Expenditure
What contributes to higher fitness (in terms of foraging)
Maximizing the ratio of productivity to expenditure (lots of productivity and minimizing expenditure)
Foraging success produces what kinds of emotions and moods?
Positive emotions and moods!
Foraging failure produces what kinds of emotions and moods?
Negative emotions and moods
Emotions and moods can help guide a persons foraging behavior and ______ ______ ________
Reassure allocation decisions!
If you have positive emotions and moods what do you do with your foraging strategy?
Maintain it!
If you have negative emotions and negative moods what do you do with your foraging strategy?
Change it!!
Emotions and mood guide not only foraging behavior but:
ANY BEHAVIOR where there is a relationship between EXPENDITURE AND PRODUCtIVITY
Emotions and moods are signals that:
Direct you to increase/decrease or change your goal directed behavior
How can symptoms of depression be adaptive? Eg. Failure to achieve goals
Signals you to decrease/change goal-directed behavior
When failure to achieve adaptive goals is pervasive/existing in every part of your life, people tend to experience
HELPLESSNESS
Learned helplessness experimental paradigm
Dogs were exposed to inescapable shocks later fail to attempt to escape from escapable shocks + had depressive symptoms
What is helplessness
Pervasive failure to achieve adaptive goals
Obligate social animals
Animals that cannot survive outside a group
Status hierarchies
Patterns of social rank within the group
Social rank
Relative dominance of subordination of animals within the same social group
Social status
The perception of social rank by other members of an animals group
Higher social status can provide many benefits like: (6)
1) better resources access
2) better mate access
3) less stress
4) longer lifespan
5) more offspring
6) more offspring who reproduce
In humans/some other primates, social status is mediated by (2)
1) competitive dominance
2) competitive competence
Competitive dominance
Two or more animals competing through agonic behaviors
Agonic behaviors
Behaviors that produce physical threats towards members of the same group/species eg. Intimidation, threat display, aggression
Competitive competence
Two or more animals competing through hedonic behaviors
Hedonic behaviors
Behaviors that produce social rewards for members of the same group eg. Helping others, sharing resources, tending to another’s offspring
Dominance dispute
An event in which 2 or more humans/animals compete for dominance
Eg. Within-group fights (ancestral), contact sports (modern example)
Competence dispute
An event in which two or more humans/animals compete for competence
Eg. Hunting (ancestral), academic arguments (modern)
Social animals who lose a dominance/competence dispute often exhibit behaviors known as?
Involuntary Defeat Strategy (IDS)
Involuntary defeat strategy (IDS) (6) symptoms
When you lose a dominance/competence dispute symptoms like: _____ appear
1) submissive behaviors
2) reduced motivation
3) behavioral inhibition
4) dysphoria
5) lack of energy
6) diminished self-esteem
IDS has a ______ function during a dominance dispute
Protective function
What does a protective function in IDS do?
Protects the defeated animal from severe injury/death if they persist with a dispute they can’t win
IDS is an evolved system for adjusting to the ____ __ _____ ____ whilst still remaining a member of the group since humans are social animals
Loss of social rank
Some social groups have a _____ social hierarchy
Steep
Steep social hierarchy
Subordinates have a low probability of winning a status dispute
Shallow status hierarchy
Subordinates have a moderate to high probability of winning a status dispute
Steep social hierarchies can contribute to _____ and _____ ________ for those near the bottom of the hierarchy
Helplessness and chronic depression
