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Psych Disorders > Lecture 8 - Brain & instinctual Behaviour > Flashcards

Lecture 8 - Brain & instinctual Behaviour Flashcards

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1
Q

What is meant by homeostasis?

A

Regulation of optimum levels of bodily functioning, for instance:

  1. Blinking - cleans the eyes
  2. Keeping body temp around 37’c

Doing this stuff voluntarily takes quite a lot of effort

We use two cues to help us do this

  1. Internal Cues
  2. External Cues
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2
Q

Why is it important to retain body temp of 37?

A

If you go slightly above 37, by 2 or so degress
- can cause cramps, sweats, nausea

If you go below 37, by 2 or so degrees
- causes shivering

If you go further

  • heat exhaustion or further: heat stroke/ death
  • Mild hypothermia or further: severe hypothermia - frost bites - moves blood supply to vital organs sacrifices extremities
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3
Q

Introduce/ define internal cues for homeostasis

A

Internal cues inform us about: Sleep, warmth, thirst, hunger etc

  • PNS and CNS are both used
  • often see it as a choice, e.g. to get a drink, but it’s actually our body telling us to do that
  • Every animals do it
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4
Q

What are the 2 internal cue systems for hunger?

A
  1. Glucose/ Glycogen Model - (stomach and liver) - PNS
    - much slower
    - Signals from stomach & Liver indicate about eating/ fullness - vital organs when it comes to feeding
  2. Hormonal model? Ghrelin/Leptin - CNS
    - much faster

Evolutionarily beneficial to have both of these options available depending on how fast you need to do it

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5
Q

Outline the Glucose/ Glycogen system as the first half of the 2 internal cue systems

A

AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM

  1. Food enters stomach
  2. Food is bathed in stomach acid to extract the nutrients - especially sugars
    - specifically glucose which is pumped into the muscles for energy
  3. Stomach produces glucose which is pumped into the bloodstream

If not immediately needed: we dont waste it, we store it, would be evolutionarily stupid to let it go to waste. But we can’t store it as glucose because that is a transactional chemical. So we convert it into glycogen for storage

When there is low levels of glucose in the blood, ANS sends signals to the liver to get it out of storage:

  1. Glycogen is converted back into glucose and released into the blood stream
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6
Q

What are the 2 regulation pathways in the Glucose/ Glycogen system that monitor how much glucose is in the body

A
  1. IF NOT ENOUGH GLUCOSE IN BLOODSTREAM
    - either: a) Eat, or b) convert stored glycogen into glucose
    - if nothing left to convert in stores, you get very hungry
  2. IF NOT CONVERTING GLYCOGEN INTO GLUCOSE
    - if the liver is not converting glycogen into glucose, the ANS see’s this and concludes that there must be enough glucose in the bloodstream already
    - dont need to eat

LIVER tells ANS when and when you dont need to eat

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7
Q

Outline how diabetes is involved in this glucose/ glycogen system

A

In both types of diabetes, type 1 and type 2, there is too much sugar staying in the blood (hyperglycemia), therefore not enough getting to muscles
- This is because there is a lack of INSULIN

Not enough INSULIN being produced by the PANCREAS

Insulin is the gatekeeper that allows glucose to LEAVE the bloodstream and go into the muscles - a lack of insulin would mean a lack of glucose leaving the blood and energising the muscles

  • this can cause fainting or worse
  • sudden collapse in energy - need to use all the energy we have to keeping the vitals going

Eventually, with no energy, heart will stop

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8
Q

What is the Hormonal Model of eating/ fullness

A

2 Hormones in the CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM important here:
- this system works through signals from both of these hormones:

  1. Leptin - indicates satiety (fullness) via complicated receptors from the gustatory system that indicate sateity
    2 Ghrelin - indicates low glucose in blood and hunger
    - uses blood stream glucose levels
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9
Q

Outline a rat with defective Leptin receptors

A

When a rat had defective/ deactivated Leptin receptors
- Leptin is still being produced and sending signals
- but the Leptin receptors on the post-synaptic cells have been deactivated
so it just couldnt stop eating

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10
Q

How is the hypothalamus involved in this hormonal model?

A

Hypothalamus is where all the information regarding insluion, glucose, eating and hunger goes

It’s in the midbrain, above the pituitary (secreates growth hormones), made up of lots of structures

Multi-functional too, bascially is responsible for all functions related to the survival of the self and the species
• Hunger, thirst, reproduction, sleep, body temp

THE LATERAL HYPOTHALAMUS IS IN CHARGE OF HUNGER

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11
Q

What is the debate here surrounding eating disorders and these systems?

A

If we all have these 2 systems, that are all the same, we should anticipate that we all have the same eating habits - but we do not
- we see eating disorders

And numbers of eating disorders are all increasing, and fluctuating each years
- so are eating disorders are leptin related problem - NO because eating disorders prevelance changes each year, but our Leptin systems havent change in millions of years

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12
Q

Outline the internal and external cues to Eating Disorders

A

It is unclear why people get Eating Disorders and why the numbers are increasing

Internal - not clear
- could be a glucose/ glycogen problem, hypothalamus problem or a leptin problem

External:

  • Cognition - the way we think about food
  • personality - Anorexic personality?
  • social psychology - belonging to certain groups? identify with an ED identity?
  • Sociology - feel this way due to society, SE status, gender, education, jobs

Either way: Physiology is not the whole story - as it hasnt changed, something else might be influencing these fluctuations

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13
Q

Outline Pain

A

Pain prompts regulation via action - need to do something about it
- pain signals indicates disequilibrium - that something isnt right here - so we need to do something about it

Sympathetic ANS involved here - fight or flight to get out of pain
- heart, lungs, blood flow

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14
Q

What are evolutionary differences in pain - what would be best

A

Evolutionarily there were genes that were better/ quicker at:

  1. recognising (externally/ sensorily) a dangerous/threatening/ painful stimuli
  2. Responding to that stimuli

Evolutionarily, it would be beneficial to be fast at both of these - it would be more adaptive

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15
Q

What is the James-Lange theory surrounding pain?

A

Argued that once our body has automatically responded - to either fight or take flight
- IT IS AFTER THIS that our brain kicks in to interpret the events, and what is happening to us

I’m, running so i must be scared

a) external cues become associated with pain via learning
b) Fight/ flight is triggered unconsciouslly and fear is inferred from the action

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16
Q

What did Richard Dawkins argue in The Selfsh gene (1976)

A

TRAITS LAID DOWN THEN ARE WITH US NOW

  • basically argued that we are homo sapiens, and we have been for 250,000 years - we havent evolved much if at all
  • he argued therefore that the same strategies to pass on our genes that were present then are still present now
  • traits that led to successful adaptation survive beyond us and are still present now

Can see this if you look at the example of Sexual Behaviour

17
Q

Outline the example of sexual behaviour as evidence for Richard Dawkins argument in the Selfish Gene (1976)

A

Males and females have different evolutionary strategies to passing on their genes - Maximising Gene Legacy:

In chickens:
•Males 
- compete for younger (child bearing) females
- More partners
- more children

•Female

  • Compete for stronger, taller males
  • fewer partners
  • few children - have to incubate it for ages

In males
•Males
- promiscuity
- absent fathers, dont need to stick around can go and impregnate other mothers
- Resentment of non-fathered children - dont want to care for them

• Females

  • Monogomy - need someone to help rear children
  • Maternal bonding to child - wouldnt abandon
  • tolerate male partner for childs sake
18
Q

What is Mary Midgley’s Argument in her book: Evolution as a religion (1985) against Richard Dawkins

A

She said that Evolutionary theories are like a religion, that people buy into, but empircally, there are actually much evidence against these points

In relation to sexual behaviour
•Male monogamy exists - in fact it is the norm in the animal kingdom
•There is paternal bonding in humans and animals - fathers love their children and form bonds with them

She says. regardless of if it’s in your genes, you have a moral choice to care for your children and not abandon - you have free will

Psych Disorders (10 decks)

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