Lecutre 5: Anxiety Disorders Part 1 Flashcards
What are some of the biggest differences between plants and animals?
Movement!
What do you need to find in an ancestral environment? List some examples!
Water, food, available territory, shelter, mates
To find survival items our brain has a ______ system
Approach system!
What do you need to avoid in an ancestral environment? List as many as you can!
- Predators
- Snakes
- Hostile members of own species
- Freezing
- Overheating
- Deadly falls
- Drowning
- Toxins
- Being banished from the group
To successfully avoid harmful things in the environment our brain has a _____ system
Threat system
Threat system is a cortico-limbic neural circuitry that mediates (5)
A cortico-limbic neural circuitry that mediates
1. Fear
2. Anxiety
3. Conditioning
4. Avoidance behavior
5. Behavioral inhibition
Fear, what does it signal?
Fear signals PERCEIVED threats eg. Fear of predators/heights
Anxiety, what does it signal?
Anxiety signals POTENTIAL threats eg. Health anxiety, social anxiety, attachment anxiety
The cortico-limbic neural circuitry mediates conditioning, specifically:
Operant and Respondent/Classical conditioning
The cortico-limbic neural circuitry that mediates avoidance behavior including:
Commission of action (eg. Fleeing) intended to prevent perceived/anticipated threats
The cortico-limbic neutral mediates behavioral inhibition which includes
Omission of action (eg. Freezing) intended to prevent perceiving or anticipated threats
Where is the threat system localized?
In parts of the limbic system and prefrontal cortex
Amygdala is part of the ____ system
Limbic!
The amygdala neurons use ______ as a neurotransmitter?
Serotonin!
What does the amygdala mediate?
- Fear
- Anxiety
- Conditioning
- Avoidance behavior
- Behavioral inhibition
Because it’s part of the threat system sillyyyyy!
People with anxiety disorders usually have ___- activation of amygdala in response to _____ stimuli
OVER-activation of amygdala in response to NEGATIVE stimuli
Sometimes there’s overactivation of amygdala in response to POSITIVE stimuli which can trigger what kind of behavior
“High stakes” reward seeking behavior
Overactivation of a brain area does not necessary mean there is a corresponding increase in behavioral activity because many neural circuits are ______?
Inhibitory
The amygdala of people with anxiety disorders are ______ than people without anxiety
LARGER
If over-activation of amygdala persist over long spans of time then the amygdala size might _____ due to ______ and resulting cell death
SHRINK
EXCITOTOXICITY
Cortical amygdala circuits also mediate _____________ __________
And especially what kind?
DECISION MAKING!
Especially about how much EFFORT to put into something and whether to DELAY GRATIFICATION
Damage to the Amygdala can impair ___________
Decision making
The hippocampus is part of the ____ system
Limbic! ~ also threat system ok don’t forget <3
Dorsal (top) hippocampus what does it do?
It consolidates STM memories into LTM memories = mediates learning! Eg. HM case study
Ventral (bottom) hippocampus does what?
Also mediates FEAR and ANXIETY and has reciprocal connections to amygdala and HPA axis
Hippocampus also resolves ________ _______ conflicts
Approach-avoidance conflicts
Approach-avoidance conflicts
Psychological conflicts that arise when a goal is both desirable/undesirable
Hippocampal dysfunction in anxiety disorders usually would _____ approach-avoidance arbitration which would contribute to _______ behavior
IMPAIR
MALADAPTIVE
Eg. People who seek treatment but don’t do the treatment protocols/ want a relationship but don’t fully commit
The prefrontal cortex is located in the _________ of the cortex
Anterior(front) most region of the cortex
What does the prefrontal cortex use a variety of?
NEUROTRANSMITTERS!
What does the prefrontal cortex mediate?
Executive functions!
Examples of executive functions? List as many as you can!
- Attention
- Control of impulses
- Planning
- Decision making
- Problem solving
- Reasoning
- Cognitive flexibility
Executive functions can be disrupted by?
Overactivation of the amygdala and ventral hippocampus
People with anxiety disorders often have ____ ________ of the prefrontal correct and/or _____ ________ _________ between cortex and limbic systems
Under-activation of the prefrontal cortex
Less robust connections between cortex and limbic systems
Treatment for anxiety disorders tend to tackle?
Cognitive interventions used to facilitate executive functioning of the person in treatment eg. Helping people pay attention, reason, be flexible!
A common characteristic among anxiety disorders is _____ - _______ ______ _________
Over-active threat circuitry
What does over-active threat circuitry contribute to?
- Avoidance behaviors
- Behavioral inhibition
- Heightened loss aversion
- Pessimistic judgements that affect decision making
Proximate causes
A cause that is spatially and temporally close to an effect eg. Seeing snakes
Ultimate cause
A cause that is spatially and temporally distant from an effect eg. Biological evolution being ultimate cause of fear/anxiety about specific animals
