Lesson 4: Neurochemicals Flashcards
Where all do neurons exist in our bodies? WHat function do theyr serve?
In the brain and in our body as nerves.
They pick up sensory information, activate movement/motor skills and also communicate between two neurons
What are MIRROR nuerons? Why do they exist?
Observer effect - you see someone suffer or laugh - it makes you feel like you are also suffering (ouch) or you may also smile/laugh.
Exists for EMPATHY to help each other and also learn from another’s experience
What is THEORY OF MIND? Give an example.
TOM = Putting yourself in another shoes but NOT EMOTIONALLY only rationally. You operate out of Sys 2. E.g. You see someone running and you hypothesize because he’s late or there is danger.
Describe Karpan’s Triangle. What implications does it have for a coach?
Perpetrator - Victim - Savior
We take any of these 3 roles when we are in any situation. Each role needs another.
As coaches, we should listen carefully for what role the client is playing (could be more than 1) when describing a situation. We should try to have more TOM and not take on any role or have emotional involvement.
Who are the janitors of the brain? Describe their 5 functions.
GLIAL CELLS
- Clean up all waste/debris & excess neurotransmitters - almost 50% of all brain cells
- Transport nuetrients to neurons
- Myelination process
- Digest old nuerons, help genesis of new neurons, movement of nuerons
- Generate Spinal fluid and brain fluid - regulate whats in the extracellular space
Give an example of a neurtransmitter & its disfunctional receptor
Adenosin - when received by nuerons makes you sleepy.
When you have tea/coffee the caffience clocks the receptors of Adenosin, so you stay awake. WHen caffience gets cleaned up and removed, there is a backlog of Adenosin so you CRASH!
Name the 4 DOSEA tranmitters and what they do
Dopamine - rewards, pleasure
Oxytocin - Love, trust, bond, high in mom & baby, lowers stress and calms, touching pets
Seratonin - Mood regulator made in the gut - need exercise and sunlight to create
Endorphins - Rush/euphoria and ccan inhibit pain, e.g. induced by laughter
Adenosin - makes u sleepy, relaxed
Explain Heidonic Adaptation
Hedonic adaptation refers to the notion that after positive (or negative) events (i.e., something good or bad happening to someone), and a subsequent increase in positive (or negative) feelings, people return to a relatively stable, baseline level of affect
When you get Dopamine high initially when you do something but it fades away over time. This forces us to try new things and prevents us from having too much of one.
Explain addictions using dopamine
When you get dopamine hit from an activity sometimes you get addicted to the ANTICIPATION of that activity (because it led to a rewards in the past). E.g. phone ping, gambling, gaming
Can be heightened by taking drugs like cocoaine which could destroy the receptor for dopamine in the synptic cleft, so you keep needing more cocoaine to get the same high.
WHat nuerotransmitter is released when drinking alcohol?
GABA - it has similar effect to Seratonin in regulating mood. It lowers the firing rate of neurons, which is why you feel calmer and slower after alcohol.
How do men and women react to stress differently?
Men & women have same brains but men have more Testosterone vs females have more Estrogen.
Tesosterone causes more Adrenalin -> fight/flight/freeze
Estrogen causes more Oxytocin - Love, trust and talk it out, tend and be friends
Describe the synaptic cleft
Presynaptic neuron sends a neurotransmitter to the next neuron by releasing it into a SYNAPTIC CLEFT. A post synaptic nueron awaits to recieve the neutransmitters at it’s receptors where the NT will bind.
