MCAT Misc.

Question 1

What are the universal emotions?

Answer 1

Fear, anger, disgust, happiness, surprise, and sadness

Question 2

What are the 3 components of emotion?

Answer 2

(1) Cognitive (2) Physiological (3) Behavioral

Question 3

psychoeducation

Answer 3

the education offered to individuals with a mental health condition and their families to help empower them and deal with their condition in an optimal way.

Question 4

3 Types of organizations:

Answer 4

”

(1) Coercive: members forced to join
(2) Normative: members volunteer to participate
(3) Utilitarian: members are compensated for their involvement”

Question 5

2 key features of viruses

Answer 5

(1) Self-replicating (2) Must reproduce within specific host cell (“obligate parasites”)

Question 6

Generalized phage and animal virus life cycles

Answer 6

(1) Attachment (2) Penetration (3) Entry of viral genetic code (4) Use host mechanism to replicate (5) Self-assemblage and release of new viral particles

Question 7

Attachment: phages vs. animal viruses

Answer 7

Phages: tail fibers attach to cell wall proteins; animal viruses: attach to plasma membrane proteins and glycoproteins

Question 8

Penetration: phage vs. animal viruses

Answer 8

Phages: viral DNA injected into host cell; Animal Viruses: capsid enters by endocytosis or fusion

Question 9

Biosynthesis: phage vs. animal viruses

Answer 9

phages: in cytoplasm; animal viruses: in nucleus (DNA viruses) or in cytoplasm (RNA viruses)

Question 10

Prion

Answer 10

(A subviral particle); an infectious agent composed entirely of protein material (PrP = prion protein) that can fold in multiple structurally distinct ways - at least one which is transmissible to other prion proteins, leading to disease that is similar to viral infection

Question 11

Viroid

Answer 11

(A subivral particle - the smallest infectious pathogens known); composed of a circular, short-stranded, RNA without a protein coat; Inhabit higher plants - in which most cause disease

Question 12

Michaaelis-Menton Equn:

Answer 12

V = Vmax*[S] / [S] + Km —-> when Km = [S], then V = 1/2 * Vmax

Question 13

competitive inhibition

Answer 13

Inhibitor binds to active site of enzyme; Increases Km; same Vmax

Question 14

Non-competitive inhibition vs. Mixed inhibtion

Answer 14

“Mixed inhibitor binds to allosteric site on enzyme, causing enzyme deactivation; can bind to free enzyme OR enzyme-substrate complex; Usually effects both Km and Vmax;
-Non-competitive inhibitor = type of mixed inhibitor that binds to E or ES complex equally, thus decreases Vmax, but leaves Km unchanged”

Question 15

zymogen

Answer 15

unactive form of an enzyme —> requires a covalent modification to become active

Question 16

Uncompetitive inhibition

Answer 16

Only binds to the ES complex; Km and Vmax are both decreased by proportional amounts (so Lineweaver Burke Plot slope doesn’t change)

Question 17

cofactors and coenzymes

Answer 17

Cofactors = non-protein helper molecules that bind to enzymes to help them work optimally; coenzymes = organic (carbon-based) cofactors

Question 18

Most common sources of coenzymes

Answer 18

Dietary vitamins (particularly water-soluble vitamins); ex: Vitamin C is important voenzyme for some enzymes in building collagen

Question 19

Enzyme Classes

Answer 19

(1) Oxidoreductase (2) Transferase (3) Hydrolase (addition of water) (4) Lyase (remove groups w/o hydrolysis) (5) Isomerase (6) Ligase (join 2 molecules, using energy)

Question 20

Allosteric Enzymes

Answer 20

Enzymes with multiple sites (active and allosteric); binding of regulators causes a change in the activity of the enzyme (don’t obey Michaelis-Menton; instead, have sigmoidal kinetics)

Question 21

Cooperativity

Answer 21

Substrate itself is an allosteric activator: when it binds to one site, the activity of the other active sites goes up

Question 22

Suicide Inhibitors

Answer 22

Covalently bind enzyme preventing it from catalyzing reactions (rarely unbind)

Question 23

3 Types of covalent modifications of enzyme

Answer 23

(1) Small post-translational modifications (such as methylation, acetylation, glyosylation (2) zymogens (3) Suicide inhibitors

Question 24

Induced fit model

Answer 24

The Active site is not exactly a lock to the substrate key; rather, when the substrate binds the active site it induces a change in the active site to make it fit

Question 25

Effects of local conditions on enzyme activity

Answer 25

(1) Temperature: until optimal temp is reached (98.6 F or 37 C, or 310K in humans), Velocity tends to double for every +10 degrees Celsius. (2) pH - tend to function best at 7.4 in humans, and worse higher or lower (3) Salinity: increasing [salt] can disrupt hydrogen and ionic bonds, causing a conformational change, and sometimes denaturing

Question 26

myoglobin

Answer 26

the substance that holds oxygen in the muscles and the organs

Question 27

2 factors normally determining BP:

Answer 27

(1) Cardiac output (stroke volume x HR) and (2) Resistance to blood flow

Question 28

Cardiac Output

Answer 28

Stroke Volume*HR

Question 29

Total blood pressure =

Answer 29

Total Peripheral Resistance * Cardiac Output

Question 30

**edema:

Answer 30

increased fluid in body tissues (can be caused by decrease n plasma protein level)

Question 31

**Activated Vitamin D acts on… to…

Answer 31

the small intestine to stimulate absorption of Ca2+ into bloodstream

Question 32

what hormone causes ovulation

Answer 32

LH (Luteinizing Hormone)

Question 33

*histones:

Answer 33

“small, basic proteins that come together with DNA to from nucleosomes – the bead-like primary structural element of chromatin;
*interactions among histone proteins in separate nucleosomes allow those nucleosomes to form the highly compacted 30-nm chromatin fibers”

Question 34

biomedical vs biopsychosocial approaches to psychological disorders

Answer 34

Biomedical - assumes any disorder has roots in biomedical disturbances; biopsychosocial - takes into account biological, psychological, and social components

Question 35

Rate of psychological disorders in the US

Answer 35

roughly 26%

Question 36

Males & Females: most prevalent psychological disorder

Answer 36

males - substance abuse disorders; females - anxiety disorders

Question 37

Foraging: what it is & what it is driven by

Answer 37

Seeking out & eating food; Driven by biological (hypothalamus controls hunger sensations), psychological, and social influences

Question 38

What controls hunger sensations

Answer 38

Hypothalamus: Lateral Hypothalamus: Promotes hunger; Ventral Hypothalamus: Promotes satiety

Question 39

Elaboration Likelihood Model

Answer 39

There are 2 info processing routes: Central + Periphery; each follow 3 stages: (1) Target (if central route, have high interest, motivation, and importance; if peripheral route, low interest, etc.) (2) Message/Source (if central route, deep; if peripheral route, shallow - pay attention to superficial details); (3) Attitude Change (if central route, long lasting; if periphery, temporary if at all)

Question 40

Social cognitive Theory

Answer 40

Theory of learning based on the idea that people learn by observing others. Describes a triadic reciprocal relationship between (1) Personal factors (2) Behavior (3) Environment

Question 41

Neutral Stimulus (classical conditioning)

Answer 41

Doesn’t produce a response; can be paired with the unconditioned stimulus to become a conditioned stimulus

Question 42

Primary vs. conditioned reinforcers

Answer 42

Primary = innately pleasing (such as food & drink); conditioned = have to be learned to be pleasing (such as money)

Question 43

operant conditioning shaping

Answer 43

Rewarding successive approximations of the target behavior (instead of only rewarding the target; will eventually build up to the target behavior)

Question 44

Modeling

Answer 44

Learning behavior through observational learning

Question 45

Bandura

Answer 45

Observational learning & modeling

Question 46

Theorist who proposed modeling

Answer 46

Albert Bandura

Question 47

Core brain regions associated with compassion (experiencing vicarious emotions)

Answer 47

anterior insula and the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC)

Question 48

Instinctive Drift

Answer 48

The tendency of an animal to revert to instinctive behaviors that interfere with a conditioned response

Question 49

Rescorla-Wagner Model

Answer 49

of classical conditioning (1) Learning will occur if you are surprised (2) The expectation of a trial is based on the predictive value of all the stimuli present (if you’ve learned already, or are familiar)