Mood Disorders

Question 1

What are the core characteristics of MDD? How do they affect a person’s

Answer 1

• Unhappy mood
• loss of interests
• appetite
• restless agitation and poor motor
  Reduced performance

Question 2

What are the four proposed main causes of depression?

Answer 2

1. Biological differences- physical differences in the brain
2. Brain Chemistry- Changes in production, function, and effects of neurotransmitters
3. Hormones - Changes in body’s balance of hormones
4. Genetics- More common with blood relatives who have condition

Question 3

What are the two areas of the brain who have increase activation and during what tasks?

Answer 3

1. Frontal lobes: cognitive tasks
2. Amygdala: Emotional processing.

Question 4

What happens to the cortex of the right hemisphere due to the brain changes within depression?

Answer 4

The cortex of the right hemisphere gets thinner.

Question 5

What is a brain change in depression that is associated with a reduction in something?

Answer 5

A decreased amount of blood flow to areas regarding attention.

Question 6

The brain changes and results in dysfunction of what area in the brain resulting in an “anti-reward center,” or lost pleasure?

Answer 6

Dysfunction of the lateral habenula of the pineal gland.

Question 7

Damage to this area in the brain increases sensitivity to stress and hampers logical thinking and rationalizing.

Answer 7

The prefrontal cortex.

Question 8

What are some ways depression affects daily functioning?

Answer 8

Personality, relationship problems, abusing drugs, chronic illness, increase in inflammation.

Question 9

What are the three monoamines in question in regards to inhibitors of MAO’s?

Answer 9

Norepinephrine, dopamine, and serotonin.

Question 10

What was the first round of anti-depressant drugs?

Answer 10

Monoamine Oxidase inhibitors

Question 11

What do MAO inhibitors do at the synapse?

Answer 11

They raise the level of monoamines at the synapse.

Question 12

How did the monoamine hypothesis model come to be?

Answer 12

The efficacy of monoamine oxidase inhibitors in regards to inhibiting norepineprhine, dopamine, and serotoninn in the brain led to the development of this hypothesis.

Question 13

What are some flaws of prescription medications?

Answer 13

1. Long wait time for reduction of symptoms
2. Likelihood of benefitting varies
3. Results may be too similar to placebo effect
4. Increased risk of suicidal ideation.

Question 14

What are the two other types of anti-depressant medications apart from Monamine oxidase inhibitors?

Answer 14

Tricyclics & SSRI’s.

Question 15

What is the mechanism of action for tricyclics?

Answer 15

It inhibits the reuptake of monoamines.

Question 16

What is the mechanism of action for selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors?

Answer 16

It blocks the reuptake of serotonin in the brain.

Question 17

What does cognitive behavioral therapy do and why is it a viable option?

Answer 17

It may be as effective as SSRI’s, but when used together are more effective than either alone.

It helps manage the thoughts and feelings.

Question 18

What are two ways that depression affects sleep patterns?

Answer 18

In stage 3 : slow-wave sleep is reduced.
In REM sleep: they enter REM very quickly, with an increase of REM in the first half of the night.

Question 19

What happens in learned helplessness of animals? Hint: It is an observable behavior used for animal models;

Answer 19

They are exposed to a repetitively stressful stimuli that is inescapable.

Question 20

What is motivational conflict that is present in animal models of anxiety?

Answer 20

The animal will stay and fight or run away from it. Curiosity vs risk aversion.

Question 21

What is the psychological and physiological state induced in animals by a potential threat to survival?

Answer 21

Anxiety

Question 22

What happens in vicarious social defeat stress?

Answer 22

An aggressor is allowed to associate with a mouse in one compartment of a cage that may elicit learned helplessness.

Question 23

What are the key characteristics of bipolar disorder and how does it differ from major depressive disorder?

Answer 23

It is characterized by extreme moods of highs and lows. Mani and depression. It is treated with lithium.

Question 24

What plays an important role in the body’s response to stress and results in the production of cortisol?

Answer 24

The HPA axis.

Question 25

The HPA axis represents the interaction between what three areas in the brain?

Answer 25

The adrenal glands, the pituitary glands, and the hypothalamus.

Question 26

How does chronic stress affect the HPA axis and contribute to anxiety disorders?

Answer 26

It stands for the hypothalamic, pituitary, adrenal gland that manages stress. The endocrine system creates a feedback loop of hormones to regulate the stress reaction.