NEUR 0010 - Chapter 22

Question 1

What is the stress response?

Answer 1

Coordinated reactions to threatening stimuli: avoidance behavior, increased vigilance and arousal, activation of SANS, release of cortisol from adrenal glands

Question 2

Where is cortisol released from? By what?

Answer 2

Released from the adrenal cortex in response to elevated blood ACTH levels

Question 3

Where is ACTH released from? By what?

Answer 3

From the anterior pituitary in response to elevated blood CRH levels

Question 4

Where is CRH released from? By what?

Answer 4

From the hypothalamus into the hypothalamo-pituitary portal circulation in response to parvocellular neurosecretory secretion in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus

Question 5

What two structures regulate the CRH neurons in the hypothalamus?

Answer 5

Amygdala and hippocampus

Question 6

What part of the amygdala activates the HPA axis?

Answer 6

The bed nucleus of the stria terminalis: collection of neurons in the amygdala

Question 7

How does hippocampal activation affect CRH release?

Answer 7

Inhibits in (instead of promotes, like the amygdala); uses its glucocorticoid receptors to detect elevated cortisol levels and acts through negative feedback on the hypothalamus

Question 8

What are the two major classes of anxiolytic drugs?

Answer 8

Benzodiazepines and SSRIs

Question 9

How are benzodiazepines anxiolytic?

Answer 9

Act on inhibitory GABA receptors: make them open more easily and increase inhibition

Question 10

How are SSRIs anxiolytic?

Answer 10

Allow serotonin to stay in the synaptic cleft longer, and somehow cause the nervous system to adapt to chronically elevated brain serotonin and increased hippocampal glucocorticoid receptors (enhancing negative feedback loop for elevated cortisol)

Question 11

What is type I vs type II bipolar?

Answer 11

Type I is manic episodes alone; Type II is hypomanic and major depressive episodes

Question 12

What is cyclothymia?

Answer 12

Cycling between hypomania and minor depressive episodes

Question 13

What is the monoamine hypothesis of mood disorders?

Answer 13

Depression as a consequence of a deficit in one of the diffuse modulatory systems of monoamines (NE, 5HT)

Question 14

Which two monoamines are associated with mood disorders?

Answer 14

Norepinephrine and serotonin

Question 15

What is the diathesis-stress hypothesis of mood disorders?

Answer 15

That the HPA axis is the main site where genetic and environmental influences converge to cause mood disorders

Question 16

What happens to the HPA axis during depression?

Answer 16

Highly active: elevated blood cortisol, elevated brain CRH

Question 17

What are five successful drugs for mood disorders?

Answer 17

Tricyclics, SSRIs, NE-reuptake inhibitors, lithium, and MAOIs

Question 18

How do tricyclics help treat depression?

Answer 18

Block NE and 5HT reuptake

Question 19

How do MAOIs help treat depression?

Answer 19

Prevent degradation of NE and 5HT

Question 20

How does lithium help treat bipolar?

Answer 20

Prevents normal PIP2 turnover (important in GPCRs) and interferes with adenylyl cyclase

Question 21

What are some positive symptoms of schizophrenia?

Answer 21

Delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, grossly disorganized or catatonic behavior

Question 22

What are some negative symptoms of schizophrenia?

Answer 22

Flat affect, poverty of speech, difficulty in initiating goal-directed behavior, memory impairment

Question 23

What is the dopamine hypothesis of schizophrenia?

Answer 23

Psychotic episodes are triggered by activation of DA receptors

Question 24

What is the glutamate hypothesis of schizophrenia?

Answer 24

Schizophrenia reflects diminished activation of NMDA receptors in the brain