Neurobiology Flashcards
Brainstem, Pons, Medulla Oblongata : The reptilian brain
- Regulates levels of arousal
* PTSD, psychosis
Amygdala
- Regulates emotions: Fear, rage, sexual desire
* PTSD, Panic
Hippocampus
- Converting short term memory into log term memory
- Learning
- PTSD, alzheimers, major depression
Thalamus
- Relay station for sensory information
- Influences affect
- Schizophrenia
Hypothalamus
- Maintains homeostasis
- Controls basic needs: eating, drinking, temperature, sleep-wake
- Depression, anxiety, violence
The Limbic System
- The emotional brain
* Amygdala, hippocampus, hypothalamus, pituitary, thalamus, cingulate gyrus
Cerebral Cortex
- The thinking brain
- Frontal lobe
- Parietal lobe
- Occipital lobe
- Temporal lobe
Frontal Lobe
- Executive function
- Orbitofrontal region, anterior cingulate: human love
- Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, amygdala: emotional regulation and processing
- Medial pre-frontal cortex: reward system
- Schizophrenia, bipolar, ADHD, anxiety
Parietal lobe
- Sensory information
- involved with processing tactile, and proprioceptive information, comprehension of language
- Aphasia, agnosia, apraxia
Occipital lobe
- Vision, visual memory, language formation
* Vision loss, visual hallucinations
Temporal lobe
- Process auditory information
- Provides emotional context to emotions
- Auditory hallucinations in depression, mania, schizophrenia
Dopamine: Mesolimbic Pathways
- Reward oriented
- Mood disorders, psychosis, positive symptoms of schizophrenia, drug abuse
- All antipsychotics block DA receptors, specifically D2 in the mesolimbic dopamine pathway
Dopamine: Nigrostriatal pathway
- Voluntary and involuntary movements
* First generation antipsychotics can cause blockade of D2 receptors in the nigrostriatal pathways which can lead to EPS
Dopamine: Mesocortical pathway
- Cognition, planning, behavior
* Deficient mesocortical DA pathway causes negative symptoms of schizophrenia
Dopamine: Tuberinfundibular pathway
- Extends to the pituitary where prolactin is regulated
* Medications that disrupt the tuberoinfundibular pathway can cause elevated prolactin and galactorrhea (resperidone)
Noradrenergic System
- Epinephrine: mostly in the peripheral nervous system
- Norepinephrine: attention, vigilance, fight or flight, learning, speeds up heart
- NE neurons innervate the amygdala and prefrontal cortex, areas of importance to anxiety and worry
- Mood disorders, GAD, ADHD, panic, PTSD
- Psychostimulants increase NE and DA
- Atomoxetine is a selective norepinephrine inhibitor
Serotonin
- affects sleep, reduces aggression, inhibits behavior
- 90% of serotonin receptors in gut
- Dysregulation results in irritability, anxiety, depression
- Some SGAs block 5-HT2 receptors balancing the action of DA
Histamine
- Can be excitatory or inhibitory
- Thought to modulate arousal, feeding, and neuroendocrine responsiveness
- Widely distributed within the CNS, high levels in the thalamus, cortex, and cerebellum
- H1 receptor antagonism causes antipsychotic sedation and weight gain
Glutamate
- Found through the brain
- Excitatory
- N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor
Gamma-aminobutyri acid (GABA)
- Inhibitory
- Plays a role in anxiety
- Benzos act on GABA receptors
Acetylcholine (ACh)
- Neuromodulator inside the brain
- Deterioration of the brain in the cerebral cortex and caudate nucleus decreases ACh concentrations
- Cognition, arousal, attention, motivation
- Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors prevent the breakdoen of ACh (donepezil)
Dopamine Pathway
- Ventral Tegmental, nucleus accumbens, mesolimbic, tuberinfundibular, nigrostriatal, mesocortical
- Reward, pleasure, motor function, compulsion, perseveration
Serotonin Pathway
- Raphe nuclei, hypothalamus, thalamus, cerebellum
* Mood, memory, sleep, cognition
