Physiological Psychology and Psychopharmacology Flashcards
Acetylcholine (ACh)
- Neurotransmitter
- causes muscles to contract
- Myasthenia Gravis - auto-immune disorder causing profound weakness in skeletal muscles
Tyramine interacts with MAOIs
Decreased Tyramine in a diet is essential when taking an MAOI in order to avoid a hypertensive crisis.
Elevated levels of dopamine in the __________ pathway of the brain are responsible for the reinforcing effects of alcohol, psychostimulants, and opiates.
Mesolimbic Pathways
There’s evidence that, for some patients, depressive symptoms can be alleviated by either a placebo or an antidepressant and that a placebo and antidepressants affect the same area of the brain. More specifically, the research has found that:
A placebo produces increased activity in the prefrontal cortex while antidepressants produce decreased activity.
What do drugs that block the activity of ACh do?
Produce dry mouth, blurred vision, tachycardia, sedation, and hypotension
Who is at the highest risk for a migraine headache?
35 year-old female perfectionist and ambitious
Migraine symptoms
Does not begin with an aura and may be exacerbated by bending over or lifting
Tumor in medial hypothalamus would likely cause what changes?
Outbursts of aggressive behavior
Describe depression in people with Parkinsons
Appears to be endogenous to the disorder and may precede motor symptoms, especially in younger patients.
If a young child (ie: 1 year old) sustains brain damage to the left hemisphere at Broca’s Area, what will the outcome most likely be?
The child will likely ultimately eventually exhibit language abilities in the low to normal range, as the other brain hemisphere due to a take-over of language functions by the right hemisphere.
Serial Position Effect
- The tendency for a person to recall the first and last bits of information best and the middle items worst.
- Can be best explained by the 3-Boxes Model (multi-store) of Memory
When compare to patients with a TBI, volunteers instructed to malinger (fake brain injury) are:
Less likely to exhibit a recency effect.
What is Tardive Dyskinesia due to?
- TARDIVE DYSKENESIA and DOPAMINE are connected
- Tardive dyskenesia can be caused by dopamine blockers
- TDs are most common in patients with schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, or bipolar disorder who have been treated with antipsychotic medication for long periods (but they occasionally occur in other patients as well.
- Could be treated with drugs that increase dopamine levels
For patients who develop Tardive Dyskinesia as a result of neuroleptic use, what are outcomes
- Symptoms may eventually improve to some degree following neuroleptic withdrawal.
Drugs that are given for alleviating psychotic symptoms such as those that accompany Schizophrenia or Psychotic Disorder
- Risperdal (less likely to produce Tardive Dyskenesia than traditional neuroleptics)
- Zyprexa
- Thorazine
not prescribed: Tegretol
Metobolic Encephalopathy - condition
- Can cause delirium
- May be caused by kidney or liver failure, diabetes, hypo or hyper thyroidism, vitamin deficiency, severe dehydration
Post-central gyrus of brain
- Sense of touch
Pre-central gyrus of brain
- Movement
Anterior Cingulate Cortex
Emotional reactions to pain
Central Acromatopsia
Cannot distinguish between hues. Due to bilateral lesions in the occipito-temporal region
What is the prognosis for those with a minor brain injury?
50% have post-concussion syndrome; most will recover completely within 3-6 months. If symptoms are still present after 1 year, they may be permanent.
Sleep disturbance in Depression has shown what about sleep cycle patterns?
Decreased latency and increased density of REM sleep
Describe Physiological mechanisms of eye blinking
Potentiated when viewing UNpleasant stimulus, and INHIBITED when viewing pleasant stimulus
A child suddenly has severe behavior problems after no history and no trauma. What could be happening?
Tumor pushing on various parts of the brain.
What are the most common symptom of Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome?
Muscle rigidity, hyperthermia (hot) and stupor
What setting has been found to be the most likely to prescribe central nervous system medications?
Primary care clinics
Where does tactile sensation and visiospacial functions mediated in the brain?
The parietal lobe
Hydrocephalus
Problems with ventricles
What does the medication phenothiazine help?
Hallucinations
Anomia: Describes what?
-Inability to recall the names of familiar objects, attributes, or actions
Alexia: Describes what?
Reading impairment due to brain injury
Agnosia: Describes what?
Inability to recognize certain objects (VISUAL) or sounds (auditory)
Ataxia: Describes what?
Inability to perform certain actions not due to paralysis, sensory impairment, or lack of understanding
Relationship between alcohol use and the neurotransmitter glutamate
Contributes to the effect of alcohol on cognitive abilities
What excitatory neurotransmitter is underlying several neurogenative disorders, causes Long Term Potentiation (LTP) exociticity
Glutamate
An antidepressant that may cause drowsiness
Pamelor
Looking at cerebral blood flow in order to view brain activity underlies PET, fMRI, and SPECT. Which one common test does not
CT Imaging- it alternately looks at brain STRUCTURES
What drug would a man likely be prescribed if he had Premature Ejaculation dx?
A serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI)
What brain structures have been imaged to show atrophy in those with Alzheimer
Entorhinal cortex do when compared to those with a healthy brain
Infants that have been expose to cocaine in utero show what symptoms?
Irritable, unresponsive to attempts to calm
Increased motor tone
Low birth weight and smaller head circumference
If a client has a difficult time stopping a behavior once they start it, what area of their brain has likely been damaged?
Frontal lobe
Which brain lobes mediate executive functions, and complex emotions and behaviors?
Frontal Lobes
Which part of the FRONTAL LOBES may be damaged if someone exhibits impulsive behaviors, emotional lability, distractability and poor insight and judgement?
ORBITOFRONTAL
What would damage to the Medial Frontal area (Frontal Lobe) look like?
Weakness, loss of sensation to lower extremities;
What would damage to the Anterior Cingulate (Frontal Lobe) look like?
Apathy, paucity (scarcity of) speech and movement
What would damage to the dorsolateral (Frontal Lobe) look like?
Mood and personality changes, impaired executive functioning, and slow processing speeds
Where does the physiological phenomenon of Long-Term Potentiation occur?
Hippocampus; LEARNING and MEMORY area; specifically short-to-long-term memory
If someone is involved in a car accident and afterward they are no longer able to move across the room unassisted, have jerky and uncoordinated movements, where is there brain injury most likely located?
Cerebellum
Excessive or HIGH levels of dopamine in what brain brain dopamine pathway contributes to the positive symptoms of schizophrenia?
MESO LYMBIC pathway
Mesolymbic
Decreased or LOW levels of dopamine in what brain dopamine pathway contributes to negative symptoms of Schizophrenia
Meso CORTICAL pathway
Mesocortical
There is evidence that nicotine may assist with some concerns because of which neurotransmitter?
Acetycholine (Ach)
What is haloperidol (NEUROLEPTIC) good for with regard to patients with schizophrenia?
Alleviating positive symptoms of schizophrenia
What drugs have been shown slow down memory loss in Alzheimer’s clients and how do they work?
Hydrochlorides and rivastigmine; which prevent the breakdown of Acetycholine
How long is Sensory Memory retained for?
1/4 (.25) to 2 seconds
What is Sexual Dimorphism?
Having to do with the differences between male and female physical structure aside from genitalia
What is the Synchrony Effect?
Describes the relationship between Circadian Rhythm, Age, and Cognitive Functioning. For EXAMPLE, the best time for older adults to learn goal-relevant information is in the morning.
Describe the nuances of “Tolerance” with regard to substance addiction
The need to increase the amount of the drug OR a marked diminished effect of the drug with continued use of the same amount.
Tetraplegia (quadraplegia)
Due to damage to C1-C7
Propenol Hydrochloride (Inderal) is usually prescribed for what?
Essential tremors
What is the Endoplasmic Reticulum involved with?
Transporting proteins and fats
What part of the brain is effected by cortisol due to high stress levels?
Hippocampus; Cortisol secreted by the Adrenal Cortex
For nocturnal enurisis-only, who is most-likely to get this diagnosis?
More common in boys in NON-REM sleep
Which co-occurring disorder with ADHD would be of concern when prescribing methylfenidate?
Tourettes; it may exacerbate the condition.
Methylfenidate is the primary treatment given for ADHD.
Broca’s area is to ____ aphasia while ____ is to Wernicke’s aphasia.
- Expressive
2. Impressive
Global aphasia is describing:_____
Deficits in comprehension, repetition, and output; caused by damage to cortex and basal ganglia
Transcortical aphasia is describing _____.
Lesions outside of Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas that leads to those areas being cut off from the rest of the brain.
Area of the brain that influences Parkinson’s and results in loss of cognitive flexibility, memory, and everyday behavior
Frontal Lobes
Canalization
The restriction of phenotype by genotype (Some traits restricted by biological makeup)
Prenatal alcohol exposure results in abnormality in what part of the brain?
Basal ganglia, hippocampus, and frontal lobes
Conduction aphasia
Due to damage in nerve fibers that connect Wernickes and Brocas areas.
Three types of aphasias that all cause difficulty repeating words and recalling names of familiar objects
Wernicke’s-
Broca’s-
Conduction- damage to fibers connecting wernickes and brocas areas
Someone with a TBI is likely to score lowest on what parts of the WAIS-IV?
Those that test for processing speed such as Symbol Search, Cancellation, and Coding
Most effective smoking cessation combines what?
Nicotine replacement, Clinician support, Skills training
Early motor symptoms of Huntington’s Disease
Repetitive movements of face or extremities (piano hands, grimacing; later stages with speaking and swallowing
Parkinson’s symptoms
Slowness, poverty of movement
Lithium is most effective for what disorder?
“Classic” Bipolar Disorder
Partial seizure is defined as what?
Focal onset in one hemisphere, with or without a loss of consciousness.
What should people taking MAOI inhibitors avoid?
Foods with tyramine- aged cheeses (not cottage cheese), yogurt, over-ripe avacados
AIDS Dimentia Complex
.5-1 subclinical-Minimal signs, no deficits in work or functioning
1- Some f(x) or motor impairment but can walk alone
2- Needs assistance walking, can’t perform demandng activities of daily living
What is the brain structure site for neurogenesis??
Hippcampus
Current understanding of PCS (Post-Concussion Syndrome) is what?
Sxs are often due to both organic and psychological factors; Most-often after a mild head trauma (up to 50%, while rare among mod to severe head trauma);
Prader-Willi Syndrome is caused by what?
Chromosomal deletion
Parietal lobe damage looks like what?
Loss of touch, temperature, and pain on the opposite side of the body’s PARIETAL lobe that corresponds to the brain
ECT (Electroconvulsive Therapy) use and side effects
Used for severe depression or depression that has not been effectively treated with other methods. Side effects are patchy anterograde and temporary retrograde amnesia
Acute hyperglycemia in some patients with Diabetes Type II may have these symptoms:
Substantial mood and cognitive changes.
The most common side effects for children taking RITALIN for ADHD
Loss of appetite, agitation, anxiety, nausea, stomach pain, nervousness
Aging has the LEAST LIKELY affect on a man’s sexual response cycle?
Refractory period decreases
Resolution phase increases
The Refractory period does start to decrease in the 30s/40s, man’s resolution phase (AFTER ) actually increases.
Where is the Superchiasmatic Nucleus (SCN) located, and what does it control?
It has been shown to regulate circadian rhythms and is located in the HYPOTHALAMUS
CT SCAN- When is it used?
Most often initially to identify a contusion, as they are cost-effective, available in medical settings, and can be done quickly.
Hypnogogic Hallucinations
False perceptions when falling asleep
Contralateral
Opposite side
Ipsilateral
Same side
Asonogonia
Lack of awareness of self :O
Central Achromotopsia
Color blindness
