Stress and Distress -Martin and Sweeny Flashcards
What are the differences between the mechanist and the vitalist ideas about the causes of behavior?
Vitalist: there is a spirit force that is behind us and is being expressed through our bodies.
Mechanist: CNS is made of neurons and glia. Incoming sensory info comes in and tells you there is something in the environment that you want. then the CNS send info to the PNS to obtain it.
What was BF Skinner’s opinion about free will?
there is no free-will and that people are continually influenced by things around them
(Skinner established operant conditioning==> animals do behavior that are more rewarding)
What is a proximate cause of behavior? What is an example?
- Proximate=the stimulus that causes/initiates a particular behavior
- immediate stimulus
- developmental –> ex: language development. necessary functions
What is an ultimate cause of behavior? What are some examples?
- Ultimate: all things in the past (ancestors and natural selection) that allow for the development of behavior
- include adaptation
ex: scared reflex: developed as an adaptation to increase survival
What is stress?
What are some origins of stress?
Perceived or un-perceived difficulties in responding to the physical, biological or social environment.
origins of stress:
- mismatch with evolutionary adaptations
- proximate uncontrollable events
How does a diet high in fiber affect glucose and insulin levels?
High fiber diet reduces both plasma glucose and insulin levels–> even more than the American Diabetes Association diet.
What does a diet high in omega 6 fatty acids result in?
interferes between inflammatory and anti-inflammatory actions of immune cells–> can lead to increased inflammation and interfere with incorporation of phospholipids into nerve cell membranes.
How does acute stress affect the body?
stress triggers the release of NTs (NE, ACh, 5HT, GABA)–> hypothalamus (paraventricular nucleus)–> release of corticotropin releasing hormone–> stimulate release of ACTH from anterior pituitary–> stimulate release of glucocorticoids from adrenal cortex–> blood–> through lipid membrane–> regulation of glucocorticoid receptor genes at the nucleus level
both the hypothalamicpituitaryadrenocortical (HPA) (hormonal response) and the sympathoadrenomedullary (SA) (neural response) systems are activated by stress
What is chronic stress?
-Chronic stress which is inescapable stress lasting over weeks or months eventually leads to physiological damage
What was found in combat veterans with PTSD?
What does this indicate about the cause-effect relationship of stress on the brain?
- lower hippocampus volume
- can’t be certain of the cause-effect relationship but there is a correlation between chronic stress and lower hippocampus volume
How does the hippocampus volume of a person with Cushing’s syndrome compare to normal?
What about a depressed person?
- Cushing’s =excessive secretion of cortisol from the adrenal cortex
- BOTH cushing’s and depressed have LOWER hippocampal volume
What was found in children of mothers who had high cortisol levels?
- female children had increased amygdalae and more affective problems
- male children did not
What types of things can lead to alterations in the developing fetus brain?
maternal stress, glucocorticoids, exogenous CRH, infection, inflammation, prenatal drug exposure, maternal and fetal genotype
these can all lead to psychopathological/developmental disorders such as: autism, ADHD, schizophrenia, depression, anxiety, and dementia
What is pre-pregnancy BMI associated with? How is this thought to work?
elevated pre-pregnancy BMI is associated with ADHD
maternal obesity increases the inflammatory environment in pregnancy and can lead to neurodevelopmental deficits
How can early life infections (maternal infections) affect individuals later in life?
- prenatal stressors can combine with stressors in early adulthood to cause inflammatory responses and immune dysfunction
- these individuals can be sensitized to later peripupertal stressors leading to psychopathology or behavior disorders in adulthood.
What is Sweeny’s definition of stress?
What is distress?
What is an example of positive stress?
- stress: Life events, or stressors, that have the force to alter the expected course of an individual’s goals, employment, relationships, and health.
- distress-unpleasant stress
- positive stress: a promotion that carries a lot of stress but is considered a good thing
What is behavioral medicine?
an interdisciplinary field combining both medicine and psychology and is concerned with the integration of knowledge in the biological, behavioral, psychological and social sciences relevant to health and illness
What was Dr. Cannon responsible for?
establishing the first correlation between stress (ANS) and physiological changes or disease (BP, HR, CO)
Who described “conversion hysteria” as psychological symptoms with deep psychic meaning which manifested (converted) to somatic (physical) illness?
What is this approach called now?
Freud
Psychoanalytic approach
Who came up with the theory that “psychosomatic symptoms” were due to prolonged autonomic system arousal linked to repressed psychic conflict?
Dr. Franz Alexander
Who came up with the idea of general adaptation syndrome?
Dr. Hans Selve
he described the human stress response in relation to adrenocortical hormones –> organism responds to external stress
What scale is used to qualify stress?
What score puts you at risk for illness in the following year?
Rahe Holmes Social Readjustment Rating Scale
300+= at risk of illness in the following year
150-299=risk of illness is moderate
<150=slight risk
What psychoneuroimmunological changes take place under acute stress?
Corticosteroids:
-immunosuppressive effects on lymphoreticular system & marked antiallergic and & anti-inflammatory effects
*catecholamines
*opiates
*growth hormone &
prolactin – initially are
immuno-enhancingWhat two things become inhibited in chronic stress?
What overall changes happen to the immune system?
growth hormone and prolactin are inhibited in chronic stress–> stress dwarfism
==> dysregulation of the immune system from elevated corticosteroids, catechols and opiates, along with the gh/prolactin inhibition
