Stress & emotions Flashcards
Teacher: Krugers
What is ‘stress’?
An subjective experience which brings the body in a state of stressfulness, producing certain adjustments –> Adaptation is important
Are emotionally arousing events remembered well?
Yes
Does stress alter behavioral strategies?
Yes
What does the conflict test in rodents show?
- Stress reduces spatial strategy
- Stress enhances stimulus-response strategy
What do corticosteroid hormons affect in the HPA-axis?
- Ultradian rhythm
- Circadian rhythm
What determines the effect of corticosteroids?
Mineralocorticoids & glucocorticoids
rapid non-genomic and slow-genomic effects
What for affinity do corticosteroid receptors have for MRs and GRs?
- High affinity for MRs (cytosol and membrane)
- Low affinity for GRs (cytosol and membrane)
What kind of effect does stress have on the HPA-axis and autonomic nervous system?
- HPA-axis: release of corticosteroids
- ANS: fast release of noradrenaline
What for effect does stress have on memory consolidation and retrieval?
It enhances memory consolidation but makes memory retrieval harder
What happens when rodents freeze in an experiment?
Memory decreases
What does metyrapone do?
It block corticosterone production –> preventing memory enhancing effects
What do AMPARs have a role in?
- synaptic transmission
- synaptic plasticity
- memory formation
What do glucocorticoids alter in AMPARs and how?
Mobility via lateral diffusion and exocytosis
What do glucocorticoids regulate within the synapses?
It regulates synaptic strength and fear memory
What do corticosteroid hormones regulate in general?
Surface expression of AMPARs
What is required for memory enhancing effects of stress hormones?
AMPARs
Do stress hormones in-or decrease synaptic strength?
Increase
What is the function of noradrenaline in memory?
It facilitates memory
What is the effect of emotionally arousing events on stress hormone levels and how does this effect memory?
They are accompanied by changes in hormone levels –> the hormones enhances memory consolidation
Does stress enhance memory generalization?
yes
What are Engram cells and when are they activated?
They are learning activated cells that are activated during recall
What the effect of stress on engram cells?
It increases the number of engram cells in the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus
What is the effect of chronical stress on receptors?
Causes receptors in membrane to be less (functional)
What is the relevance of stress in memory?
Causal experiment showed: block AMPA receptor/delete specific subunits of the receptor
What are key components for a stress response?
- Early life experience (neglect/abuse)
- Adaptation
- Genes
What can happen when there is a lot of early life stress in a cognitive perspective?
It can cause bigger vulnerability and eventually create psychological disorders
Why is maternal care so important in early life?
- It deteremines hippocampal CA1 synaptic plasticity
- It regulates spatial memory formation
- Determines sensitivity for stress hormones
What happens when there is less maternal care than needed?
- It reduces hippocampal dendritic complexity
- It surpresses synaptic plasticity
- It reduces spatial learning abilities
- It enhances sensitivity of synapses for stress-hormones
