the biological approach to OCD Flashcards
What are the 3 main characteristics of OCD? and explain them.
1.obsessions: when you have recurrent thoughts about something.
2. Guilt and anxiety in response to obsessions.
3. compulsions: when someone repeatedly performs an action, in response to guilt and anxiety, which have been caused by the obsession.
what is OCD.
Obsessive compulsive disorder.
What is the neural explanation of OCD?
The orbitofrontal cortex, detects worrying stimuli in our environment, and it then decided on an action to deal with the worrying stimuli.
One action has been decided, it sends a signal to the movement part of the brain ( motor cortex), to perform the action.
Once the action has been completed. The motor cortex, sends a signal to the Basal Ganglia, which monitors the outcome of our actions.
The Basal Ganglia, then send impulses to the orbitofrontal cortex, to let it know that the actions has been completed.
It does this by blocking nerve impulses from occurring, thus inhibiting the orbitofrontal cortex.
It does this through the help of serotonin, which acts as an inhibitor
People with OCD have an impaired communication between the Basal Ganglia, and the orbitofrontal cortex. As a result, the orbitofrontal cortex gets less inhibited, and the worrying doesn’t stop, even though an action has been done about it.
What is the genetic explanation of OCD?
Outline a strength of the neural explanation of OCD.
Max et al conducted a case study on a girl that
