W13 - Emotion and Development 1/2 Flashcards
What processes driving maturational changes play out simultaneously across development?
A genetic program refined by evolution to coordinate species-typical developmental emergence of behaviours
Specialization that is responsive to the individual’s unique experiences to shape brain and behaviour to the demands of the specific environment
How are sensitive periods and critical periods similar? Different?
Similar: both periods correspond to a time window during development at which a particular region/part of the brain is especially responsive (will undergo crucial structural changes) to external stimuli (experience)
Different:
learning and developmental changes are possible outside of sensitive periods, but to a lesser extent
e.g. language
vs
learning and developmental changes are much less likely to occur after critical periods
e.g. vision
Why are sensitive periods relevant to psychiatry?
Affective development include sensitive periods.
How do break periods relate in time to critical periods?
Before and after critical periods.
What is the neurological consequence of monocular deprivation?
over-representation of the non-occluded eye and under-representation of the occluded eye in ocular dominance columns
True or false: binocular deprivation delays the onset of the critical period.
True.
What is regulating the onset of critical period plasticity? Name a specific effector.
Balance between excitation and inhibition. Manipulations that prevent the developmental increase in GABAergic inhibition delay the onset of critical period plasticity
Name two processes that regulate closure of the visual system critical period.
Perineuronal nets on GABA neurons + myelination
Neural plasticity from which region of the amygdala results in the formation of the fear memory when conditioned?
Lateral nucleus (LA).
What kind of inputs get the LA in terms of fear response?
sensory and somatosensory inputs
What happens in the central nucleus of the amygdala (CE) when CS is presented and LA is consequently activated?
LA firing activates the central nucleus of the amygdala (CE) to then trigger fear responses via projections to the hypothalamus and brainstem
What is the role of the prelimbic cortex in fear learning in relation to LA and hippocampus?
In some pathways PL links LA and CE
PL receives projections from the hippocampus
Can fear learning occur without hippocampal neural adjustments?
No, the hippocampus generates the contextual representation which becomes associated with the US in the amygdala
The infralimbic cortex is important for the recall of the fear or extinction memory?
Extinction.
Following extinction following, IL neurons can modulate fear expression, but through which pathway?
Intercalated masses (ITC)
How are ITC modulating LA signaling to CE?
Inhibition
True or false: PL and IL oppositely regulate fear.
True.
What may be the human analogue of rodent PL? What technique has shed light on this? What would be the role of this structure when it comes to fear regulation?
dACC, fMRI, fear expression
What may be the human analogue of rodent IL? What technique has shed light on this? What would be the role of this structure when it comes to fear regulation?
vmPFC, fMRI, fear extinction
Can rodents fear learn all across development?
No, only after P10.
What is the response of rodents to odor-shock pairings before P10? After P10?
Before: paradoxical approach responses
After: avoidance responses
What is known to regulate the onset of fear learning?
Presence of the mother. Maternal deprivation leads to precocious onset.
In rodents, what is the consequence of early life stress on infantile amnesia and recall of a fear memory?
Early life stress leads to reduced infantile amnesia, and extended recall of a fear memory
Why would it be evolutionarily adaptive for contextual fear learning to be momentarily suppressed during adolescence in rodents?
This is thought to be important for encouraging exploration away from the nest, a necessary step towards independence
At what time during rodent development could extinction represent unlearning?
When juveniles.
True of false: cued learning and contextual learning are both suppressed during adolescence in rodents.
False: only contextual learning.
True or false: maternal presence and early life adversity also influence affective development in humans.
True.
How are GABA and PNN involved in fear learning across development?
The switch from approach to avoidance of shock-paired stimuli at P10 is prevented by GABA receptor blockade
Development of PNNs in the amygdala play a role in transition from infantile extinction (erasure) to adult extinction
