lecture 22 Flashcards Preview

U1 Behavioural Neurological Psychology 211 > lecture 22 > Flashcards

Flashcards in lecture 22 Deck (73)
Loading flashcards...
1
Q

Autistic spectrum disorder describes what

A

a wide range of developmental disorders

2
Q

Autistic spectrum disorder is characterized by what

A

They are characterized by troubles with social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior

3
Q

what are symptoms of autism

A

In some cases there are clear cognitive impairments, intellectual disability, or reduced imaginative ability.
• Parents usually notice signs during the first two or three years of their child’s life. Social impairments are often the first symptoms to emerge.
• Some infants with autistic disorder do not seem to care whether they are held. Some arch their backs when picked up, as if they do not want to be held.

4
Q

Mild forms of autistic spectrum disorder often do not include what

A

a delay in language development or the presence of important cognitive deficits

5
Q

Mild forms of autism is called what

A

often called Asperger’s syndrome

6
Q

Mild forms of autism (often called Asperger’s syndrome) mostly just involve what

A

deficient or absent social interactions and repetitive and stereotyped behaviors along with obsessional interest in narrow subjects

7
Q

are autistic people okay with language

A

Many people with autism have abnormal or even nonexistent language. About a third to a half of individuals with autism do not develop enough natural speech to meet their daily communication needs.
• They may echo what is said to them or they may refer to themselves as others do—in second or third person

8
Q

People with autism generally have interests in what

A

atypical interests and behaviors

9
Q

what kind of movements might someone with autism show

A

They may show stereotyped movements, such as flapping their hand back and forth or rocking back and forth. They may exhibit compulsive or ritualistic behaviour

10
Q

autism occurs in how many peole

A

Incidence of autistic disorder is around 1% of population

11
Q

autism is more common in men or women

A

Disorder is four times more common in males than in
females
• If only cases of autism with intellectual disability are considered, the ratio falls to 2:1 (males:females)
• If only cases of high-functioning autism are considered (those with average or above-average intelligence and
reasonably good communicative ability), the ratio rises to approximately 7:1 (males:females)

12
Q

is autism heritable

A

It is thought that autism (like intellectual disability) encompasses a large set of disorders with diverse mechanisms. Autism is associated with a combination of genetic and environmental factors (thought to affect brain development in the first few months of gestation in the womb).
• Estimates of the heritability of autism are around 70%, but as high as 90% for autism spectrum disorder.
• The large number of autistic individuals with unaffected family members may result from spontaneous structural variation — such as deletions, duplications or inversions of genetic material.
• Some cases of autism have been linked to maternal viral infections during pregnancy

13
Q

how is the brain when autistic

A

There often appears to be significant abnormalities in the development of the brains of autistic children
• Kids who develop autism tend to have a slightly small brain at birth, but it grows abnormally fast and by 2–3 years of age is often about 10% larger than a normal brain
• Following this early spurt, growth of the autistic brain slows down, and by adolescence it is only about 1–2 percent larger than normal.

14
Q

Hypotheses for the cellular and molecular bases of early brain overgrowth (for autism) include the following:

A

Altered neuronal migration during early gestation
– Abnormal formation of synapses and dendritic spines – Overconnectivity in key brain regions
– Unbalanced excitatory–inhibitory neural networks

15
Q

what does an fMRI look like when someone has autism

A

fMRI studies on people with autism have revealed marked abnormalities in brain activity. For example, there is little or no activity in fusiform face area of autistic adults looking at pictures of human faces

16
Q

The main goals when treating children with autism are what

A

to lessen the impact of the associated deficits and family distress, and to increase quality of life and functional independence.

Intensive, sustained special education programs and behavior therapy early in life can help children acquire self-care, communication, and life skills, and often improve functioning and decrease symptom severity and maladaptive behaviors

17
Q

do medications help autism

A

Medications generally do not address the core symptoms, but often help reduce the irritability, inattention, and repetitive behaviors. All kinds of medications may be tried, including:
– anticonvulsants (↑ GABA receptor activity)
– antidepressants (↑ serotonin receptor activity) – antipsychotics (↓ dopamine receptor activity) – stimulants (↑ dopamine receptor activity)

18
Q

what does ADHD stand for

A

ATTENTION-DEFICIT/HYPERACTIVITY DISORDER

19
Q

what is ADHD

A

a mental disorder characterized by problems paying attention, hyperactivity, or difficulty controlling (inhibiting) behavior in an age appropriate manner

20
Q

when do ADHD symptoms occur

A

symptoms generally appear before a person is 12 years old, are present for more than six months, and cause problems in school, home, or elsewhere

21
Q

is it clear when a child has ADHD

A

The condition can be difficult to distinguish from hyperactivity, inattention, and impulsivity that are still within the range of normative behaviors. Many children with ADHD have a good attention span for tasks they find interesting

22
Q

ADHD is usually first discovered where

A

in the classroom, where children are expected to sit quietly and pay attention to teacher or work steadily on project

23
Q

Symptoms of inattention include what

A

such things as 􏰀often had difficulty sustaining attention in work tasks or play activities􏰁 or 􏰀is often easily distracted by extraneous stimuli􏰁

Children have difficulty withholding a response, act without reflecting, often show reckless and impetuous behavior, and let interfering activities intrude into ongoing tasks

24
Q

who gets autism

A

Prevalence rates vary widely across different communities, with a range of 1 to 10% of children. Diagnosis is can be
difficult because symptoms are not well defined. Boys are diagnosed three times more often than girls

25
Q

ADHD is often associated with what

A

aggression, conduct disorder, learning disabilities, depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem

26
Q

The causes of ADHD include what

A

environmental and genetic factors. Estimated heritability of ADHD ranges from 75 to 91%. Certain cases are related to previous infection of or trauma to the brain.
• Drug and alcohol use and infections during pregnancy are associated with an increase risk for the child, as is low birth weight.

27
Q

Management of ADHD typically involves what

A

counseling and medications, often stimulants that raise dopamine levels by blocking or reversing the dopamine reuptake transporter (e.g., Ritalin and Adderall). Antidepressants may also be helpful.

28
Q

Stress refers to what

A

the physiological reaction caused by the perception of aversive or threatening situations.

29
Q

Stress refers to the physiological reaction caused by the perception of aversive or threatening situations.
• These physiological responses accompany what kind of emotions

A

negative emotions and prepare people for fight or flight situations

30
Q

Threatening situations generally call what responses (stress)

A

autonomic and endocrine responses that help to mobilize the body’s energy resources and support vigorous activity

31
Q

Stress-related autonomic and endocrine responses can cause what

A

adverse effects on health over time

32
Q

Stress activates what

A

the sympathetic branch of autonomic nervous system
– Stress also activates the adrenal glands to release hormones into the blood, including epinephrine, norepinephrine, and glucocorticoids such as cortisol

33
Q

The autonomic and hormone responses of stress do what

A

work together to increase heart rate, blood pressure, and blood flow to muscles to make nutrients stored become available

34
Q

what are Glucocorticoids

A

group of hormones (corticosteroids) that are important in protein and carbohydrate metabolism, secreted especially in times of stress

35
Q

what is Cortisol

A

A specific glucocorticoid (steroid hormone) secreted by adrenal cortex in response to stress

36
Q

further explain Glucocorticoids (stress)

A

Help to break down protein and convert it to glucose, to make fats available for energy, increase blood flow, suppress secretion of sex hormones and stimulate behavioral responsiveness, presumably by affecting brain
• Glucocorticoids have other physiological effects, too, some of which are not well understood. Almost every cell in the body contains glucocorticoid receptors, which means that few of them are unaffected by these hormones.

37
Q

Secretion of glucocorticoids (stress) is controlled by the hypothalamus. explain the process

A

1) In response to stress, the hypothalamus starts a chain of events by releasing CRH/CRF (corticotropin-releasing hormone/factor).
2) CRH stimulates the pituitary to secrete ACTH (adrenocorticotropic hormone).
3) ACTH stimulates the adrenal gland to produce glucocorticoids.

38
Q

Short-term effects of glucocorticoids are good or bad

A

essential for survival.

39
Q

Long-term effects of glucocorticoids are good or bad

A

are damaging. These effects include
• increased blood pressure • damage to muscle tissue • steroid diabetes
• infertility
• inhibition of growth
• inhibition of the inflammatory responses • suppression of the immune system

40
Q

Stressful events in people’s daily lives appear to predispose them to what

A

upper respiratory infections

41
Q

shown in monkeys, what are the effects of stress on the brain

A

Monkeys near bottom of their social hierarchy are almost continuously stressed.
– These monkeys seem to die more often than others from stress- related issues.
– Examinations post-mortem found them to have signs of chronic stress, such as gastric ulcers, enlarged adrenal glands, and damaged hippocampi.

42
Q

Episodes of emotional maltreatment during childhood has been associated with an average 7.2 percent reduction in volume of what in the brain

A

dorsomedial prefrontal cortex

43
Q

what is PTSD

A

mental disorder that can develop after a person is exposed to a traumatic event, such as sexual assault, warfare, traffic collisions, or other threats on a person’s life.

44
Q

what are the Symptoms of PTSD

A

may include disturbing thoughts, feelings, or dreams related to the events, mental or physical distress to trauma-related cues and efforts to avoid them, and an increase in the fight-or-flight response

The symptoms can interfere with social activities, cause feeling of hopelessness, and increase risk for suicide

45
Q

will everyone who experiences trauma get PTSD

A

Most people who have experienced a traumatic event will not develop PTSD.
– The likelihood of developing PTSD increases with the number of traumatic events the person has experienced
– Approximately 30% of the variance in PTSD is caused from genetics alone.
– The main treatments for people with PTSD are counselling (psychotherapy) and medication. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are the first-line medications and result in benefit in about half of people.

46
Q

Some evidence suggests that PTSD is associated with what

A

abnormalities in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, which coordinates hormonal response to stress

47
Q

Several studies found evidence that increased activity in the______ is responsible for emotional reactions in people with PTSD

A

amygdala

48
Q

Functional imaging studies have found that when shown pictures of faces with fearful expressions, people with PTSD show what

A

greater activation of amygdala and smaller activation of prefrontal cortex than did people without PTSD

49
Q

Drug addiction is an extremely serious debilitating disorder. The big players are what

A

alcohol, opiates, cocaine and meth, nicotine, barbiturates and benzos

50
Q

what are the Problems with alcohol abuse

A
automobile accidents
• fetal alcohol syndrome
• cirrhosis of the liver
• Korsakoff's syndrome
• increased rate of heart disease
• increased rate of intracerebral hemorrhage • pancreatitis, diabetes, etc., etc.
51
Q

Epidemiological studies estimate that genetic factors account for what % of the risk factors for alcoholism.

A

40–60%

52
Q

is Alcohol consumption distributed equally across the population

A

Alcohol consumption is not distributed equally across the population; in the United States, 10 percent of the people drink 50 percent of the alcohol

Many twin studies and adoption studies confirm that the primary reason for this disparity is genetic

53
Q

what is Reinforcement (addiction)

A

Drugs that lead to dependency must first reinforce people’s behavior

If, in a particular situation, a behavior is regularly followed by reinforcement that behavior will become more frequent in that situation

54
Q

Effectiveness of a reinforcing stimulus is greatest if what

A

it occurs immediately after a response occurs

55
Q

If reinforcing stimulus is delayed what happens

A

it becomes considerably less effective

56
Q

Effectiveness of a reinforcing stimulus is greatest if it occurs immediately after a response occurs
• If reinforcing stimulus is delayed, it becomes considerably less effective
• The consequences of the actions teach us what

A

whether to repeat that action, and events that follow a response by more than a few minutes were probably not caused by that response

57
Q

The speed by which the brain perceives reinforcement is thought to explain what

A

the relative addictive potential of different drugs, such as heroin versus morphine

58
Q

what are Neural Mechanisms

A

All reinforcers, natural (food, water, sex) or otherwise, seem to cause the release of dopamine in the striatum, particularly in the nucleus accumbens
• All addictive drugs rapidly increase dopamine levels in the nucleus accumbens.
• Dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens in not as simple as it sounds, however. Aversive stimuli can also trigger release of dopamine here, and some areas of the nucleus accumbens promote avoidance behaviors. So, it’s complicated.

59
Q

People with a history of drug use show the same deficits on tasks that involved the what kind of the brain as do people with damage to this region.

A

PFC

Addicts also show structural abnormalities in the PFC

60
Q

When addicts (who are not currently high) perform tasks that normally activate the prefrontal cortex, what happens

A

their medial prefrontal cortex is less activated than that of healthy control subjects, and they perform more poorly on the tasks

61
Q

In cocaine addicts, the more cocaine they took, the less brain activity in where

A

their PFC

62
Q

Studies have shown a high level of comorbidity of what

A

schizophrenia, ADHD, and substance abuse

70-90% of schizophrenics smoke cigarettes and almost half are addicted to drugs other than nicotine. (It has been estimated that 34% of all cigarettes are smoked by schizophrenics.)

63
Q

what may be common factor in these disorders (schizophrenia, ADHD, and substance abuse)

A

Abnormalities in the prefrontal cortex and its interactions with the striatum and dopamine system may be common factor in these disorders

64
Q

what is

Negative reinforcement

A

Removal or reduction of an aversive stimulus that is contingent on a particular response, with an attendant increase in the frequency of that response

65
Q

what is Tolerance

A

Fact that increasingly large doses of drugs must be taken to achieve a particular effect

Caused by compensatory mechanisms that oppose the effect of the drug. Not all addictive drugs produce tolerance and withdrawal

66
Q

explain Withdrawal symptoms

A

Appearance of symptoms opposite to those produced by drug when the drug is suddenly no longer taken
Caused by presence of compensatory mechanisms (that relate to drug tolerance)

67
Q

what is Methadone maintenance

A

Potent opiate, similar to morphine or heroin but it has a slow onset and offset.

Methadone maintenance programs administer the drug to their patients in the form of a liquid, which they must drink in the presence of the personnel supervising this procedure

Similar maintenance treatments are used with nicotine addiction (nicotine patches, gum, vaping, etc.)

68
Q

THERAPY FOR DRUG ABUSE: THE PARTIAL AGONIST APPROACH, explain Buprenorphine

A

Buprenorphine is a high affinity partial agonist for the μ opiate receptor. It blocks the effects of other opiates, but itself only produces only a weak opiate effect
It is a relatively new treatment for opiate addiction. It is commonly mixed a little naloxone (a opiate receptor antagonist) to reduce the potential for abuse

69
Q

THERAPY FOR DRUG ABUSE: THE PARTIAL AGONIST APPROACH, explain Varenicline

A

Approved for therapeutic use to treat nicotine addiction
Serves as partial agonist for nicotinic receptor, just as buprenorphine serves as a partial agonist for μ-opioid receptor

70
Q

THERAPY FOR DRUG ABUSE:

THE BINDING SITE BLOCKER APPROACH, explain Naltrexone

A

Opioid receptor antagonist that is prescribed to alcoholics and opiate addicts.
It reduces the high produced by opiates (because the opiates can’t bind to the receptor) but it also tends to reduce drug and alcohol cravings

71
Q

THERAPY FOR DRUG ABUSE:

THE BINDING SITE BLOCKER APPROACH, explain Naloxone

A
Extremely rapid (and short lived) opioid receptor antagonist that reverses the effects of an opiate overdose.
During an opiate overdose, people can lose consciousness and stop breathing. An injection of naloxone immediately reverses these effects and will actually put addicts into withdrawal.
72
Q

THERAPY FOR DRUG ABUSE: THE VACCINE APPROACH, explain Cocaine vaccine

A

Compounds have been developed that cause the person’s own immune system to create antibodies against a drug, like cocaine.
When antibodies bind to the drug, it can no longer cross the blood brain barrier.
This approach is being explored for cocaine, heroin, meth, and nicotine.

73
Q

THERAPY FOR DRUG ABUSE: THE BRAIN STIMULATION APPROACH, explain DBS
and
TMS

A

Researchers have tried DBS in many areas of the brain, including the basal ganglia and PFC.
TMS directed toward the PFC is currently being tested