30. Neuroplastcisity + Distress

Question 1

What did early research on hippocampus show

Answer 1

larger hippocami in cab drivers

Finding suggested that repeated activities, work and exposure have physiological effect on brain structure

Question 2

what are the 3 main strategies in helping trauma survivors feel fully alive in the present

Answer 2

• talking and reconnecting w others
• taking meds that shut down inappropriate alarm reactions
• allowing the body to have experiences that deeply and viscerally contradict the helplessness, rage or collapse that result

Question 3

What makes up the emotional brain

Answer 3

The reptilian brain and limbic system

Question 4

What the emotional brain does it situations

Answer 4

• jumps to conclusions based on rough, broad similarities
• it will initiate pre programmed escapes plants like the flight or fight response
• these responses occur so quickly that they can’t be immediately altered by conscious rational faculties

Question 5

What does the frontal lobes enable

Answer 5

• the use of language and abstract thought
• The ability to absorb and integrate vast amounts of info and attach meaning to it
• Imagination of future scenarios and predictions of their outcomes
• reasoning and higher order thinking

Question 6

What did james heckman find in relation to field interventions for children

Answer 6

Showed that early childhood programs that involve parents and promote basic skills in disadvantaged children more than pay for themselves and improve outcomes

Question 7

Drugs and conventional therapy and neuroplasticity

Answer 7

Neither drugs nor conventional therapy has been shown to activate neuroplasticity necessary to bring capabilities online after critical periods have passed

Question 8

What changed in people who are trained to meditate for 8 weeks

Answer 8

Showed left prefrontal activation while they were at rest and in response to emotional challenge

-meditation practice was associated w participants being able to overcome the challenge, rather than be overwhelmed by emotional challenges

Question 9

What is the benefits of mindfulness based cog therapy in relation to OCD

Answer 9

Schwartz found changes in the brain from mindfulness based cog therapy was similar to those seen in response to psychoactive medication in patients w OCD