Chapter 19: Affective Disorders

Question 1

adoption study

Answer 1

Study used to understand how heredity contributes to a disorder by comparing the incidence of the disorder in the biological and adoptive parents of people adopted at an early age who have the disorder. A higher incidence of the disorder among biological parents than adoptive parents suggests a hereditary influence.

Question 2

behavioral despair

Answer 2

Technique used to measure depression in animals by placing them in a cylinder of water from which they cannot escape and recording the time it takes for them to abandon attempts to escape.

Question 3

bipolar disorder

Answer 3

Type of affective disorder characterized by extreme mood swings between depression and mania.

Question 4

brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)

Answer 4

Protein of the CNS that stimulates cell proliferation, aids in cell survival and synaptic restructuring. It is also implicated in the neurotrophic hypothesis of depression.

Question 5

carbamazepine (Tegretol)

Answer 5

An anticonvulsant drug used to treat bipolar disorde

Question 6

challenge study

Answer 6

Method to indirectly measure receptor function by recording the magnitude of a biological response to an agonist or antagonist.

Question 7

chronic mild unpredictable stress

Answer 7

Rodent model of depression created by exposing animals to a series of stressful events in an unpredictable fashion.

Question 8

chronic social defeat stress

Answer 8

Rodent model of depression created by the intense stress of being repeatedly placed as an intruder in a cage with a resident animal.

Question 9

dexamethasone

Answer 9

A synthetic corticosteroid used to test the function of the negative feedback mechanism regulating the HPA axis.

Question 10

dual NE/5-HT modulators

Answer 10

Antidepressants that enhance both NE and 5-HT function.

Question 11

forced swim test

Answer 11

Technique used to measure depression in animals by placing them in a cylinder of water from which they cannot escape and recording the time it takes for them to abandon attempts to escape.

Question 12

glucocorticoid hypothesis

Answer 12

Theory that elevated glucocorticoid levels accelerate cell damage and lead to the cognitive symptoms of depression.

Question 13

5-HT transporter (SERT)

Answer 13

Protein in the membrane that is responsible for 5-HT reuptake from the synaptic cleft.

Question 14

imaging techniques

Answer 14

Technology that permits the visualization of the living human brain, including CT, MRI, PET, fMRI, and SPECT.

Question 15

learned helplessness

Answer 15

A classic screening device for antidepressant drugs. After being subjected to periods of unescapable foot shock, rodents fail to respond when given the opportunity to alter an aversive event. Antidepressant drugs increase appropriate responding.

Question 16

linkage study

Answer 16

Method used to locate genes responsible for a disorder, such as alcoholism or schizophrenia, by comparing similarities in the genetic loci of families with affected members.

Question 17

lithium carbonate

Answer 17

Drug that stabilizes moods, preventing episodes of mania and depression, in people with bipolar disorder.

Question 18

major depression

Answer 18

Type of affective disorder characterized by extreme recurring episodes of dysphoria and negative thinking that are reflected in behavior.

Question 19

MAO inhibitors (MAOIs)

Answer 19

Class of drugs that inhibit monoamine oxidase (MAO), thereby causing an accumulation of catecholamines and serotonin in the brain. They are often used to treat clinical depression.

Question 20

maternal separation

Answer 20

Technique used to test the role of early-life stress as a factor in the development of depression, substance abuse, and other psychopathology. Week-old animals are separated from their mothers for brief periods daily.

Question 21

monoamine hypothesis

Answer 21

Theory that a reduced level of monoamines in the CNS will cause depressed moods, including clinical depression.

Question 22

phosphodiesterase (PDE)

Answer 22

the enzyme that normally degrades cAMP to 5′-AMP.

Question 23

reactive depression

Answer 23

State of sadness that is appropriate and of a reasonable level in response to a given aversive situation. Not usually considered a clinical condition.

Question 24

reserpine-induced sedation

Answer 24

Animal testing method used to identify clinically useful antidepressant drugs.

Question 25

selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs)

Answer 25

Anti-depressants used to treat major depression, panic and anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, obesity, and alcoholism by blocking the presynaptic membrane transporter for 5-HT.

Question 26

serotonin syndrome

Answer 26

Effects associated with an overdose of SSRIs or serotonergic agonists, including severe agitation, disorientation, confusion, ataxia, muscle spasms, fever, shivering, chills, diarrhea, elevated blood pressure, and increased heart rate.

Question 27

sleep deprivation

Answer 27

Lack of proper sleep, either unintentional (e.g., jet lag), or intentional (such as can be used to relieve clinical depression in human patients).

Question 28

tail suspension test

Answer 28

Used in the study of animal models for affective disorders; mice are suspended by the tail from a lever, and the duration of movements (a period of agitation followed by immobility) is recorded. Antidepressant drugs prolong the active struggling.

Question 29

tianeptine

Answer 29

Tricyclic antidepressant (TCA) that modulates glutamate function.

Question 30

tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs)

Answer 30

Class of antidepressants characterized by a three-ring structure. They block reuptake of NE and 5-HT, thereby increasing their concentration in the synaptic cleft.

Question 31

tryptophan depletion challenge

Answer 31

Research method used to investigate the role of serotonin in depressive disorders, in which subjects consume a tryptophan-deficient amino acid cocktail that transiently reduces 5-HT level in the brain.

Question 32

turnover

Answer 32

Index of neurotransmitter activity, typically obtained by determining the level or rate of production of one or more metabolites for that transmitter.

Question 33

twin studies

Answer 33

Studies used to understand how heredity contributes to a disorder by comparing the concordance rate for the disorder in pairs of monozygotic and dizygotic twins.

Question 34

valproate (Depakote)

Answer 34

Simple branched-chain fatty acid that was the first anticonvulsant approved by the U.S. FDA for treatment of acute mania.