Depression

Question 1

What are two types of depression?

Answer 1

• Unipolar depression

- Bipolar Manic/major depression

Question 2

What is unipolar depression?

Answer 2

Diagnosed when the sufferer only exhibits one mood only.

Question 3

What is bipolar/manic depression?

Answer 3

Diagnosed when the sufferer has episodes of mania/behaves in more than one way and alternates between them.

Question 4

What are the 3 classes of antidepressants?

Answer 4

• Monoamine oxidase inhibitors
• Tricyclic
• Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI)

Question 5

What is ECT and how does it work?

Answer 5

Electroconvulsive shock therapy.
Electrodes attached to patients’ cranium, large voltages are applied, causing the patients to seizure. When the arise, they feel a lot better.

Question 6

What is the American term for Noradrenalin?

Answer 6

Norepinephrine (NE)

Question 7

What are SSRIs and how do they work?

Answer 7

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors.

They block the reuptake of serotonin, causing levels of 5-HT in the synapse to increase.

Question 8

Where are noradrenalin cell bodies located?

Answer 8

The locus coeruleus

Question 9

Where are serotonin cell bodies located?

Answer 9

The dorsal raphe.

Question 10

What is the precursor for serotonin?

Answer 10

Tryptophan

Question 11

What is the enzyme which converts tryptophan to serotonin?

Answer 11

Tryptophan hydroxylase.

Question 12

What are 3 examples of SSRIs?

Answer 12

• Prozac (fluoxetine)
• Citalopram (celexa)
• Paroxetine (paxil)

Question 13

What are MAOIs and how do they work?

Answer 13

Monoamine oxidase inhibitors. They stop or reduce the action of monoamine oxidase enzymes, which break down excess monoamines in the terminal button. This means that MAOIs increase the levels of monoamines in the synapse.

Question 14

Which monoamines do MAOIs work on?

Answer 14

Noradrenalin, serotonin and dopamine.

Question 15

Which monoamines do Tricyclics affect?

Answer 15

Serotonin and noradrenalin.

Question 16

What do tricyclics do?

Answer 16

Inhibits the reuptake of serotonin and noradrenalin.

Question 17

What is currently known as the most influential monoamine in depression?

Answer 17

Serotonin (5-HT)

Question 18

What is the evidence for the role of 5-HT in depression?

Answer 18

The study which used treated depression patients - they were given a low tryptophan diet and relapsed into depression. They were then placed on a normal diet which contained tryptophan, which was followed by an increase in mood.

Question 19

What is the monoamine hypothesis of depression?

Answer 19

Suggests that depression is caused by a lack of activity in monoaminergic neurons. Apart from dopamine, which has been shown to have only a minor role.

Question 20

How many treatments of ECT are typically required before improvements are seen?

Answer 20

6-12

Question 21

What are the intracellular events associated with depression medications?

Answer 21

• Neurotransmitter binds to metabotropic receptor.
• Change in second messenger (cAMP)
• cAMP can enter nucleus and activate specific genes.