Final Exam Flashcards
(212 cards)
1
Q
Computerized tomography (CT)
A
The use of a device that employs a computer to analyze data obtained by a scanning beam of X-rays to produce a two-dimensional picture of a “slice” through the body.
2
Q
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
A
A technique whereby the interior of the body can be accurately imaged; involves the interaction between radio waves and a strong magnetic field.
3
Q
Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI)
A
An imaging method that uses a modified MRI scanner to reveal bundles of myelinated axons in the living human brain.
4
Q
Henry Molaison (H.M.)
A
As a boy had a bike accident which left him with severe epilepsy
Doctors pinpointed the seizures to his medial left and right temporal lobes
Hippocampus
Amygdala
Part of the entorhinal cortex
Doctors removed the affected tissue (all went well)
However when henry woke up he could only remember his name and his childhood
- Couldn’t form any new memories
Lead to important knowledge about the amygdala and hippocampus in memory formation
His only deficit was in long term memory
Could still form habits like
finding the hospital dining room
Working memory tasks - Repeating a string of numbers
Showed us the difference in types of memory
5
Q
Leborgne “Tan”
A
Nicknamed tan because it was the only word he was able to say. Nothing wrong with him, he understood everything and could follow commands
Broca performed an autopsy and found a lesion on the left hemisphere (Broca’s area)
Damage to broca area
People could comprehend everything
No other cognitive deficits
Just can’t talk words or sentences in a meaningful way
Lesion was important for understanding human language
6
Q
Phineas Gage
A
1840’s worked blasting rock with gunpowder. Used a tamping iron - set an explosion sending the iron rod through his cheek and top of his head. Was cleaned up and was walking, talking and living independently like before
However he was described as a different person
-Was impatient
-Spoke foul language
Damage to his left frontal lobe told us personality is localised in the frontal lobe
7
Q
Aphasia
A
Loss of speech ability
8
Q
Brain Lesion
A
Damage to the brain tissue caused by injury, disease and more
Caused by
-strokes
-Traumatic head injuries
-Tumours
Can occur in almost any brain region and be almost any size
Help us learn something new about the human brain
9
Q
Microelectrode
A
A very fine electrode, generally used to record activity of individual neurons.
10
Q
Single-unit recording
A
Recording of the electrical activity of a single neuron.
11
Q
Macroelectrode
A
An electrode used to record the electrical activity of large numbers of neurons in a particular region of the brain; much larger than a microelectrode.
12
Q
Electroencephalogram (EEG)
A
An electrical brain potential recorded by placing electrodes on the scalp.
13
Q
Magnetoencephalography
A
A procedure that detects groups of synchronously activated neurons by means of the magnetic field induced by their electrical activity; uses an array of superconducting quantum interference devices, or SQUIDs.
14
Q
2-deoxyglucose (2-DG)
A
A sugar that enters cells along with glucose but is not metabolized.
15
Q
Autoradiography
A
A procedure that locates radioactive substances in a slice of tissue; the radiation exposes a photographic emulsion or a piece of film that covers the tissue.
16
Q
Fos
A
A protein produced in the nucleus of a neuron in response to synaptic stimulation.
17
Q
Functional imaging
A
A computerized method of detecting metabolic or chemical changes in particular regions of the brain.
18
Q
Positron emission tomography
(PET)
A
A functional imaging method that reveals the localization of a radioactive tracer in a living brain.
19
Q
Functional MRI (fMRI)
A
A functional imaging method; a modification of the MRI procedure that permits the measurement of regional metabolism in the brain, usually by detecting changes in blood oxygen level.
20
Q
Transcranial magnetic stimulation
(TMS)
A
Stimulation of the cerebral cortex by means of magnetic fields produced by passing pulses of electricity through a coil of wire placed next to the skull; interferes with the functions of the brain region that is stimulated.
21
Q
Optogenetic method
A
The use of a genetically modified virus to insert light sensitive ion channels into the membrane of particular neurons in the brain; can depolarize or hyperpolarize the neurons when light of the appropriate wavelength is applied.
22
Q
Genome
A
The complete set of genes that compose the DNA of a particular species.
23
Q
Allele
A
The nature of the particular sequence of base pairs of DNA that constitutes a gene; for example, the genes that code for blue or brown iris pigment are different alleles of a particular gene. (the particular form of an individual gene)
24
Q
Targeted mutation
A
A mutated gene produced in the laboratory and inserted into the chromosomes of mice; alters production of a functional protein.
25
Twin studies
Twin studies provide a powerful method of estimating the influence of heredity on particular traits
Compare monozygotic (identical) and Dizygotic (Fraternal) twins
Twin studies compare the concordance rate for a trait in pairs of monozygotic and dizygotic twins
- If both twins are diagnosed with same condition they are concordant
- If only one is diagnosed they are discordant
If a disorder has a strong genetic basis, the percentage of monozygotic twins who are concordant for the diagnosis will be higher than that for dizygotic twins
26
Monozygotic twins
have identical genotypes - that is their chromosomes, and the genes they contain, are identical
27
Dizygotic twins
have a genetic similarity of around 50%
28
Adoption studies
All behavioural traits are affected to some degree by hereditary factors,
environmental factors (physical, social and biological) and an interaction between these factors
Compare people adopted early in life with biological and adoptive family members
If people strongly resemble biological parents, trait is probably influenced by genetic factors
29
Genomic studies
Linkage studies
Genome wide association studies
knowledge of the human genome to understand behaviour
30
Linkage studies
identify families whose members vary in particular trait (presence/absence of huntington’s disease)
Markers = sequences of DNA whose locations are already known
Compare markers across members of the family
31
Genome wide association studies (GWAS)
Compare all or portions of the genomes of different individuals to determine whether differences in the people’s genomes correlate with the presence or absence of diseases (or other traits)
works well:
- determine variant-trait associations not otherwise known which might have important clinical applications.
- the discovery of new biological mechanisms underlying some conditions.
GWAS data is easy to share, and publicly available data allows for further advancement of knowledge.
32
Limitations to the use of GWAS
GWAS usually only estimates a modest amount of the heritability of a given trait, meaning it can have limited clinical predictive value.
Correlation does not equal causation - GWAS do not necessarily tell us about causal mechanisms
Future research is needed to further advance the area and discern exactly what the method can (and cannot) achieve.
33
Sensation
involves cells of the nervous system that are specialised to detect stimuli from the environment
34
Perception
the conscious experience and interpretation of information from the senses
35
Visual light
is a narrow band of the spectrum of electromagnetic radiation that receptor cells in our eyes detect
36
Three dimensions determine the perceived colour of light
Hue = dominant wavelength (Colour)
Saturation = purity of the light being perceived
Brightness = intensity of the electromagnetic energy
37
hue
One of the perceptual dimensions of color; the dominant wavelength.
38
brightness
One of the perceptual dimensions of color; intensity.
39
saturation
One of the perceptual dimensions of color; purity.
40
sensory transduction
The process by which sensory stimuli are transduced into slow, graded receptor potentials.
40
sensory receptor
A specialized neuron that detects a particular category of physical events.
41
receptor potential
A slow, graded electrical potential produced by a receptor cell in response to a physical stimulus.
42
retina
The neural tissue and photoreceptive cells located on the inner surface of the posterior portion of the eye.
43
accommodation
Changes in the thickness of the lens of the eye, accomplished by the ciliary muscles, that focus images of near or distant objects on the retina.
44
rod
One of the receptor cells of the retina; sensitive to light of low intensity.
45
cone
One of the receptor cells of the retina; maximally sensitive to one of three different wavelengths of light and hence encodes color vision.
46
photoreceptor
One of the receptor cells of the retina; transduces photic energy into electrical potentials.
47
fovea
The region of the retina that mediates the most acute vision of birds and higher mammals. Colour sensitive cones constitute the only type of photoreceptor found in the fovea.
48
optic disk
The location of the exit point from the retina of the fibers of the ganglion cells that form the optic nerve; responsible for the blind spot.
49
photopigment
A protein dye bonded to retinal, a substance derived from vitamin A; responsible for transduction of visual information.
49
bipolar cell
A bipolar neuron located in the middle layer of the retina, conveying information from the photoreceptors to the ganglion cells.
50
rhodopsin
A particular opsin found in rods.
50
amacrine cell
A neuron in the retina that interconnects adjacent ganglion cells and the inner processes of the bipolar cells.
50
ganglion cell
A neuron located in the retina that receives visual information from bipolar cells; its axons give rise to the optic nerve.
50
receptive field
That portion of the visual field in which the presentation of visual stimuli will produce an alteration in the firing rate of a particular neuron.
51
horizontal cell
A neuron in the retina that interconnects adjacent photoreceptors and the outer processes of the bipolar cells.
52
lamella
A layer of membrane containing photopigments; found in rods and cones of the retina.
53
opsin
A class of protein that, together with retinal, constitutes the photopigments.
53
retinal
A chemical synthesized from vitamin A; joins with an opsin to form a photopigment.
53
optic chiasm
A cross-shaped connection between the optic nerves, located below the base of the brain, just anterior to the pituitary gland.
53
transduction
how light is converted into electrochemical messages processed in the visual system
54
parvocellular layer
One of the four outer layers of neurons in the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus; transmits information necessary for perception of color and fine details to the primary visual cortex.
54
vergence movement
The cooperative movement of the eyes, which ensures that the image of an object falls on identical portions of both retinas.
54
saccadic movement
The rapid, jerky movement of the eyes used in scanning a visual scene.
55
dorsal stream
A system of interconnected regions of visual cortex involved in the perception of spatial location, beginning with the striate cortex and ending with the posterior parietal cortex.
55
pursuit movement
The movement that the eyes make to maintain an image of a moving object on the fovea.
56
magnocellular layer
One of the inner two layers of neurons in the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus; transmits information necessary for the perception of form, movement, depth, and small differences in brightness to the primary visual cortex.
56
dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN)
A group of cell bodies within the lateral geniculate body of the thalamus; receives input from the retina and projects to the primary visual cortex.
56
optic nerve
Bundles of axons from retinal ganglion cells exit the eye and convey information to the lateral geniculate nucleus.
57
striate cortex (primary visual cortex, or V1)
The primary visual cortex.
57
visual pathway
The pathway of visual processing from the retina to the lateral geniculate nucleus to striate and extrastriate cortical regions.
57
extrastriate cortex (visual association cortex, or V2)
A region of visual association cortex; receives fibers from the striate cortex and from the superior colliculi and projects to the inferior temporal cortex.
57
koniocellular sublayer
One of the sublayers of neurons in the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus found ventral to each of the magnocellular and parvocellular layers; transmits information from short-wavelength (“blue”) cones to the primary visual cortex.
58
ventral stream
A system of interconnected regions of visual cortex involved in the perception of form, beginning with the striate cortex and ending with the inferior temporal cortex.
59
protanopia
An inherited form of defective color vision in which red and green hues are confused; “red” cones are filled with “green” cone opsin.
60
deuteranopia
An inherited form of defective color vision in which red and green hues are confused; “green” cones are filled with “red” cone opsin.
61
tritanopia
An inherited form of defective color vision in which hues with short wavelengths are confused; “blue” cones are either lacking or faulty.
62
negative afterimage
The image seen after a portion of the retina is exposed to an intense visual stimulus; consists of colors complementary to those of the physical stimulus.
63
complementary colors
Colors that make white or gray when mixed together.
64
cerebral achromatopsia
Inability to discriminate among different hues; caused by damage to the visual association cortex.
65
lateral occipital complex (LOC)
A region of the extrastriate cortex, involved in perception of objects other than people’s bodies and faces.
66
visual agnosia
Deficits in visual perception in the absence of blindness; caused by brain damage.
67
fusiform face area (FFA)
A region of the visual association cortex located in the inferior temporal lobe; involved in perception of faces and other complex objects that require expertise to recognize.
67
prosopagnosia
Failure to recognize particular people by the sight of their faces.
68
posterior parietal cortex
The highest level of the dorsal stream of the visual association cortex; involved in perception of movement and spatial location.
68
retinal disparity
The fact that points on objects located at different distances from the observer will fall on slightly different locations on the two retinas; provides the basis for stereopsis.
69
optic flow
The complex motion of points in the visual field caused by relative movement between the observer and environment; provides information about the relative distance of objects from the observer and of the relative direction of movement.
70
akinetopsia
Inability to perceive movement, caused by damage to area V5 (also called MST) of the visual association cortex.
71
electromyogram (EMG)
An electrical potential recorded
from an electrode placed on or in a
muscle.
72
electro-oculogram (EOG)
An electrical potential from the
eyes, recorded by means of electrodes
placed on the skin around them; detects
eye movements.
73
beta activity
Irregular electrical activity of 13–30 Hz recorded from the brain; generally associated with a state of arousal.
74
alpha activity
Smooth electrical activity of 8–12 Hz recorded from the brain; generally associated with a state of relaxation.
74
locus coeruleus
A dark colored group of noradrenergic cell bodies located in the pons near the rostral end of the floor of the fourth ventricle; involved in arousal and vigilance.
75
theta activity
EEG activity of 3.5–7.5 Hz that occurs intermittently during early stages of slow-wave sleep and REM sleep.
76
tuberomammillary nucleus (TMN)
A nucleus in the ventral posterior hypothalamus, just rostral to the mammillary bodies; contains histaminergic neurons involved in cortical activation and behavioral arousal.
76
slow-wave sleep
Non-REM sleep, characterized by synchronized EEG activity during its deeper stages.
76
delta activity
Regular, synchronous electrical activity of less than 4 Hz recorded from the brain; occurs during the deepest stages of slow-wave sleep.
77
REM sleep
A period of desynchronized EEG activity during sleep, at which time dreaming, rapid eye movements, and muscular paralysis occur; also called paradoxical sleep.
78
fatal familial insomnia
A fatal inherited disorder characterized by progressive insomnia.
78
rebound phenomenon
The increased frequency or intensity of a phenomenon after it has been temporarily suppressed; for example, the increase in REM sleep seen after a period of REM sleep deprivation.
79
adenosine
A neuromodulator that is released by neurons engaging in high levels of metabolic activity; may play a primary role in the initiation of sleep.
79
raphe nuclei
A group of nuclei located in the reticular formation of the medulla, pons, and midbrain, situated along the midline; contain serotonergic neurons.
79
ventrolateral preoptic area (vlPO A)
A group of GABAergic neurons in the preoptic area whose activity suppresses alertness and behavioral arousal and promotes sleep.
79
sleep attack
A symptom of narcolepsy; an irresistible urge to sleep during the day, after which the person awakens feeling refreshed.
80
cataplexy
A symptom of narcolepsy; complete paralysis that occurs during waking.
80
sleep paralysis
A symptom of narcolepsy; paralysis occurring just before a person falls asleep.
80
orexin
A peptide, also known as hypocretin, produced by neurons whose cell bodies are located in the hypothalamus; their destruction causes narcolepsy.
81
melanopsin
A photo pigment present in ganglion cells in the retina whose axons transmit information to the SCN, the thalamus, and the olivary pretectal nuclei.
81
sublaterodorsal nucleus (SLD)
A region of the dorsal pons, just ventral to the locus coeruleus, that forms the REM-ON portion of the REM sleep flip-flop.
81
ventrolateral periaqueductal gray matter (vlPAG)
A region of the dorsal midbrain that forms the REM-OFF portion of the REM sleep flip-flop.
81
REM sleep behavior disorder
A neurological disorder in which the person does not become paralyzed during REM sleep and thus acts out dreams.
82
suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN)
A nucleus situated atop the optic chiasm. It contains a biological clock that is responsible for organizing many of the body’s circadian
rhythms.
82
sleep apnea
Cessation of breathing while sleeping.
82
narcolepsy
A sleep disorder characterized by periods of irresistible sleep, attacks of cataplexy, sleep paralysis, and hypnagogic hallucinations.
83
sleep-related eating disorder
A disorder in which the person leaves his or her bed and seeks out and eats food while sleepwalking, usually without a memory for the episode the next day.
83
circadian rhythm
A daily rhythmical change in behavior or physiological process.
83
delayed sleep phase syndrome
A four-hour delay in rhythms of sleep and temperature cycles, possibly caused by a mutation of a gene (per3) involved in the rhythmicity of neurons of the SCN.
83
zeitgeber
A stimulus (usually the light of dawn) that resets the biological clock that is responsible for circadian rhythms.
83
pineal gland
A gland attached to the dorsal tectum; produces melatonin and plays a role in circadian and seasonal rhythms.
83
hypnagogic hallucination
A symptom of narcolepsy; vivid dreams that occur just before a person falls asleep; accompanied by sleep paralysis.
83
melatonin
A hormone secreted during the night by the pineal body; plays a role in circadian and seasonal rhythms.
83
advanced sleep phase syndrome
A four-hour advance in rhythms of sleep and temperature cycles, apparently caused by a mutation of a gene (per2) involved in the rhythmicity of neurons of the SCN.
84
lateral nucleus
A nucleus of the amygdala that receives sensory information from the neocortex, thalamus, and hippocampus and sends projections to the basal, accessory basal, and central nucleus of the amygdala.
84
basal nucleus
A nucleus of the amygdala that receives information from the lateral nucleus and sends projections to the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and the central nucleus.
84
central nucleus
The region of the amygdala that receives information from the basal, lateral, and accessory basal nuclei and sends projections to a wide variety of regions in the brain; involved in emotional responses.
84
conditioned emotional response
A classically conditioned response that occurs when a neutral stimulus is followed by an aversive stimulus; usually includes autonomic, behavioral, an endocrine components such as changes in heart rate, freezing, and secretion of stress-related hormones.
84
ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC)
The region of the prefrontal cortex at the base of the anterior frontal lobes, adjacent to the midline.
84
volitional facial paresis
Difficulty in moving the facial muscles voluntarily; caused by damage to the face region of the primary motor cortex or its subcortical connections.
84
emotional facial paresis
Lack of movement of facial muscles in response to emotions in people who have no difficulty moving these muscles voluntarily; caused by damage to the insular prefrontal cortex, subcortical white matter of the frontal lobe, or parts of the thalamus.
84
James-Lange theory
A theory of emotion that suggests that behaviors and physiological responses are directly elicited by situations and that feelings of emotions are produced by feedback from these behaviors and responses.
84
stimulus–response learning
Learning to automatically make a particular response in the presence of a particular stimulus; includes classical and operant conditioning.
84
classical conditioning
A learning procedure; when a stimulus that initially produces no particular response is followed several times by an unconditioned stimulus that produces a defensive or appetitive response (the unconditioned response), the first stimulus (now called a conditioned stimulus) itself evokes the response (now called a conditioned response).
85
Hebb rule
The hypothesis proposed by Donald Hebb that the cellular basis of learning involves strengthening of a synapse that is repeatedly active when the postsynaptic neuron fires.
85
operant conditioning
A learning procedure whereby the effects of a particular behavior in a particular situation increase (reinforce) or decrease (punish) the probability of the behavior.
85
reinforcing stimulus
An appetitive stimulus that follows a particular behavior and thus makes the behavior become more frequent.
85
punishing stimulus
An aversive stimulus that follows a particular behavior and thus makes the behavior become less frequent.
85
motor learning
Learning to make a new response.
85
perceptual learning
Learning to recognize a particular stimulus.
86
nondeclarative memory
Memory whose formation does not depend on the hippocampal formation; a collective term for perceptual, stimulus–response, and motor memory.
86
relational learning
Learning the relationships among individual stimuli.
87
nucleus accumbens (NAC)
A nucleus of the basal forebrain near the septum; receives dopamine-secreting terminal buttons from neurons of the ventral tegmental area and is thought to be involved in reinforcement and attention.
87
declarative memory
Memory that can be verbally expressed, such as memory for events in a person’s past.
88
ventral tegmental area (VTA)
A group of dopaminergic neurons in the ventral midbrain whose axons form the mesolimbic and mesocortical systems; plays a critical role in reinforcement.
89
episodic memory
Memory of a collection of perceptions of events organized in time and identified by a particular context.
89
population EPSP
An evoked potential that represents the EPSPs of a population of neurons.
89
semantic memory
A memory of facts and general information.
90
anterograde amnesia
Amnesia for events that occur after some disturbance to the brain, such as head injury or certain degenerative brain diseases.
91
retrograde amnesia
Amnesia for events that preceded some disturbance to the brain, such as a head injury or electroconvulsive shock.
92
consolidation
The process by which short-term memories are converted into long-term memories.
92
hippocampal formation
A forebrain structure of the temporal lobe, constituting an important part of the limbic system; includes the hippocampus proper (Ammon’s horn), dentate gyrus, and subiculum.
93
long-term potentiation (LTP)
A long-term increase in the excitability of a neuron to a particular synaptic input caused by repeated high-frequency activity of that input.
93
AP5
2-Amino-5-phosphonopentanoate; a drug that blocks NMDA receptors.
94
dendritic spike
An action potential that occurs in the dendrite of some types of pyramidal cells.
94
NMDA receptor
A specialized ionotropic glutamate receptor that controls a calcium channel that is normally blocked by Mg2+ ions; involved in long-term potentiation.
94
function word
A preposition, article, or other word that conveys little of the meaning of a sentence but is important in specifying its grammatical structure.
95
associative long-term potentiation
A long-term potentiation in which concurrent stimulation of weak and strong synapses to a given neuron strengthens the weak ones.
95
CaM-KII
Type II calcium-calmodulin kinase, an enzyme that must be activated by calcium; may play a role in the establishment of long-term potentiation.
96
AMPA receptor
An ionotropic glutamate receptor that controls a sodium channel; when open, it produces EPSPs.
96
nitric oxide synthase
An enzyme responsible for the production of nitric oxide.
96
aphasia
Difficulty in producing or comprehending speech not produced by deafness or a simple motor deficit; caused by brain damage.
96
split-brain operation
Brain surgery that is occasionally performed to treat a form of epilepsy; the surgeon cuts the corpus callosum, which connects the two hemispheres of the brain.
97
bilingual
The ability to communicate fluently in two languages
97
prosody
The use of changes in intonation and emphasis to convey meaning in speech besides that specified by the particular words; an important means of communication of emotion.
97
agrammatism
One of the usual symptoms of Broca’s aphasia; a difficulty in comprehending or properly employing grammatical devices, such as verb endings and word order.
97
content word
A noun, verb, adjective, or adverb that conveys meaning.
97
transcortical sensory aphasia
A speech disorder in which a person has difficulty comprehending speech and producing meaningful spontaneous speech but can repeat speech; caused by damage to the region of the brain posterior to Wernicke’s area.
97
circumlocution
A strategy by which people with anomia find alternative ways to say something when they are unable to think of the most appropriate word.
98
Wernicke’s aphasia
A form of aphasia characterized by poor speech comprehension and fluent but meaningless speech.
98
anomia
Difficulty in finding (remembering) the appropriate word to describe an object, action, or attribute; one of the symptoms of aphasia.
98
Broca’s aphasia
A form of aphasia characterized by agrammatism, anomia, and extreme difficulty in speech articulation.
98
direct dyslexia
A language disorder caused by brain damage in which the person can read words aloud without understanding them.
98
Wernicke’s area
A region of the auditory association cortex on the left temporal lobe of humans, which is important in the comprehension of words and the production of meaningful speech.
98
pure word deafness
The ability to hear, to speak, and (usually) to read and write without being able to comprehend the meaning of speech; caused by damage to Wernicke’s area or disruption of auditory input to this region.
99
arcuate fasciculus
A bundle of axons that connects Wernicke’s area with Broca’s area; damage causes conduction aphasia.
99
whole-word reading
Reading by recognizing a word as a whole; “sight reading.”
100
surface dyslexia
A reading disorder in which a person can read words phonetically but has difficulty reading irregu-
larly spelled words by the whole-word method.
100
phonetic reading
Reading by decoding the phonetic significance of letter strings; “sound reading.”
100
conduction aphasia
An aphasia characterized by inability to repeat words that are heard but the ability to speak normally and comprehend the speech of others.
101
phonological dyslexia
A reading disorder in which a person can read familiar words but has difficulty reading unfamiliar words or pronounceable nonwords.
101
visual word-form area (VWFA)
A region of the fusiform gyrus on the base of the temporal lobe that plays a critical role in whole-word recognition.
102
developmental dyslexia
A reading difficulty in a person of normal intelligence and perceptual ability; of genetic origin or caused by prenatal or perinatal factors.
103
phonological dysgraphia
A writing disorder in which the person cannot sound out words and write them phonetically.
104
orthographic dysgraphia
A writing disorder in which the person can spell regularly spelled words but not irregularly spelled ones.
104
positive symptom
A symptom of schizophrenia evident by its presence: delusions, hallucinations, or thought disorders.
104
schizophrenia
A serious mental disorder characterized by disordered thoughts, delusions, hallucinations, and often bizarre behaviors.
105
thought disorder
Disorganized, irrational thinking.
105
delusion
A belief that is clearly in contradiction to reality.
105
chlorpromazine
A dopamine receptor blocker; a “first-generation” antipsychotic drug.
106
supersensitivity
The increased sensitivity of neurotransmitter receptors; caused by damage to the afferent axons or long- term blockage of neurotransmitter release.
106
negative symptom
A symptom of schizophrenia characterized by the absence of behaviors that are normally present: social withdrawal, lack of affect, and reduced motivation.
106
hallucination
Perception of a nonexistent object or event.
106
cognitive symptom
A symptom of schizophrenia that involves cognitive deficits, such as difficulty in sustaining attention, deficits in learning and memory, poor abstract thinking, and poor problem solving.
106
seasonality effect
The increased incidence of schizophrenia in people born during late winter and early spring.
106
epidemiology
The study of the distribution and causes of diseases in populations.
107
clozapine
An atypical antipsychotic drug; blocks D4 receptors in the nucleus accumbens.
107
tardive dyskinesia
A movement disorder that can occur after prolonged treatment with antipsychotic medication, characterized by involuntary movements of the face and neck.
107
major depressive disorder (MDD)
A serious mood disorder that consists of unremitting depression or periods of depression that do not alternate with periods of mania.
108
hypofrontality
Decreased activity of the prefrontal cortex; believed to be responsible for the negative symptoms of schizophrenia.
108
partial agonist
A drug that has a very high affinity for a particular receptor but activates that receptor less than the normal ligand does; serves as an agonist in regions of low concentration of the normal ligand and as an antagonist in regions of high concentration.
108
electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)
A brief electrical shock, applied to the head, that results in an electrical seizure; used therapeutically to alleviate severe depression.
108
bipolar disorder
A serious mood disorder characterized by cyclical periods of mania and depression.
109
treatment-resistant depression
A major depressive disorder whose symptoms are not relieved after trials of several different treatments.
109
lithium
A chemical element; lithium carbonate is used to treat bipolar disorder.
110
tryptophan depletion procedure
A procedure involving a low-tryptophan diet and a tryptophan-free amino acid “cocktail” that lowers brain tryptophan and consequently decreases the synthesis of 5-HT.
110
tricyclic antidepressant
A class of drugs used to treat depression; inhibits the reuptake of norepinephrine and serotonin but also affects other neurotransmitters; named for the molecular structure.
110
serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SNRI)
An antidepressant drug that specifically inhibits the reuptake of norepinephrine and serotonin without significantly affecting the reuptake of other neurotransmitters.
110
selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI)
An antidepressant drug that specifically inhibits the reuptake of serotonin without significantly affecting the reuptake of other neurotransmitters.
111
monoamine hypothesis
A hypothesis that states that depression is caused by a low level of activity of one or more monoaminergic synapses.
111
therapeutic lag
The period of time between beginning an antidepressant treatment and experiencing therapeutic effects, usually several weeks.
112
subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (subgenual ACC)
A region of the medial prefrontal cortex located below the “knee” at the front of the corpus callosum; plays a role in the symptoms of depression.
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seasonal affective disorder (SAD)
A mood disorder characterized by depression, lethargy, sleep disturbances, and craving for carbohydrates during the winter season when days are short.
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phototherapy
Treatment of seasonal affective disorder by daily exposure to bright light.
