Final Review Flashcards
(97 cards)
1
Q
What are some affiliative behaviors that are seen in animals?
A
Vampire bats - will regurgitate blood for other bats to save them from starvation
Meadow voles - friendliness changes over the year, v territorial during summer
2
Q
What part of the brain and what hormones are affiliated with romantic love?
A
NAcc
oxytocin, vasopressin
- if you give someone OCT, NAcc activation goes up when they see partner, down if they see other
3
Q
Why is affiliation an adaptive function?
A
parents that are biparental need to like each other
4
Q
What is the difference in brain structures between the monogamous and polygamous voles?
A
monogamous
- has higher [oxt receptors]
- more vasopressin receptors in DB
5
Q
What did the research with the birds and the OXT disruptor show?
A
disrupting OXT signaling disrupts social preferences
6
Q
What hormone is related to aggression?
A
androgens
- proportionally larger [androgen] in males, typically more aggressive
7
Q
What did the seasonal aggression graph show in deer?
A
testosterone, aggressive behavior, and antler growth all increased around the same time
- occurs around mating season
- after mating season, it all plummets
intimate relationship between hormone and morphological feature
8
Q
What is the relationship between day length and aggression?
A
when estrogen is increased, aggression is decreased
- longer days = more estrogen
9
Q
What happens when estradiol is injected into the sparrow during mating season?
A
during mating season it dramatically increases aggressive behavior
- same hormone with the opposite effect
10
Q
Why must [testosterone] be in the right amount?
A
if too much T, they become too aggressive and life expectancy decreases
- compromises immune function
too low: inhibits reproductive success
11
Q
What is activated when someone begins puberty?
A
GnRH neurons in the hypothalamus start firing to initiate puberty
12
Q
What is the HPG axis and how does it work
A
hypothalamus increases [GnRH] and releases it
- goes to the pituitary, releases LH and FSH
- LH/FSH goes to gonads, tells them to release T/E
13
Q
What is the HPG axis like before puberty?
A
contains a very sensitive negative feedback signal
during puberty, something spikes in the GnRH neurons
14
Q
What is the role of kisspeptin neurons in puberty?
A
kisspeptin stimulates GnRH neurons
- administering it to starving animals stimulates gonadotropins
- blocking kisspeptin in rats can stop estrous cycle
- when injected in winter, it can stimulate ovulation in seasonal breeding animals
15
Q
What are the epigenetics related to kisspeptin?
A
kisspeptin is typically repressed
- changes to promoter region releases the repressor protein and allows gene transcription
- puberty is initiated
16
Q
What is MKRN3?
A
a hormone that inhibits the HPG axis
17
Q
How is metabolism and puberty related?
A
metabolic hormones controls GnRH release
adipose tissue released leptin
- stimulator for GnRH
ghrelin is inhibitory
18
Q
Low parental care is correlated with…
A
high offspring numbers
19
Q
What did Binti Jua and Harambe show?
A
sexual dimorphism in parental care
similar situations with different outcomes
- Binti Jua: protected child and gave it to zookeeper - had 17 m/o baby
- Harambe: dragged child around - non parental dominant male
20
Q
What is parental investment theory?
A
how much a parent is willing to compromise their ability to produce more offspring in order to care for the young they have
parents with the higher PI is choosier with their mate
- tradeoff between investing in reproduction and parental care
21
Q
What is altricial parenting behavior?
A
born/hatches early age in development
generally helpless and require substantial parental care
- large number, immature
22
Q
What is precocial parental behavior?
A
born or hatched at an advanced stage of development
require little to no parental intervention for survival
- few number of well-developed young
23
Q
How do hormones affect parental behavior?
A
it can initiate, maintain, develop, and terminate parental behavior
24
Q
How does the hormone prolactin affect birds?
A
it drives the onset, maintenance, and duration of parental behavior in many bird species
- correlated with the amount of care given to offspring
25
How does stress affect prolactin?
corticosterone inhibits prolactin
| - can choose to abandon nest if environment is too dangerous
26
What is the maternal behavior of marsupials like?
maternal care dominates
| since they live in an unreliable habitat, they can end the pregnancy if harsh conditions occur
27
What is the maternal behavior in eutherian mammals like
development in the placenta, more stable environment
- invest in long gestations
- greater developmental stage at birth
parental care is rare
28
What are the three types os eutherian mammalian care?
provide food/care for altricial young
mother bear precocial young capable of independent activity
neither/semi-precocial
29
What is concatenation and what did it show in rats?
"foster pups"
- all rats develop maternal behavior after a certain amount of exposure
- a rat that gives birth with immediately foster the pups
30
What happens when a new rat mother's blood is transfused into a rat that has never given birth before?
it induces maternal behavior in female rats
31
What is the evolutionary cause of maternal aggression? How is it regulated?
adaptive - it helps protect offspring from predators
hormonally regulated by progesterone
- P treatment elevates aggressive behavior in mice that have never given birth
32
What are the brain areas that promote paternal behavior?
estrogen - enhances activity in the MPOA, BNST, septum
- brain regions vital for maternal care
lesions to the MPOA eliminate maternal behavior in rats
33
How does maternal care affect the epigenetics of a rat?
Low licking and grooming
- methylation of the ER gene: gene silencing
- decreased GR in hippo - exaggerated HPA response
High licking and grooming
- increased GR in hippo: more efficient HPA response
34
How does pregnancy change brain structures?
structural pruning/rewiring
| - theory of mind network becomes overlapped/more efficient
35
How long are the rhythmic variations of endocrine function?
can vary over course of minutes, day, even a year
36
How does chronic jet lag affect the human brain?
decreased hippocampal volume, elevated cortisol, increased memory deficits
37
What dictates biological rhythms?
exogenous cues
- geophysical
- light
endogenous
- heliotropic plants: continue behavior even when kept in absence of light
- genes ID'd that determine heritable traits related to period/phase of biological rhythms
38
What did the zeitgeber experiment show?
zeitgeber - potent environmental time cue - light
entrainment: synchronizing an endogenous biological rhythm with the zeitgeber
- if onset of darkness is shifter, behavior is shifted
39
How long does an ultradian rhythm last?
longer than a day, shorter than a month
40
Where in the body are mammalian biological clocks located?
suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) of the hypothalamus
- acts as the master circadian clock of the body
- if damages, circadian rhythm is disrupted
humans with SCN damage can never develop behavioral pattern on their own
41
What are the inputs and outputs of the San
inputs: photoreceptors in the eye
outputs:
humoral and neuronal signals work together to sync physiology
42
What are the effects of the SCN on hormones?
glucocorticoids - rises during sleep, peaks when waking up
sex steroid hormones - T/P stable throughout the day
melatonin
gonadotropins
43
What is melatonin's cycle like?
seasonal variation: short day = more melatonin production
- duration of melatonin production encodes day length
can inhibit nighttime production of melatonin with light
44
What diseases affect circadian rhythms?
mood disorders
- schizophrenia, MDD, anxiety, bipolar
- genetic association studies: genes associated with rhythm are linked to disorders
45
How do seasonal changes affect the brain?
hippocampal volume/dendritic density peaks in the summer when the days are longer
46
What is the stress response? What are the two systems?
suite of responses by the body that tries to reestablish homeostasis
- ANS: norepinephrine
- HPA: cortisol
47
What are the adaptive functions of stress? What are the maladaptive functions of stress?
```
adaptive - in short term, helps individuals cope with emergency situations for survival
- meets immediate needs
maladaptive - long term over activation
- can be pathological
- highly conserved mechanism
```
48
What is the pathway of the HPA?
cortex stimulates hypothalamus to release CRH
CRH stimulates anterior pituitary to release ACTH
ACTH stimulates adrenal glands which release cortisol
- cortisol goes to the target cells
49
What are all steroid hormones derived from?
cholesterol
50
What is the role of glucocorticoids?
turns off bodily systems that are not essential for dealing with the immediate stressor
- shuts down insulin production - liver releases glucose
- inhibits reproductive/immune systems
body focuses energy on dealing w stressor
51
How is cortisol production regulated?
negative feedback system
- cortisol goes back to higher areas to slow production
- glucocorticoid receptors signal how much [cortisol]
- located in hippo to learn what caused stress response
52
How does the amygdala affect the HPA?
amygdala (limbic system) can activate the HPA
| - hippocampus tried to inhibit HPA
53
What is the relationship between cortisol and cognition?
inverted U
- small acute stress in cortisol enhances hippocampal-mediating learning and memory
- large prolonged increases in cortisol impairs memory
timing matters: chronic stress early in life has enduring effects
- chronic stress in adulthood is reversed after a period of non stress
54
What is the difference between glucocorticoid receptors and mineralocorticoid receptors?
both are located in the hippo
- MR: 10x higher affinity; enhanced LTP/memory
- GR: suppresses LTP/memory
55
What is the effect of cortisol on the hippocampus?
```
acute stress: cortisol enhances hippocampal inhibition of the HPA
chronic cress: damages hippo neurons
- loss of dendritic spines
- disrupts negative feedback
- loss of neurogenesis
- neuron death
```
56
What are the effects of chronic stress on the amygdala?
chronic stress increases dendritic branches in basolateral amygdala neurons
57
What are the adaptive effects of the stress response?
increased immediate availability of energy
increases O2 intake
decreased blood flow to organ systems not necessary for movement
inhibition of energetically expensive processes
decreased pain perception
enhanced sensory/memory function
58
How does prenatal stress affect rodent offspring?
results in lower hippocampal GR expression in offspring
- impairs HPA negative feedback
- alters T levels in male rats
stressed offspring: more anxious, more likely to self-administer drugs
59
How does prenatal stress affect human babies?
```
reduced birth weights
developmental delays
attentional deficits
anxiety
impaired social behaviors
```
60
What happened to the girl who was abducted and profoundly stressed
malnutrition - prevents activation of HPG axis
| in hospital for 1 month - went through puberty, grew 10 inches
61
What is the relationship between telomeres and stress?
social and psychological factors are associated with short telomeres
study correlated years of caring with telomere length
- women with the highest levels of perceived stress have shorter telomeres
62
How may the volume of the hippocampus related to PTSD?
reduced hippocampal volume might be a risk factor for developing PTSD
- hippo has negative feedback loop of cortisol
63
What is the difference between declarative and procedural memory?
declarative - things you can tell others
| procedural - things you can show by doing
64
Why is the HPG part of the discussion of learning and memory?
the PFC and the hippo, two brain structures important for learning and memory, contain many estrogen receptors
- 1/2 of PFC neurons have ERs
65
What happens to the hippocampus when there is elevated estradiol?
increased spine density in CA1 neurons
| massive changes hippo cells throughout the ovarian cycle
66
What happens to the hippo when there is chronic, elevated cortisol?
dendritic atrophy of the CA3 neurons
67
What happens to the the hippocampus when someone gets an adrenalectomy? What does this suggest?
adrenalectomy = removal of all stress hormone
gradual cell loss
- 50% of hippocampal volume decreased
suggests that there is an inverted u for [stress hormone] and learning/memory
68
What did the Morris water maze show?
milky water with platform that rats had to swim to
cues helped them learn where platform was
** if there is a lesion to hippocampus, the rate swims aimlessly
69
What did the Morris water maze experiment with induced stress on the rat show?
as you move past the time after stressor, they spend more time in the target region than the opposite
70
What did the radial arm maze show?
test: go down baited arm to get reward, requires LTM/STM
chronic cortisol decreased performance
estradiol increased performance, even in males
71
What did the healthy aging spatial navigation tasks show?
research about how gonadal hormones affect spatial performance
shortcuts are hippocampal-dependent
72
What is the relationship between spatial navigation and Alzheimer's?
spatial navigation deficits are observed very early in Alzheimer's
pathologies occur in the EC and the hippocampus
73
What is the relationship between progesterone and EC?
negative correlation between [progesterone] and EC volume
74
What is the relationship between androgens and learning and memory?
nuanced relationship
- castration does not affect learning in rats
- BUT hormonally normal men outperformed those who are hormonally low
75
What is the effect of menopause on the hippocampus?
hippocampal density decreases rapidly in women
| "endocrine aging"
76
How does neuroendocirine aging impact the human brain?
profound neuroendocrine change in women around 45-60
| [sex steroid] decreases by 90%
77
What did episodic memory tasks reveal?
poorer performers had more amyloid plaques
- task requires hippocampus
women who had gone through menopause lose their advantage over men on these tasks
78
What is the relationship between ER's and the PFC?
the more ER's in the PFC, the better the performance of PFC tasks
79
Why is it important to think of the brain as a dynamic system?
the brain is a dynamic system that functions across many scales and areas
higher [estradiol] causes greater connectivity across brain
80
What are the 3 types of validity important in animal models for human disorders?
face validity - how well does the animal model resemble the human disorder?
construct - are the mechanisms of the disorder the same?
predictive - does intervention reliably produce the same outcome?
81
What is the relationship between the HPT and depression?
HPT (thyroid) axis is more variable in depressed patients
82
What is the relationship between stress hormones and depression?
the negative feedback loop in the HPA axis is disrupted
- causes excessive cortisol production
- found in 50% of MDD patients
much greater [cortisol] variability
83
What did the DEX experiment show?
DEX - synthetic steroid hormone that mimics cortisol
- healthy ctrl: when given DEX, [cortisol] flat bc of negative feedback
- depressed patient: when given DEX, not reducing to flat line, no negative feedback
84
What if you inject CTH (HPA axis) into someone with MDD?
there is a blunted ACTH response
| shows that many parts of the HPA axis is not working properly in MDD
85
What is the relationship between cortisol and mood disorders? How is this shown?
inverted U
- Cushing syndrome: excessive cortisol
- Addison's disease: insufficient cortisol
depression is a symptom in both
86
What is the relationship between sex steroid hormone and mood?
depressed women display reduced [estradiol]
| menopausal transition is another risk period for emergence of MDD
87
What is the withdrawal of estrogen theory and what is its relationship with MDD?
Occurs when there is high [E] that quickly does to low [E]
| in patients with MDD, if they had taken E supplements then stopped, they had higher scores of depression
88
What did the stressful picture exp show? What does it suggest about [E]?
healthy women:
- low [E] - brain responds
greater to stressful picture
- high [E] - dampening of brain response
MDD women: do not see dampening of HPA brain areas during high [E] parts of cycle
89
What is the relationship between birth control use and depression
association between BC use and prescribed anti-d/depressive episode
higher risk in younger age goup
90
What is the relationship between androgens and affective disorders?
extremely aggressive behavior, violent crimes
mania
mood/cognitive impairment
addictive potential
91
Are their circannual changes in mood disorders?
yes - endocrine secretion changes over the year
in autumn and winter, people see a depressed affect, lethargy, loss of libido , hyper insomnia, weight gain, problems concentrating
- more common in people in higher altitudes
- light may be a driver
92
What are the effects of bright light therapy?
can help seasonal affective disorder
| timing is important - effect only seen if there is light therapy in the morning
93
What are endocrine disruptors?
chemicals that mimic/blocks the action of a hormone by binding to the receptor or disrupts a hormone receptor
94
What are some important considerations when studying EDC's?
```
age of exposure
duration of exposure
latency between exposure and disease
low dose effects - where policies come into play
measurement/screening
```
95
What is BPA and what is its effects on humans?
synthetic xenoestrogen that binds to ERs
breaks down under acid/basic, hot, normal conditions
BPA abolished the synaptogenic effect of estradiol
- no more increase in spine density: important for learning/memory
- prenatal exposure: poor behavior, anxiety, depression
- may interact with DA - sensitive to drugs of abuse
96
What is the relationship between personal care products and puberty?
some personal care products contain EDCs: paragons, phthalates, phenols
girls exposed to these before birth may enter puberty earlier
97
How do chlorpyrifos affect humans?
increases the risk of delayed mental development, ADHD, ASD
| 6 mill lbs used each year on crops
