Lecture 22 & 23 - Mental Health & Law

Question 1

Why is early identification of psychological disorders important?

Answer 1

Early identification can be treated and hence reduce symptoms

Question 2

What is the gray matter volume equation?

Answer 2

Cortical thickness x area

Question 3

How is gray matter volume affected in youth with psychosis symptoms?

Answer 3

Decreased gray matter

Question 4

What network is disrupted in psychosis?

Answer 4

DMN

Question 5

What are some areas affected by psychosis in youth?

Answer 5

Precuneus, OFC, VMPFC, medial temporal lobe

Question 6

Why is it hard to diagnose patients off of data?

Answer 6

There’s so much variability (think about her being 6 ft)

Question 7

What is needed for a successful diagnostic tool?

Answer 7

• sensitive
• specific

Question 8

Have neuroimaging tools lived up to the criteria for diagnosing psychiatric illness?

Answer 8

No

Question 9

Where can TMS affect activity?

Answer 9

On surface of cortex or a lil bit deeper

Question 10

Is TMS excit, inhibit, or either?

Answer 10

Either

Question 11

Where is TMS applied for depression?

Answer 11

DLPFC

Question 12

Where is schizo applied for schizophrenia?

Answer 12

Superior temporal regions for auditory hallucinations

Question 13

Where is TMS applied for OCD?

Answer 13

DLPFC & SMA

Question 14

Where is TMS applied for smoking cessation?

Answer 14

Prefrontal or insular cortices

Question 15

When is TMS used for psychiatric treatment?

Answer 15

Treatment resistant patients who havent benefitted from medication and therapy

Question 16

How does Neurofeedback work?

Answer 16

Self regulation of brain activity by providing feedback of brain activity in real time via EEG or fMRI

Question 17

What did the neurofeedback for ADHD show?

Answer 17

FMRI neurofeedback allowed boys to increase activation in the rIFG and had reduced symptoms

Follow up study included a sham condition where participants were given the past participants data, the sham also showed symptom improvements

Question 18

What are some of the challenges of diagnoses?

Answer 18

• hard to find reliable neural markers for psychiatric illnesses
• heterogeneity of diagnoses
• comorbidity and developmental continuity
• categorical vs. dimensional models

Question 19

What is childhood adversity associated with?

Answer 19

Blunted VTA connectivity development

Question 20

Major depressive disorder and substance use disorders are highly ____

Answer 20

Comorbid

Question 21

SUD is associated with ___ in reward neurocircuitry, and MDD associated with ___ in reward neuro circuitry

Answer 21

Hyperactivity & hypoacitvity

Question 22

How are SUD and MDD related?

Answer 22

Neurobiological changes due to SUD (withdrawal reducing DA levels) may contribute to MDD (substance use may increase activity in brain regions that are hypoactive in MDD), or vice versa

Question 23

How does early life stress change affect the VTA?

Answer 23

Changes gene expression leading to reduced exploration following adult stress

Question 24

With more ACES (childhood traumas), how is VTA connection to mPFC affected?

Answer 24

It decreases over the years

Question 25

Is scizophrenia associated with high or low ACES?

Answer 25

High

Question 26

What is RDOC?

Answer 26

NIH’s attempt to contextualize psychiatric disorders with neurobio roots

Question 27

What is HiTOP?

Answer 27

Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology that has different scores for each level that then goes into targeted treatment

Question 28

What is a “p” factor?

Answer 28

General risk factor

Question 29

What was found in the Meta-analysis of fMRI and PET studies of cognitive control including patients with many disorders?

Answer 29

Hypoactivation of control network and salience network (external attention to whats important) Hyperactivation in mPFC thats correlated to pain and social rejection

Question 30

What are brain disorders that could increase likelihood of crime?

Answer 30

- lesions to OFC - frontal EEG abnormality following TBI - low frontal brain activity due to genetics - prenatal alcohol, tobacco, lead exposure - social stressors

Question 31

What is the comparative question method?

Answer 31

Ex. Did you kill a man in Reno The point is to compare this question to an easier question like “have you ever stolen”

Question 32

What is the guilty knowledge method?

Answer 32

ex. Did the knife have a wooden handle The point is to have a bell ring for them and the truth will be reflected in the reaction of the person

Question 33

What are some physiological reactions to emotional information?

Answer 33

Activation of the sympathetic nervous system - pupil dilation - heart rate increase - sweating

Question 34

What are some brain areas in deception?

Answer 34

TPJ, IPL, MFG

Question 35

What are some problems with using fMRI for lie detection?

Answer 35

- group data is not individuals - fMRI studies are more experimental than anything and often about lies that dont matter - sensitivity and specificity of fMRI lie detection is not well supported

Question 36

What are some issues with eyewitness testimony?

Answer 36

- susceptible to misinformation - susceptible to filling in gaps based on expectations - gets worse over long periods of time - worse in individuals with poorer memory, likes kids and older adults

Question 37

What are some issues with identifying perpetrators in a line up?

Answer 37

- worse if poor vision or viewing conditions or not enough time to view - worse under stress - worse if asked to identify perpetrator from a diff racial group

Question 38

What age group is most likely to commit crimes?

Answer 38

Adolescents

Question 39

Can neuroimaging be used to confirm intent?

Answer 39

Not enough evidence behind it, a case tried to use it and it was flimsy at best

Question 40

When does cognitive control reach adult levels?

Answer 40

Around 25 years

Question 41

What regions of the brain develop faster than prefrontal cortex?

Answer 41

Reward regions

Question 42

When is the PFC highly plastic?

Answer 42

Adolescence based on resting state BOLD function amplitude as a marker