Lesson 4 Flashcards
(6 cards)
Whitehall Study
17,500 male British civil servants 1967; lowest grade workers had 3x all-cause mortality rate than highest grade workers, 2x CV mortality when standardized against confounding factors.
Stress Response
Stress perceived –> hypothalamus sends corticotropin releasing hormone (CRH) to pituitary gland –> sends adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) to adrenal gland –> expresses glucocorticoids like cortisol as a stress response –> slowed digestion, release of glucose in blood stream, other short-term responses to escape danger
Direct “quick link” between amygdala (memory, decision making, emotion) and hypothalamus (controls regulatory drives) makes up most of limbic system.
Yerkes-Dodson Law Bell Curve
Optimal arousal lies somewhere in the middle of the bell curve for optimal performance, too much and too little is bad
Effects of Chronic Stress
Cortisol –> Increase in epinephrine –> Hypertension (pumping more blood, increasing flow into vasoconstricted vessels for a planned hypertensive period) –> Flow injures endothelial lining of arteries leading to plaque build up –> Infarct (cell death due to hypoxia when oxygenated blood cannot get through)
High stress individuals also have heightened state of inflammatory readiness
ACES Study
17000+ Kaiser Permanente members sampled and asked about significant adverse childhood experiences. Sample of convenience, didn’t include under-sampled Black population or others on public insurance
In a roughly linear fashion, number of ACE experiences correlated to increased risk for emotional and social functioning challenges as well as core physical illnesses
Bucharest Early Intervention Project
Neglected children in under-staffed Ukrainian orphanages. Once moved to therapeutic foster care system, showed that time in institutional deprivation had significant impact on development. Once you miss a critical window, age of placement in foster care is less significant.
