Neurobiopsychology

Question 1

define phenotype

Answer 1

observable characteristic that results from an organisms’ gene/s and the environment

Question 2

gene x environment interactions

Answer 2

1. biological parents pass on genotypes to their child, and provide home environments that correlate with the genotype
2. association between home environment and child’s temperament can be genetically or environmentally mediated
3. family environment may suppress or facilitate the heritability of children’s temperament

Question 3

types of gene x environment interactions

Answer 3

Passive gene environment: environment correlates with the child’s genes (musical parents providing a musical environment for their child)

Evocative gene environment: parent creates an environment to cultivate a natural disposition / skill toward something

Active gene environment correlations: the child takes it upon themselves to actively engage in an environment that fosters a skill

Question 4

epigenetics

Answer 4

• genetic transcription is influenced by environmental factors
  –> turning off or on genes
  –> young brains are particularly susceptible due to neuroplasticity - influenced by environmental forces (diet, drugs, etc)

Question 5

Diathesis-stress model (genetic environmental interplay)

Answer 5

Vulnerability-stress model
- explains a disorder as the result of an interaction between predisposition vulnerability and stress caused by life experiences
- i.e. the environment activates a stress response in a person who is predispositioned to have a stress response

Question 6

What is a nativist?

Answer 6

Genetic - innate - heritability

Question 7

What is a nurturist?

Answer 7

Learning - environment

Question 8

Intervention - where nurture is considered more impactful

Answer 8

Early parenting and social interventions effective in younger children

Question 9

Intervention - when nature is more impactful

Answer 9

• use of medication
• belief there’s not much you can do
• incarceration lol

Question 10

What is the FOAD

Answer 10

Fetal origins of adult disease
Adverse intrauterine environmental exposures affect a fetus’ development during sensitive periods, increasing the risk of specific diseases in adult life.
- i.e. adverse prenatal nutrition increased susceptability to metabolic syndrome later
- high maternal cortisol levels in utero can increase high stress response

Fetal programing through the HPA axis
but optimal caregiving can attenuate the negative effects of fetal programming of stress response - support parents to provide appropriate caregiving responses so we can attenuate this

Question 11

What are the mechanisms behind FOAD?

Answer 11

1. Cumulative stress model (disease focused approach): developmental exposures cumulatively add up to cause disruptions of brain structure
2. Match-mismatch Model (evolutionary developmental approach): developing fetus adapts its physiology in anticipation of the postnatal environment, as a result of prenatal cuing –> mismatch occurs when those early environmental cues do not match the adult conditions

Question 12

DoHaD

Answer 12

Environmental stresses during the early stages of life influence health and the risk of developing non-communicable diseases throughout the lifespan of an individual.
- all aspects of environment (nutrition, environmental pollutants, stress)
- all windows of sensitivity: (preconception, pregnancy, early childhood

Question 13

What is the BioPyschoSocial model of health?

Answer 13

Considers the biological, psychological and social factors contributing to a condition, and interactions between them.

Question 14

Which phase of development is most impactful/has the most risk

Answer 14

Embryonic period is most impactful on post-natal development
time of maximum risk due to high exposure to teratogens

Question 15

What is Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder

Answer 15

Used as an Umbrella Term to encompass diagnostic categories of:
- Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
- Alcohol-Related Neurodevelopmental Disorder
- Alcohol-Related Birth Defects

When alcohol is consumed during pregnancy, it passes through the placenta and enters the bloodstream of unborn babies.

Leading form of non-genetic developmental disability in Australia.

Increased risk of FASD with increased duration of prenatal alcohol exposure

Question 16

Outcomes of FASD

Answer 16

• lower IQ (fall 2 standard deviations below the mean)
• deficits leading to functional impairment
• higher incidences of internalizing and externalizing symptoms in children diagnosed with FASD, as well as as higher problem behaviour scores

Question 17

Prevalence

Answer 17

2% of all Australian babies estimated to be born with some FASD

1 in every 67 women consuming alcohol during pregnancy would deliver a child with FASD

Question 18

Intervention of FASD

Answer 18

• increasing awareness (2/3s of women in a survey of 1500 aussie women did not know that alcohol freely crosses the placenta)
• increasing education and training for health professionals
• strong emphasis on intervention for at-risk pregnancies

Question 19

Prenatal Stress/Anxiety

Answer 19

• cortisol crosses the placenta –> infant HPA axis responds to maternal stress hormones
• leads to response from fetus with lasting consequnces: changes in structure and function of neural systems responsible for infant regulation (in the prefrontal cortex and amygdala)

Caregiver response / parenting can attenuate the negative effects of fetal programming of the stress response

Question 20

Attachment theory framework: stress

Answer 20

Emphasis on the role of the caregiver in co-regulating infant emotional arousal and distress via sensitive caregiving.

Notices child signals
Interprets them correctly
Responds appropriately

However, parental anxiety might disrupt this

Also play a role in structuring, and non-intrusiveness, non-hostility

Question 21

in the context of stress, we see influence of:

Answer 21

genetics
inutero environments
postnatal caretaking effects
the stressful context of the child

Question 22

What else may impact the child of a stressed child-bearing parent?

Answer 22

Use of alcohol, recreational drugs, cigarettes
Prolonged labour

Question 23

Does maternal prenatal anxiety impact children?

Answer 23

5/6 studies seemed to suggest a relationships between higher anxiety in pregnancy with negative reactivity

Question 24

What are the clinical implications? What can we do pre-birth?

Answer 24

• address the prenatal anxiety of child-bearing people

Question 25

what can we do, post birth?

Answer 25

parenting interventions
promotion of positive parenting