Study guide exam 1 Flashcards
Monism vs. Dualism
Dualism
* Minds and bodies are made of different things
* Physical stuff is different than mental stuff
* Mind is similar to the idea of a soul or spirit
* But… difficulty explaining how minds interact to make bodies active
Monism
* Minds and bodies are the same thing
* Mind is a by-product of active bodies
* But.. suggests that minds don’t really exist
- Suggests that minds are illusions
Why the popularity of dualism was problematic for research on stress?
One consequence of Descartes dualistic approach to the Mind-Body problem was that later medical models ignored possible interactions of mental and physiological processes.
Dualism argued that mind was nonphysical:
* The body is physical but “vital spirit” that drives it, is not.
* Nonphysical things cannot be studied with scientific methods.
Descartes stress theory?
Descartes was a proponent of dualism and his dualist views influenced thoughts about science and medicine:
* Mind and body were separate things
* Body was like a machine
* Mind was a spirit that controlled the body from within
* “The Ghost in the Machine”
Influenced the development of the Standard Biomedical Model:
* Treat disease by repairing the physical machine
* The mind is not relevant to a disease or it’s cure
Walter Cannon stress theory?
Cannon was the first to identify the body’s physiological reactions to stress. He first articulated and named the fight-or-flight response (autonomic nervous system), the nervous system’s sympathetic response to a significant stressor!!!
* Studied brain’s ability to regulate the body
* Coins the term homeostasis
Homeostasis:
* Ability of an organism to maintain internal equilibrium by adjusting it’s physiological processes
Hans Selye stress theory?
Studied stress responses in animals
* Various stressors heat, cold, illness, ….
Selye theorized that overexposing the body to stress would cause what he called “general adaptation syndrome,” which could lead to shock, alarm and eventually exhaustion.
General Adaptation Syndrome stages?
1) Alarm Reaction
* Register the stressor
* Begin to mount response
2) Resistance Stage
* Able to compensate for the stress
* Can maintain changes required to respond * …unless/until resources needed run out
3) Exhaustion stage
* No longer able to overcome the stress
* May lead to death if stress continues
Homeostasis vs. Allostasis
Homeostasis:
* Ability of an organism to maintain internal equilibrium by adjusting it’s physiological processes. In other words, it’s any self-regulating process by which an organism tends to maintain stability while adjusting to conditions that are best for its survival.
Allostasis:
* the process by which the body responds to stressors in order to regain homeostasis.
Allostatic load?
The damage caused by allostasis.
* The “wear and tear” on the body resulting from adapting to prolonged or repeated stress.
The placebo effect? Can it be conditioned?
- The ability of a treatment with no medical value to have therapeutic effect
- i.e. A “sugar pill” that can relieve pain similar to a painkiller
Placebo effects similar to pharmaceutical effects: - Pain reduction comparable to opioids
- Treatment of depression comparable to anti-depressants
- Reduced tremors in Parkinson’s Disease
- Reduced symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome
- Enhancement of immune functioning
Placebo effects can be conditioned: - Classical conditioning
Placebo effects can even work, when people know it’s a placebo
Methods of article “Neuropharmacology of the placebo effect”
Pain caused by cutting off blood flow in the hand and forearm:
* “Ischemic pain” using the tourniquet method
For all conditions, no pain meds are given the first and last day
1) “Control” conditions (Groups 1 -4)
* Never get any pain meds
* Used to show that pain tolerance does not increase on it’s own
2) Morphine conditioning (Groups 5 – 8)
* Get morphine to relieve pain on days 2 and 3.
* So… they have been conditioned to feel less pain during the procedure
3) Ketorolac conditioning (Groups 9 – 12)
* Get ketorolac to relieve pain on days 2 and 3
* So… they also have been conditioned to feel less pain
* But… ketorolac is not an opioid
Conclusions of article “Neuropharmacology of the placebo effect”
What are the classes of Stress Response?
- Bottom-up vs. Top-Down
- Activation (High vs. Low)
- Valence (Appetitive vs. Aversive)
Bottom-up vs. Top-Down Stress Response?
Physical stress –> more bottom-up
* Physically demanding on the body. Signal sent from the body up to the brain
Psychological stress –> more top down-down
* Mentally demanding. Signals sent down from the brain to the body.
Activation (High vs. Low) Stress Response
Amount of physiological and metabolic response
Valence (Appetitive vs. Aversive) Stress Response
1) Appetitive activation may be enjoyable even if metabolic (biochemical processes that occur within us) demands are high.
* Sexual arousal, eager anticipation.
2) Aversive activations are unpleasant. May cause more distress even if overall physiological demands are low.
* Public speaking anxiety, relationship loss
Endocrine changes during exercise
1) Epinephrine/Adrenaline
* Increase force of heart contractions. Dilate blood vessels (blood vessels bigger to move more blood)
* Release stored fat to be turned to energy
2) Cortisol
* Release stored fats and glucose to be turned into energy
* Aids conversion of proteins into glucose
3) Beta-endorphin
* Released from pituitary gland with ACTH release in about equal amounts
* Beta-endorphin and ACTH made from same precursor molecule
* Reduce pain and discomfort from exercise
* May promote positive mood. Reduce negative emotions
The Runner’s High?
- Described as a feeling of euphoria that long-distance runners can experience.
- Occurs after prolonged and sustained exercise (Prolonged effort, but not total overexertion).
- Related to elevated levels of endogenous opioids (like beta-endorphin).
- Endogenous opioids released from pituitary and specialized neurons.
- May also be related to increased levels of endocannabinoids.
The Fight or Flight Response?
1) “Fight-or-flight” refers to a prototypical stress response (sympathetic activation).
* Tied to evolutionary drives for survival. Fight or flee a threat
* Requires the same physiological and neuroendocrine changes as exercise
* But… also prototypically very aversive (highly negative)
2) High activation
* Requires substantial metabolic change
3) Highly aversive
* Associated with negative emotions: Anxiety, Fear, Anger
* Limited control/High stakes: Fight or flight for survival; Your efforts may fail. And if you fail, you die.
Aversive vs. Appetitive Physiological Responses
Study 1: Aversive outcomes
* Complete psychomotor task to avoid receiving aversive stimuli
* Must press a button to avoid unpleasant noise and electric shocks
* Task was unpredictable and some noise and shocks were unavoidable
* Study 2: Appetitive outcomes
* Complete psychomotor task to earn money
* Task was unpredictable, but outcomes were positive (earned money)
* The tasks are physically similar and require very little metabolic energy (Completed while sitting in a reclining chair).
Aversive vs. Appetitive Outcomes
Study 1: Aversive Outcomes (Noise and Shock)
1) Physiological outcomes similar to fight-or-flight.
2) Increased blood flow:
- Heart pumps faster and harder
- Blood vessels dilated
3) Increased blood pressure
4) Increased norepinephrine (increase in sympathetic activation)
5) Increased cortisol
6) Increased subjective emotional distress
Study 2: Appetitive Outcomes (Monetary Rewards)
* Required similar levels of effort and attention as Study 1
* Similar cardiac and endocrine responses etc.
* BUT…. No significant increase in cortisol
A Hierarchy of Homeostatic Controls
1) Organs and their local reflexes
* Internal organs have built-in reflexes
2) Autonomic Nervous System and Endocrine System
* Two pathways for CNS to communicate with internal organs
3) Brainstem regulation
* Able to regulate outputs of the ANS
4) Hypothalamic regulation
* Can regulate brainstems control of ANS
* Can regulate endocrine system
5) Higher brain areas
* Regulation from areas involved in attention, memory, emotion
* May involve conscious and unconscious activity
Organ reflexes and local reflex loops? Frank-Sterling Reflex?
1) Internal organs have intrinsic control mechanisms
2) Can operate at a baseline level on their own
* But… organ reflexes alone can’t adjust to changes
3) Example: Heart has built-in “pacemakers” to regulate heartbeat.
* Heart will pump on its own at about 110 beats per minute
* Heart automatically pumps harder when filled with larger amounts of blood (Frank-Sterling Reflex).
* But… the automatic pumping would fail to adapt if person stood up or started to run
4) Local reflex loops: Organs send/receive info to spinal cord creating reflex loops
* Organ and spinal cord can adapt organ functioning to local needs
Somatic vs Autonomic Nervous System? How they connect to the muscle?
Somatic:
1) Conscious and Voluntary
2) “Skeletal Nervous System”
3) Sensory and Motor neurons:
- Sensory nerves send info to CNS (spinal cord and brain)
- Motor nerves from CNS directly connects to a specific set of muscle fibers
4) Somatic Nervous System - motor neuron directly connects to muscle.
Autonomic:
1) Unconscious and involuntary
2) Sympathetic and Parasympathetic:
- Also has sensory and motor nerves
- Sensory info from internal organs sent to brainstem. Remains unconscious
- Chain of two motor neurons (preganglionic, postganglionic)
- Axons are not well myelinated. Conducts signals slowly.
3) Autonomic Nervous System – motor neuron connects to a ganglia. Ganglia “relays” signal to the muscle.
Sympathetic vs. Parasympathetic Nervous System
- Sympathetic Nervous System (“Fight or Flight”)
- Parasympathetic Nervous System (“Rest and digest”)
