Neuro Lab Week 4 - Psychiatric Disorders

resilience factors

-environmental factors protecting from psychiatric disorders

-ex: support system, physical activity, coping skills, involvement in activities

benzodiazepines

-once the standard medication for anxiety, but no longer first choice bc of risk of dependence

-boost GABA levels

-decreases neuron activity in areas of brain important to anxiety

-ex: diazepam/Valium

OCD

-affects 1% of US adults

-average diagnosis age: 19

-basal ganglia is involved in obsessions & compulsions

• connects with cortex to help control ability to move & think

• helps conduct routine behaviors/habits

• reward system, learning, memory, ability to feel good

• disrupted signaling btwn basal ganglia & cortex can lead to ritualistic behaviors

glutamate

learning & memory

OCD treatments

-SSRIs

-other medications: neuroleptic (tranquilizing) drugs & clomipramine (antidepressant)

-CBT

-DBS (deep brain stimulation)

• first used to treat movement disorders like Parkinson’s

• electrodes implanted emit high-frequency electrical pulses intended to reset abnormal neuronal firing

• also helps with depression

panic disorder

-sudden, unpredictable bouts of intense & irrational fear

-affects 2.7% of US adults

-half also have mood disorders or other psychiatric illnesses

-treated with psychotherapy & medications (SSRIs, benzodiazepines)

PTSD

-shallow sleep w/ increased periods of REM

-altered levels of hormones (cortisol & norepinephrine that fuel fight-or-flight)

PTSD treatment

-CBT=most effective treatment

-drugs that block norepinephrine (prazosin, propranolol)

-SSRIs

-neurotransmitter Peptide Y offers some protection in developing PTSD

neuroimaging studies with PTSD

-shows changes in brain structure

• smaller hippocampus

• smaller prefrontal cortex

• overactive amygdala

-help with development of new drugs by pinpointing brain regions disrupted in PTSD

• cannabinoids

• glutamate

• oxytocin

mood disorders

-mood changes that become longer lasting & independent of what is going on around you

-major depression & bipolar disorder

major depression diagnosis

-based on at least 4 of the criteria that have persisted for at least 2 weeks'

• loss of appetite

• feeling empty or sad

• irritability

• problems with sleep

• change in weight

major depression

-various medical conditions are common with depression

-7% of American adults (16mil) have experienced at least one major depressive episode in the last year (7/10 likely to be female)

-disrupts hypothalamus (secretes hormone that tells adrenal cortex to produce more of cortisol-stress hormone)

-smaller hippocampus & prefrontal cortex (damaged by excessive stress)

-greater activity in cortex area linked to limbic system = more likely to have worse depression 18 months later

bipolar disorder

-intense mood changes

-difficult to diagnose

-manic episodes

• energy

• racing thoughts

• insomnia

• substance abuse & harmful behavior

-depressive episodes

• sad, hopeless, worried

hypomanic

-some people with bipolar are hypomanic

-highly productive and feel great

-can be a clue to more intense developing mania

bipolar treatment

-difficult to treat & most have significant side effects

-manic periods

• antiepilepsy drugs

• lithium

• atypical antipsychotics

-depressed periods

• antidepressants

• CBT

schizophrenia

-disorder of cognition

-lifelong, seriously disturbs thinking, emotion, & behavior

-usually appears btwn ages 15 to 25

-highly influenced by heredity

schizophrenia symptoms

-positive symptoms: hallucinations, delusions, confused thinking

• driven by dopamine

-negative symptoms: lack of motivation, inability to experience pleasure

• serotonin

schizophrenia treatment

-no cure

-behavioral therapy

-medication

• more than 20 antipsychotic drugs

• chlorpromazine: first antipsychotic drug

  • developed as an anesthetic for surgery, but soon used for schizophrenia 

• most work by damping dopamine response, some with serotonergic activity

-can cause tremors & other movement-related side effects

schizophrenia research

-scientists have ID lots of DNA info linked to schizophrenia 

-focused on learning about genes, which affect nerve cell growth, development, learning, + memory

-nicotine seems to relax rigid nerve-cell shape & function in areas of brain related to schizophrenia 

• 90% of ppl with schizophrenia smoke

ketamine & treating depression

-nasal spray in low doses

-interferes with glutamate signaling

-helps to develop new pathways along with CBT

-immediate & lasting action

dopamine

-uses sensory info to motivate a respone

-pleasure, motivation, motor control

-converted from tyrosine (what we eat) in substantial nigra & ventral segmental area

-4 pathways

• nigrostriatal - loss of motor control

• mesolimbic/reward pathway - too much dopamine bc of drugs

• mesocortical

• tuberoinfundibular