Module 73 Terms - biomedical therapies

Psychopharmacology

the study of the effects of drugs on mind and behavior.

Resident population of mental hospitals is a small fraction of what it was a half-century ago.

Through double-blind studies, some drugs have been proven useful.

Antipsychotic Drugs

drugs used to treat schizophrenia and other forms of severe thought disorders.

Typically excite dopamine receptors and block its activity.

Powerful side effects such as sluggishness, tremors and twitches

Risperdal and Zyprexa

Antianxiety Drugs

drugs used to control anxiety and agitation. Like alcohol, they depress nervous system activity.

Includes drugs like Xanax, Valium and Librium.

Most widely abused drugs.

Antidepressant drugs

used to treat depression, anxiety disorders, OCD and PTSD. 

Increase the availability of certain neurotransmitters such as norepinephrine and serotonin which elevates arousal and mood.

Prozac, Zoloft

Mood Stabilizing Medications

used for those suffering from bipolar disorder

The simple salt lithium can be an effective mood stabilizer.

Lithium reduces bipolar patients’ risk of suicide

Not totally sure why it works.

Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT)

a biomedical therapy for severely depressed patients in which a brief electric current is sent through the brain of an anesthetized patient.

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS)

the application of repeated pulses of magnetic energy to the brain, used to stimulate or suppress brain activity.

Used to treat depression.

Modest positive benefits.

Deep-Brain Stimulation

focus on a neural hub that bridges the thinking frontal lobes to the limbic system. This area is overactive in the brain of depressed individuals. 

Implanting electrodes and a pacemaker stimulator to excite neurons that inhibit negative-emotion feeding activity.

Still experimental

Psychosurgery

surgery that removes or destroys brain tissue in an effort to change behavior.

Lobotomy

procedure once used to calm uncontrollable or violent patients. Cutting the nerves connecting the frontal lobes to the emotion-controlling centers of the inner brain. No longer practiced today and has been replaced by MRI guided microsurgery.