Neuropsychopharmacology Review: Research Methods, Anxiety, Depression, and Addiction

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering behavioral paradigms, neurobiology research techniques, anxiety, depression, and addiction from the Neuropsychopharmacology review lectures.

Independent variable

The factor that the researcher manipulates in an experiment.

Dependent variable

The behavior or outcome that the researcher measures in an experiment.

Predictive validity

The extent to which treatment effects observed in laboratory animals successfully predict clinical effects in humans.

Face validity

The degree to which an animal test or model resembles the human condition or diagnostic test it is intended to model.

Anhedonia

The inability or significantly reduced ability to experience pleasure.

Apathy

A lack of interest, motivation, or enthusiasm.

Tail Flick Test (TFT)

A behavioral test measuring thermal pain sensitivity by focusing heat or light onto an animal's tail and recording the latency to withdraw it.

Open Field Test (OFT)

A paradigm assessing locomotion, exploratory behavior, and anxiety-like behavior, where center avoidance reflects anxiety and center exploration reflects reduced anxiety.

Forced Swim Test (FST)

A behavioral test evaluating depressive-like behavior by measuring the duration an animal remains immobile versus actively struggling in water.

Tail Suspension Test (TST)

A behavioral test that assesses depressive-like behavior by measuring the duration of immobility while an animal is suspended by its tail.

Sucrose Preference Test

A behavioral paradigm evaluating anhedonia and reward sensitivity based on a rodent's natural preference for sweet solutions over water.

Unpredictable chronic stress

An experimental protocol involving repeated exposure to varying, unpredictable stressors (e.g., wet bedding, tilted cages, shocks) to induce depressive- and anxiety-like behaviors.

Cued fear conditioning

A behavioral paradigm where a discrete neutral stimulus, such as a tone or light, is paired with an aversive shock until the cue elicits freezing.

Contextual fear conditioning

A behavioral paradigm where an animal learns to associate an entire environment or training context with an aversive shock.

Conditioned Place Preference (CPP)

A test evaluating the rewarding or aversive properties of a drug by measuring how much time an animal spends in a chamber previously paired with that drug.

Morris Water Maze

A spatial learning and memory task in which an animal swims in an opaque circular pool to locate a submerged escape platform using distal visual cues.

Translational research

Research dedicated to applying basic science discoveries to the development of clinical therapies and the improvement of human health.

Stereotaxic surgery

A neurosurgical technique that employs precise three-dimensional (XYZ) coordinates and a brain atlas to target specific brain structures.

Knockout (KO) mouse

A genetically engineered mouse in which a specific gene has been permanently deleted or inactivated.

Knock-in (KI) mouse

A genetically modified mouse in which a specific gene or targeted sequence has been introduced or altered.

CRISPR

A targeted genome-editing tool used in scientific research to disrupt existing genes or insert foreign genetic sequences.

Cre-Lox system

A site-specific recombinase technology where the Cre enzyme excises DNA flanked by loxP sites (such as a STOP sequence) to enable targeted gene expression.

Optogenetics

A neuroscience technique that uses light-sensitive opsin proteins and targeted light pulses to modulate the activity of specific neuronal populations.

Channelrhodopsin-2 (ChR2)

A light-sensitive cation channel activated by blue light that depolarizes and excites neurons by allowing positive ions, such as sodium, to enter.

Halorhodopsin (NpHR)

A light-sensitive chloride pump activated by red light that hyperpolarizes and inhibits neuronal firing.

Chemogenetics

A method using engineered receptors and synthetic designer drugs to selectively modulate the activity of genetically defined neurons.

DREADDs

Designer Receptors Exclusively Activated by Designer Drugs; synthetic chemogenetic receptors used to selectively manipulate neuronal signaling.

Single-unit recording

An electrophysiological technique that records individual action potentials generated by single neurons.

Local field potentials (LFPs)

Extracellular voltage fluctuations that reflect the synchronized electrical activity of populations of neurons within a local brain region.

Immunocytochemistry (ICC)

An anatomical technique that utilizes labeled antibodies to identify and visualize specific proteins or molecules within fixed cells or tissues.

Lateral amygdala (LA)

The primary sensory input structure of the amygdala that receives incoming threat and fear-related information.

Bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST)

An extended amygdala structure associated with sustained anxiety to diffuse, uncertain threats; its pathway is hyperactive in PTSD.

Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis

A major neuroendocrine stress cascade activated when the hypothalamus secretes CRF, stimulating the pituitary to release ACTH, which prompts the adrenal cortex to release cortisol.

Corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF)

A hypothalamic peptide hormone released in response to stress that activates the pituitary gland within the HPA axis.

Adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH)

An anterior pituitary hormone stimulated by CRF that triggers the secretion of glucocorticoids (such as cortisol) from the adrenal cortex.

Locus coeruleus (LC)

A principal brainstem nucleus that synthesizes and releases norepinephrine, projecting to arousal- and fear-mediating structures such as the amygdala.

Yohimbine

An alpha-2 adrenergic autoreceptor antagonist that increases norepinephrine release by blocking presynaptic autoreceptors, capable of inducing panic attacks.

Propranolol

A beta-adrenergic receptor antagonist that can interfere with the consolidation of traumatic memories when administered shortly after trauma exposure.

Elevated Plus Maze (EPM)

A cross-shaped behavioral apparatus with two open and two closed arms used to evaluate rodent anxiety-like behavior, where more open-arm time signifies anxiolysis.

Reactive depression

A state of non-pathological, transient sadness occurring in direct response to an upsetting or difficult life event.

Major depressive disorder

A clinical psychiatric condition characterized by recurring, prolonged episodes of depressed mood, negative cognition, guilt, and anhedonia.

Dysthymia

A persistent, chronic form of depression marked by depressed mood lasting for a duration of at least two years.

Bipolar I disorder

A mood disorder characterized by the presence of at least one full manic episode, typically alternating with major depressive episodes.

Bipolar II disorder

A mood disorder characterized by recurring major depressive episodes accompanied by hypomania, without full manic episodes.

Cyclothymia

A chronic mood disturbance involving fluctuating hypomanic and mild depressive symptoms over a course of at least two years.

Monoamine hypothesis of depression

The proposition that depression is caused by deficient or dysregulated monoaminergic neurotransmission involving serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine.

Reserpine

A drug that inhibits the vesicular monoamine transporter (VMAT), depleting dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin storage and precipitating depressive symptoms.

Serotonin transporter (SERT)

A transmembrane protein responsible for clearing serotonin from the synaptic cleft into presynaptic terminals via reuptake.

Glucocorticoid hypothesis of depression

The model proposing that sustained, elevated glucocorticoid levels trigger hippocampal dendritic atrophy and neurotoxicity, driving depressive pathology.

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)

A neurotrophin vital for neuronal survival, neurogenesis, and synaptic plasticity, which is suppressed by chronic stress and elevated by antidepressants.

Tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs)

A class of antidepressants characterized by a three-ring core structure that blocks presynaptic reuptake transporters for serotonin and norepinephrine.

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs)

A class of antidepressants that selectively block the serotonin transporter (SERT) to prolong serotonergic neurotransmission.

Substance use disorder (SUD)

A clinical diagnosis characterized by cognitive, behavioral, and physiological symptoms indicating continued substance use despite significant distress and adverse consequences.

Progressive-ratio schedule

An operant schedule in which the required number of responses increases incrementally after each reinforcer to assess the subject's breaking point and motivation.

Break point

The highest response requirement reached on a progressive-ratio schedule before an animal ceases operant responding, reflecting motivational strength.

Mesolimbic dopamine pathway

The central reward pathway in the brain consisting of dopaminergic neurons projecting from the ventral tegmental area (VTA) to the nucleus accumbens (NAcc).

Anti-reward system

A stress-mediating neurochemical network comprising norepinephrine, CRF, and dynorphin that becomes activated during drug withdrawal to produce aversive states.

Negative reinforcement (addiction)

A reinforcement process where drug intake is maintained or increased because it alleviates an aversive internal state, such as withdrawal.

Tolerance

A state of decreased drug responsiveness resulting from repeated exposure, requiring progressively larger doses to produce the original pharmacological effect.

Withdrawal

A syndrome of compound physiological and psychological symptoms that emerges upon the cessation or reduction of chronic drug administration.