PSYC 344 Test 3

What are 4 experiences that demonstrate how experiences impact brain structure?

1. enriched environments
2. practicing certain skills
3. in response to sensory deprivation
4. in response to injury/neurological disease

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What is an enriched environment?

* offers more than just basics for survival
* has opportunities for social, cognitive, and physical challenges (companions, exercise, play)

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How does an enriched environment alter brain structure? Why does this likely happen?

* associated with an increased brain size
* associated with stronger performances on motor, learning, and memory tasks
* likely due to more neuronal connections

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How do enriched environments impact different ages/generations in general? How do they impact injury recovery?

* affect young and old animals
* affect offspring if mother was in EE during pregnancy or if father was in EE during preconception
* EE helps improve recovery outcomes after brain injury

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How did the London taxi driver study show plasticity?

* demonstrated that adult plasticity is greater than initially thought
* more significant hippocampus development

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How does music training impact plasticity?

areas of the motor cortex and auditory cortex are larger in trained musicians

How do occupations that require a lot of finger dexterity alter brain structure?

more dendritic spines on neurons in finger area relative to trunk area

What are three circumstances of sensory deprivation that can alter brain structure?

* blindness since birth: touch and auditory info invade visual cortex
* amputation: expanded cortical representation on nearby body parts
* cochlear implants: most beneficial if done earlier before auditory areas are overtaken by other sensations

Why is the brain live-wired and not hard-wired?

* it’s flexible and it can adapt to injuries or skills learned
* cells can grow or make new connections

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What are 4 factors that can increase or decrease plastic changes?

1. age
2. type of skill
3. type of injury
4. location of injury

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What is the Kennard principle?

the concept that injury in infancy generally has the best outcomes

(linear relationship between age and recovery)

What research supports the Kennard principle? (2)

* children have more plasticity for new motor tasks
* prenatal damage during neurogenesis results in good outcomes → body just makes more neurons

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What research does not support the Kennard principle? (2)

* prenatal damage during neural migration results in poor outcomes
* prefrontal injuries in young children (infants/pre-schoolers) have poor outcomes in teenagerhood and adulthood
* may be because younger children haven’t developed executive function yet so the skills can’t transfer over; older children have developed the skills; adults just have reduced plasticity

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What is the overall outcome pattern across the lifespan with regards to plasticity?

upside-down U shape with poorer outcomes for infants and adults and better outcomes for teens and younger adults

How does plasticity change with the type of skill?

* language: very plastic in childhood injury
* motor and visual functions are less plastic

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What type of injury/condition is associated with less plasticity? Why? Ex?

* slow progressing diseases induce less plasticity
* too slow for the brain to realize something is happening
* ex: Sturge-Weber: neurological condition with deep red birthmark and vascular problems with the hemisphere on the same side → eventually progresses too other side of brain

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What type of injury/condition is associated with better plasticity?

acute injuries have better plasticity because the brain recognizes that something happened

Damage to what part of the brain is likely to induce more plasticity?

* the language regions of the brain
* the brain prioritizes salvaging language skills and will move these tasks to other undamaged portions of the brain

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How does plasticity work from an anatomical perspective? (4)

* regrowth of axons in peripheral nervous system
* sprouting of axons and dendrites
* reorganization of cortical areas
* generations of new neurons (particularly in hippocampus)

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What is the overcrowding principle?

occurs when an injury occurs in the brain that requires some function in the brain to relocate to another hemisphere, lobe or cortical area, preventing the function that normally occupies that area from developing there (e.g. language moving to R hemi and taking over visuospatial task area)

What is a behavioral adjustment that demonstrates plasticity? Ex?

* learning compensation techniques to use intact abilities to make up for lost abilities
* ex: compensating for a visual field loss by learning to direct gaze

What is the DSM-5 definition/diagnostic criteria for ADHD? When must symptoms be present?

* persistent pattern of inattention and/or hyperactivity or impulsivity
* symptoms must be present prior to 12 years of age (although diagnosis may happen later in life)

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What are the 3 types of ADHD?

1. inattentive type: only inattentive symptoms (most common to girls)
2. hyperactive type: only hyperactive symptoms (least common)
3. combined type: most common type

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What is the prevalence of ADHD? (age, gender)

5% of school age children (consistent across circumstances)

2:1 male:female ratio (could be partially due to presentation of signs or criteria biased towards combined type)

How common is it to experience symptoms of ADHD into adulthood?

50-65% will continue into adulthood

symptoms may look different (adults are not always in structured environments like school where symptoms may be more apparent)

What have researchers in the field of ADHD been hoping to learn more about? (2 main; 3 sub)

* the core area of difficulty (behavioral inhibition, regulating allocation of energy/effort, difficulty with delay aversion/delayed gratification)
* finding common cognitive patterns (lowers scores on attention/EF, memory, motor skills) NOT CORRELATED WITH LOW IQ

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What parts of the brain are affected by ADHD? (6)

attention networks

* brain stem
* thalamus
* basal ganglia
* anterior cingulate
* prefrontal cortex
* frontal lobe

How does the maturation rate of the brain link to ADHD? What might this explain?

* brain matures more slowly in people with ADHD (myelination is slower)
* delay in posterior to anterior cortical maturation
* may explain why some adults don’t show symptoms in later life

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How do disturbances in fronto-striatal (basal ganglia) and fronto-parietal circuits link to ADHD? (3)

* hypoactivation in fronto-parietal networks that underlie EF
* hyperactivation of default networks (activation when someone is daydreaming)
* greater activation in posterior areas (especially during EF tasks to compensate for frontal lobe slacking) (may be compensatory)

What two NTs are associated with ADHD when they are depleted?

* dopamine
* NE

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What have PET studies shown with NT levels?

* assess dopamine functioning by injecting radioactive scanner
* shows lower dopamine levels in the frontal lobe

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How do medications help with ADHD?

* increase dopamine and NE levels by blocking reuptake
* allows increased availability in the frontal lobe

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What are risk factors for ADHD (besides normal genetic inheritance)? (4)

* genetic conditions
* fetal alcohol exposure
* premature birth (w/ low birth weight)
* early abuse/severe neglect

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What is the prevalence of TBI? How many are fatal? What is most common?

* 1.5 million cases/year in the US
* 50,000 cases of fatal
* mild TBI (concussions) are most common

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What is the most common cause? What ages are most affected? What are other causes?

* falls
* mostly for ages 0-4 and 70+
* other causes are assault, car accidents, sports, etc.

Which age groups have the high risk for TBI? Gender?

0-4, 15-19, and 70+

males more common than females

What do severity classifications take into account? (4)

1. loss of consciousness (damage can still occur without LoC)
2. depth of coma (uses Glascow coma scale)
3. amnesia (more severe cases have longer amnesia)
4. abnormal imaging (tissue damage)

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What does the GCS assess for? (3)

* eye opening
* motor response
* verbal response

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scored on a range of 3-15

What are the 3 levels of TBI?

mild: concussions (no-short LoC)

moderate

severe: long LoC and amnesia

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What is the primary injury in a TBI?

damage to the brain from penetration or impact forces at the time of trauma

What are the characteristics of the primary TBI injury? (3)

* focal (specific area)
* limited in duration
* sets in motion other physiological processes

What are 3 examples of primary TBI?

1. bleeding due to vascular damage (hematoma or ischemia)
2. axonal shearing (stretching or breaking of axons due to brain movement)
3. coup and contra-coup injury: impact and rebound impact

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What is a secondary injury from TBI?

damage to brain that results from a cascade of processes that occur after primary injury

What are 4 examples of secondary TBI?

* swelling
* infection
* metabolic changes
* NT changes

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What is the typical timeline of recovery from a mild TBI?

* usually pretty fast
* takes about 1 month for recovery from symptoms from a concussion

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What is the typical timeline of recovery from a severe or moderate TBI?

* most recovery takes place in first 3 months
* continued recovery until plateau
* plateau occurs at about 1.5 years following injury (variable)
* some improvements can happen later by learning compensation techniques
* usually no return to baseline

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What are factors that support better recovery? (6)

1. younger age
2. high family/social support
3. high intelligence
4. females (tend to have more bilateral organization)
5. lower severity/smaller size of injury
6. treatments that involve complex, stimulating environments (starting after a couple of weeks of rest)

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What is a seizure?

episode of abnormally synchronized and high frequency firing of the neurons (brain is no longer able to respond to stimuli)

What is a normal quality of brain activity?

normally asynchronous because different parts of the brain are responding to different stimuli

What is the lifetime prevalence of having at least one seizure?

10-15% of the population (not uncommon)

What is epilepsy?

recurrent unprovoked seizures

What is the prevalence of epilepsy?

1% of general population

What are the type of partial seizures? What is the difference between the two?

simple: no LoC

complex: LoC occurs

What are the types of generalized seizures? What is the difference between them?

absence: short duration, minimal outward signs

tonic clonic: long duration, evident motor symptoms

others

What’s the difference between partial and generalized seizures?

partial: abnormal electrical activity just in one part of the brain (hippocampus is most common)

generalized: abnormal electrical activity throughout brain

What do the specific signs/symptoms of a partial seizure depend on?

* depends on where the seizures are localized
* can lead to autonomic symptoms, motor symptoms, visual or auditory hallucinations, etc.

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What are the characteristics of the simple partial seizures? (4)

* no loss of consciousness
* language and memory during seizure are generally spared
* few post-ictal effects
* signs depend on location of the seizure in the brain

What are the characteristics of the complex partial seizures? (4)

* automatisms (repetitive behavior/stereotyped movements)
* post-ictal confusion
* commonly occurs in the hippocampus
* loss of consciousness (not necessarily passing out)

What are the characteristics of the tonic-clonic generalized seizures? (3)

* tonic: stiffening (incontinence, epileptic cry, tense muscles)
* clonic: jerking
* post-ictal confusional fatigue (body goes limp, confusion)

What are the characteristics of the absence generalized seizures? (2)

* fixed gaze, staring lasting for a few seconds
* no post-ictal symptoms

What are auras?

brief simple partial seizure that occurs prior to larger seizure

get the person to a safe space → another larger seizure is coming very soon

What are the signs of the temporal lobe auras? And what brain areas are associated with each? (4)

1. visceral sensation (hypothalamus)
2. deja vu (hippocampus)
3. unpleasant odor (olfactory bulb)
4. extreme fear/anxiety (amygdala)

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What should you do if someone has a seizure? (3)

position them on their side

move away furniture or objects that may cause injury

time seizure duration and film/observe signs

What can be the causes of seizures in infancy? (3)

1. fevers (fibrial seizures; usually grow out of these)
2. congenital (incident in-utero leading to electrical problems)
3. perinatal injury (during delivery; brief lapses in O2)

What can cause seizures in older adults? (3)

1. stroke
2. brain tumors
3. neurodegenerative conditions

What can cause seizures at any age? (4)

1. head injury (even mild concussions)
2. hypoglycemia
3. electrolyte imbalances (can happen during intense exercise)
4. toxic substances (CO, lead)

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What are two different seizure treatments?

1. anti-convulsants
2. surgery

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What are some characteristics of anti-convulsant medications? (specificity, success rates, side effects?)

* can be specific to types of seizures
* successful in 70% of cases
* some side effects like pregnancy complications, brain fog, emotional changes

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Who is a candidate for surgical treatment of seizures? What 4 things are assessed pre-surgery?

* for those who don’t have success with medications

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1. seizure origin
2. potential losses from surgery
3. potential losses without surgery
4. psychological resilience

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What are 4 components of emotions?

1. physiological changes
2. motor behavior
3. conscious cognitions/feelings
4. unconscious cognitions/feelings

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What mediates the physiological changes with emotions? What’s an important caveat about this?

* mediated through autonomic nervous system
* emotions can still be distinct while having similar physiological changes (fear vs surprise)

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What are some examples of motor behavior in emotions? What are they important for?

* face, tone, posture
* important for communicating emotions to self and others

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How are conscious and unconscious cognitions and feelings related?

they can be mismatched

What are 7 brain areas that are associated with emotion processing?

1. prefrontal cortex (OPFC, VMPFC)
2. amygdala
3. sensory association cortex (temporal and parietal)
4. cingulate cortex
5. thalamus
6. hippocampus and mammillary bodies
7. hypothalamus

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What does the prefrontal cortex do with emotion processing? (4)

* planning actions based on desired emotion result
* emotion regulation
* conscious emotion labeling
* facial expressions

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What does the amygdala do with emotion processing?

fear and danger processing

What does the sensory association cortex do with emotion processing?

associating emotions with smells, sights, sounds

What does the cingulate cortex do with emotion processing?

inhibition of actions and emotions based on associated experiences and desired outcomes

What does the thalamus do with emotion processing?

* sensory relay
* physiological associations for emotions

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What does the hypothalamus do with emotion processing?

* physiological associations for emotions
* hormonal emotional control

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What does the hippocampus and mammillary bodies do with emotion processing?

emotions and memory recall

How are rational decision making and emotional decision making related?

* can’t separate them; the brain areas are interconnected and rely on information from both

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How does emotion inform rational decision making/reason? What happens if damage to the pre-frontal cortex disconnects these?

emotions help to make final decisions based on summarizing the large amounts of data/details involved in weighing options

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without this connection, logical information can still be processed, but no decisions can be made because the person is overwhelmed with choices and can’t weigh what they prioritize the most

What happens when there is damage to the emotional circuits? (frontal lobe and amygdala especially)

* difficulty making good decisions and judgments
* either decision paralysis or poor decisions
* most severe in high complexity/risk/conflict situations

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How can dialectical behavioral therapy help with disconnect between emotional and rational decision making?

* uses structured skill learning
* encourages “wise mind”
* synthesizes/compromises logical mind and emotional mind
* use deep aspirations to determine best course

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How do brain networks assist in social processing? (3)

1. observe other behaviors (social cues)
2. recognize internal states of others (empathy, theory of mind, mentalizing)
3. attribute intentions to others (understanding intentions)

What parts of the brain are involved in social processing?

widely distributed cortical areas (various)

especially prefrontal and temporal

What is the amygdala responsible for in social processing?

key in detecting emotions of other people

What is attachment? What is its impact over the lifespan?

the first social bond with the primary caregiver

forms the outline of relationships across the lifespan

\*not deterministic; can be changed as people learn and grow

What are the 4 types of attachment styles?

1. secure
2. insecure-avoidant
3. insecure-anxious/ambivalent
4. insecure-disorganized

What are the causes of a secure attachment? (4)

* authoritative parent
* consistent support
* encourages exploration
* provides warmth

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What is the strange situation reaction for a secure attachment? (3)

* cries when caregiver leaves but can calm down
* stops crying when caregiver returns
* trusts and finds comfort in caregiver

What are the causes of avoidant attachment? (3)

* authoritarian caregiver
* low warmth
* not valuing kid’s emotions or needs

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What is the strange situation response for an avoidant attachment? (2)

* lack of response to caregiver in leaving or return
* don’t find comfort in the caregiver

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What are the causes of ambivalent/anxious attachment? (3)

* inconsistent parenting
* sometimes meets needs and sometimes doesn’t
* poor development of trust

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What is the strange situation for an ambivalent/anxious attachment? (2)

* child cries a lot when caregiver leaves (wants love and attention)
* won’t stop crying when the caregiver returns (can’t trust that the caregiver will remain and care for them)

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What causes disorganized attachment?

* abuse
* neglect

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What is the strange situation response for disorganized attachments?

* emotional and/or behavioral disregulation (running around, self-soothing behaviors like repetitive calming behaviors, disassociation)

What two relationship components are majorly affected by attachment?

* empathy (best developed in secure attachment)
* sense of self (best when they feel they are worthy of having their needs met)

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Why are strong, healthy connections so important?

necessary for our biological functioning