Bio Test #2

Front 1

There were 3 main types of treatments used in the first half of the 20th century to try and cure mental illness. Explain the different treatments used.

Back 1

The three treatments were electroconvulsinve therapy (ECT) in which electrical current was passed through the brain to cause seizures, insulin shock therapy in which patients received a massive does of insulin to induce a state of hypoglycemia, and prefrontal lobe lobotomy which removed parts of the frontal lobe.

Front 2

Explain how the discovery of psychiatric drugs helped revolutionize treatment for severely ill mental patients.

Back 2

Psychotic drugs were developed in the early 1950s. The drug, thorazine, was used to treat patients who suffered from severe psychotic diseases such as schitzophrenia. Before thorazine the positive long-term prognosis for psychotic patients was less than 20%. After thorazine this improved to over 70%.

Front 3

In 1963 a deinstitutionalized policy was inacted. Explain what the deinstitutionalization policy was and why it didn't work quite the way people thought it would.

Back 3

Deinstitutionalization was created to release mentally ill patiens from their institutions in hopes that they would receive humane care for less cost. These people, however, became homeless and many communities found it difficult to deal with the new mentally-disturbed citizens. Without the support of the community many people ended up living a life worse than that in the mental hospitals.

Front 4

ECT has become a last resort treatment for some people with severe depression. The exact physiological mechanism by which it works remains unclear. Explain what is thought to happen when ECT is administered.

Back 4

It is thought that the electrical current that passes through the brain somehow resets the neural circuitry by inducing a seizure. Patients wake up without any memory of their hospitalization and treatment and their depression gone. This is not a cure but merely causes the depression to go away for a while.

Front 5

Manic depression is characterized by 2 distinct phases. Describe each phase.

Back 5

Manic phase is characterized by exaggerated mood elation and many also experience great anticipation or excitement for the future. Manic phase has also been associated with extreme creativity where affective individuals are driven to achieve superhuman tasks with unbound energy. The depressive phase occurs shortly after the manic phase. Patients will become severely depressed and see their lives a nothing but a failure. They often times become suicidal during this phase.

Front 6

Explain what is happening to people who have Alzheimer's.

Back 6

Alzheimer's disease which begins in the hippocampus is caused by the accumulation of protein aggregates called amyloid plaques in the brain. The accumulation of amyloid occurs around nerve cells. These protein deposits block communication between nerve cells eventually leading to cell death.

Front 7

In 1950's, the drug _____ was developed to help allergies but was found to have a profound effect on people with psychotic deiseases.

Back 7

Thorazine

Front 8

_____ therapy, where an electrical current is passed through the brain and acts as a reset mechanism, is still used today to treat patients with severe depression who fail to respond to all other treatments.

Back 8

Electroconvulsive

Front 9

_____ is a type of mental illness where the patient suffers from severe mood swings of extreme highs and extreme lows.

Back 9

Manic Depression

Front 10

During a depressive episode the production of the neurotransmitter _____ is deficient.

Back 10

Serotonin

Front 11

Alzheimer's disease results from the accumulation of protein aggregates known as _____ _____.

Back 11

Amyloid plaques

Front 12

The first region of the brain affected by the accumulation of protein aggregates is the _____.

Back 12

Hippocampus

Front 13

The brains of Alzheimer's patients have characteristic _____ plaques and _____, which will prevent neural transmission and eventually cause cell death.

Back 13

amyloid, protein fibrils