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99 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Tumor |
a mass of cells whose growth is uncontrolled and that serves no useful function |
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Benign Tumor |
Noncancerous tumor; has distinct border and cannot metastasize [not good, but not the "nightmare" type] |
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Malignant Tumor [details] |
-Cells that have mutated and become very abnormal -Growing out of control -Invading/taking over healthy tissue -Quite possibly will spread --cells can break off cancer and spread throughout body with circulatory system --tumors can take over new territory and take over new tissue
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What does a malignant tumor become when it spreads? |
metastasis |
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What is the cause of cancer? |
-sometimes by persistent tissue damage -by damaging the same areas, you're increasing the chances of mutating those cells, or something going wrong and cancerous growths starting ex.) constant bladder infections-> bladder cancer ex.) smoking-> lung cancer |
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When cancer is in the brain, what is it made up of? |
glial cells, or non-neuronal cells [made up of glioma:a cancerous brain tumor composed of one of several types of glial cells] |
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Meningioma |
benign brain tumor made of cells that constitute (come out of) the meninges --if caught early, you can take it out --no specific signs: you get headaches, behavioral changes (depression, anxiety, etc) --one specific sign is seizure; it is likely to cause seizures because of where it is and how big it is |
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Pontine Glioma |
Tumor in dorsal pons (in brain stem) --not much can be done; you're gonna die |
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Ependymoma |
tumor of ventricle lining cell |
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Malignant Tumor [definition] |
cancerous tumor; lacks a distinct border and may metastasize |
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Seizure disorder |
a.k.a. epilepsy |
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Convulsion |
a violent sequence of uncontrollable muscular movements caused by a seizure |
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Partial Seizure |
a seizure that begins at a focus and remains localized, not generalizing to the rest of the brain [something wrong with only that part of the brain; yet this typically indicates a more dangerous cause] |
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Generalized Seizure |
a seizure that involves most of the brain [entire brain becomes involved] |
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Simple Partial Seizure |
a partial seizure, starting from a focus and remaining localized, that does not produce a loss of consciousness [does not lose consciousness] |
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Complex Partial Seizure |
a partial seizure, starting at a focus and remaining localized, that produces a loss of consciousness [does lose consciousness] |
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Grand Mal Seizure |
a generalized, tonic-clonic seizure, which results in a convulsion --two phases: tonic and clonic --involves whole brain --can kill you because of its intensity |
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Tonic Clonic Phases |
Tonic: [first] Person passes out and muscles tighten/become stiff Clonic: [second] Person jerks around/pulsate
Happens because seizure spread to motor cortex-> wave of excitation of motor cortex which activates muscles |
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Absence Seizure |
characterized by periods of inattention, which are not remembered --often seen in children --people can interact but they're sort of "gone" [like being tired or woozy or high] |
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Status Epilepticus |
a condition in which a patient undergoes a series of seizures without regaining consciousness --many Grand Mal seizures that don't stop [usually end of life situation] |
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Cerebrovascular Accidents |
[stroke] common theme: blood vessel problem 2 families: hemorrhagic and ischemic |
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Hemorrhagic stroke |
too much free flowing blood caused by rupture or tear of a cerebral blood vessel --free flowing blood in excitotoxic to the brain, it kills brain tissue --treatment is to give drug to cause blood clot to stop blood |
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Ischemic stroke |
too much blockage that prevents blood from going to the brain |
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high-blood pressure |
most dangerous thing for strokes --when you ramp up blood pressure, your delicate vessels that are carrying blood to the body are under extreme strain because blood is pushing out on the walls of the vessels |
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Obstructive stroke |
cerebrovascular accident caused by occlusion of a blood vessel |
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Thrombus |
blood clot that forms within a blood vessel, which may occlude it |
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Embolus |
a piece of matter (ex. blood clot) that dislodges from its site of origin and occludes (close) an artery --an embolus in the brain can lead to a stroke |
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atherosclerosis |
build up of plaque in artery walls --plaque treatment includes inserting a stent |
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Fetal Alcohol Syndrome |
disrupts brain development by interfering with the Neural Adhesion Protein (a protein that plays a role in brain development--guides the growth of neurons) --only 100% preventable cause of severe developmental disorders and mental retardation --due solely to alcohol use by mom when pregnant |
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Down Syndrome |
disorder caused by the presence of an extra 21st chromosome, characterized by mild-moderate mental retardation and often by physical abnormalities --they're usually happy and positive --typically degenerative course with early onset alzheimer's (30-40 years old) --live to about 60 years old --systematic screening for down syndrome in fetus |
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Parkinson's Disease |
a disease caused by degeneration of the nigrostriatal system (the dopamine-secreting neurons of the substantia nigra)[disease of substantia nigra] --cells in this spot are dying --localized in substantia nigra --sensitive to overall toxic load (mostly environmentally caused, but has some genetic component) [send dopamine to basal ganglia, which tells thalamus to let movement happen] |
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Lewy Body |
abnormal circular structures with dense core consisting of alpha-synuclein protein --found in nigrostriatal neurons of Parkinson's patients |
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Parkinson's Disease (symptoms) |
--resting tremor (when you're not trying to move, there is shaking) --stooped posture (distonia/muscle cramping) --as it progresses, they begin to lose control of their body |
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Parkinson's Disease (treatment) |
--all treatments are medications --one way or another, treatment includes giving more dopamine (usually with dopamine agonist) [usually start with eldopa--give them eldopa, end up with more building blocks for those remaining dopamine neurons to produce more dopamine] [eventually you have to go to direct post synaptic stimulator such things; more intense |
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Parkinson's Disease (details) |
-the disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disease (gonna get worse everyday) -necessary to keep increasing dose of medication (dopamine agonists) |
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Parkinson's Disease (side effects) |
when you increase dopamine agonists, you get tons of side effects: because you cannot isolate one dopamine system at a time -when you try to increase movement, you also increase pleasure/reward and flood frontal lobes with dopamine -begin to get strange personality behaviors (associated with pleasure ex. gambling, alcohol) -can get psychotic episodes later |
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Parkin |
a protein involved in the breakdown of faulty or defective proteins --the part of the causing of parkinson's is that you get a mutation in a gene that helps you devour faulty proteins [Parkinson's patients have a mutation in the Parkin gene which means it does not breakdown faulty proteins] |
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gene therapy |
(treatment in Parkinson's) using dead viruses (virus' special abilities can get into the nuclei of cells and change how cells work) --you can permanently change the function of cells by putting genetic material in virus, then put virus in brain, then wait for virus to go into the nucleus and put the new genetic coding into the chromosome |
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brain surgery |
(treatment in Parkinson's) -tweaking the circuit, to release the basal ganglia and thalamus from the hold of parkinson's and to allow movement to occur --one option is to go in and damage the globus palidus internally, thereby disrupting the red arrow, making it weaker, thereby again releasing thalamus from inhibition and increasing movement |
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Deep Brain stimulation |
(treatment in Parkinson's) -insert electrodes into substantia nigra and electrically excite neurons --benefit: you're not agonizing all of the dopamine systems |
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Huntington's Disease |
an inherited disorder that causes degeneration of the basal ganglia --characterized by progressively more sever uncontrollable jerking movements, writhing movements, dementia, and finally death --vastly overactive basal ganglia thalamus circuitry --due to single dominant gene mutation (hereditary) --robs you of cognitive abilities |
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Huntington |
a protein that may serve to facilitate the production and transport of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (abnormal Huntington causes Huntington's Disease) |
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Alzheimer's Disease (definition) |
degenerative brain disorder of unknown origin -causes progressive memory loss, motor deficits, and death --most common type of dementia --begins in hippocampus, then spreads out, affecting amygdala and so on [people are disorganized, have emotional deregulation(irritable and frustrated), word finding difficulties, and confabulation] |
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Alzheimer's Disease (symptoms) |
-first symptom is memory loss (where are my keys, what time of day is it, when was the last time i ate) (memory loss is first because disease starts in hippocampus) |
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MCI (Mild Cognitive Impairment) |
Normal Aging - MCI - Dementia -MCI is a midway point between normal aging and dementia -usually, people diagnosed with MCI go on to dementia [hippocampus->spread from there, affecting amygdala and so on] |
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Alzheimer's Disease (Diagnosis) |
cannot fully diagnose until person dies because you need to find certain abnormalities in the brain: Beta Amyloid Plaque & Neurofibrillary Tangle (debris that builds up and kills neurons)
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Beta Amyloid Plaque |
debris that builds and kills neurons (as neurons die, you get more debris and so on) -toxic/damages tissue -builds up and disrupts normal cellular function and damages tissue -in alzheimer's: beta amyloid plaque builds in brain; when neurons die, you get tau protein left over and these are the neurofibrillary tangles |
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Neurofibrillary Tangles |
debris that builds up and kills neurons (most commonly found in Alzheimer's) -these tangles are the tau protein left over in the brain when neurons die from Beta Amyloid plaque (in Alzheimer's) |
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Alzheimer's Disease (treatment) |
2 drugs: one pushes off disease/one boosts acetylcholine -hopeful future drugs: drugs that can prevent/dissolve beta amyloid plaque/neurofibrillary tangles |
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Multiple Sclerosis |
autoimmune demyelinating disease -disease randomly attacks myelin in the CNS leaving behind sclerotic plaques (each attack is worse than the last one) --left with unmyelinated axons, the signals going through those axons dont usually go where they need to go --numbness is normal, but then progresses to neurologic loss |
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Korsakoff's Syndrome |
disease caused by a thiamine (vitamin B1) deficiency, often caused by chronic alcoholism (sever alcoholics disease) -when person drinks so much that calories come only from alcohol -causes damage to the mammillary bodies near the hypothalamus (part of the limbic system) -produces anterograde amnesia (sometimes Wernicke's aphasia) -without thiamine, you get pattern of brain damage that is permanent and make a person similar to patient HM |
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Sleep Hygiene |
-keep consistent bedtime routine to alert brain that it's time for sleep -hardest but most effective: consistency on time you sleep
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Stages of Sleep |
-Awake (Alpha and Beta activity) -Stage 1 (Theta activity) -Stage 2 (Sleep Spindle and K Complex) -Stage 3 (Delta Activity) -Stage 4 (Delta Activity) -REM (Theta and Beta Activity) |
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EEG (electroencephalography) |
We put electrodes on people scalps, and we pick up electrical signals from the person's brain -we see that the signals change a lot throughout the night |
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High levels of brain activity=___? Low levels of brain activity=____? |
-low amplitude waves, of high frequency -large amplitude waves, of low frequency |
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Hertz (Hz) |
measure of frequency (in sleep) -cycles per second |
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Awake |
Alpha Activity --smooth (relaxed) Beta Activity--irregular (arousal) |
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Stage 2 |
-continuance of theta waves -Sleep spindles (brief bursts of high brain activity) -K complex (sudden sharp waveforms) (happens most when in noisy environment) |
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Stage 3 |
[similar to stage 4] -delta activity starts (less than half the time its delta, other times its theta) -slow wave sleep (SWS--deep sleep) --restorative, reparative, regenerative sleep |
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Stage 4 |
[similar to stage 3] -more than 50% is delta, other times its theta -slow wave sleep (SWS) (deep sleep) --restorative, reparative, regenerative sleep |
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REM |
[rapid eye movement] a.k.a. paradoxical sleep -theta and beta activity -dreaming happens here -activity here is most similar to being awake (alpha)
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Insomnia |
consistent inability of falling/staying asleep -inability to fall asleep (classic) -waking up many times throughout the night -waking up early and not being able to fall back asleep --causes: stress, bladder issue, etc. --treatment: drugs that increase GABA activity and/or block histamine (ex. benadril) |
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Sleep Apnea |
people stop breathing at night (associated with insomnia) -usually in larger people , blocks breathing pathway -usually due to medulla being dull, not from obesity (medulla measures gas level in brain) -damages mammillary bodies in brain from oxygen deprivation --treatment: C-PAP machine |
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Narcolepsy |
-irresistible periods of sleep -includes cataplexy -Occurs in REM --treatment: load them with stimulants (side effect is anxiety) ex.) taking GHP at night, you have deep sleep and sleep less during the day |
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Cataplexy |
complete paralysis during waking (in narcolepsy) |
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Sleep Paralysis |
paralysis just prior to sleep |
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Hypnagogic Hallucinations |
vivd dreams just prior to sleep |
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REM sleep behavior disorder |
individual fails to become paralyzed during REM and thus acts out dreams (can't fall asleep during REM) |
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Problems associated with SWS (slow wave sleep) |
-nocturnal enuresis (bedwetting) -somnambulism (sleepwalking) -Pavor Nocturnus (night terrors) (periods of freak outs or drastic moods during sleep) -Sleep related eating disorders (eating during sleepwalking, often without recollection) |
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Functions of SWS (slow wave sleep) |
-essential for survival; preferential for episodic learning -reduction of free radicals -fatal familial insomnia (fatal inherited disorder characterized by progressive insomnia; person cannot drop to REM sleep so they die from no sleep) (damage in hypothalamus) |
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Functions of REM sleep |
-promotes brain development -facilitates implicit learning -REM Rebound phenomenon |
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REM sleep facilitates...? SWS facilitates...? |
-REM sleep facilitates the consolidation of nondeclarative (implicit) memory -SWS facilitates the consolidation of declarative (episodic) memory |
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Chemical Control of sleep [adenosine] |
-adeonosine builds up as a consequence of neural excitation -has an inhibitory effect (makes you tired, slower) --this is because it tries to protect your neurons from working themselves to death (limits neural excitability) |
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Adenosine |
neuromodulator released by neurons engaged in high levels of metabolic activity. May play major role in initiation of sleep |
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Neural control of Arousal (Acetylcholine) |
Acetylcholine: neurotransmitter that plays an important role in arousal of the cerebral cortex -sleep/wake management -active during REM sleep and wakefulness |
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Neural Control of Arousal (Norepinephrine) |
norepinephrine: a neurotransmitter that plays an important role in vigilance (neurotransmitter side of adrenaline) -promotes: alertness, intensity, focus |
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Neural Control of Arousal (Serotonin) |
serotonin: neurotransmitter that plays a role in activating behavior (same patter of activity as norepinephrine] |
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Histamine |
neurotransmitter implicated in the control of wakefulness and arousal -powerful wakeful alertness effect -being "dead tired" is the absence of histamine |
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Orexin |
[a.k.a. hypocretine] Orexin: has an excitatory effect on a number of brain regions -produced in the lateral hypothalamus -associated with narcolepsy [when orexin is being produced, the activation center is turned on, which means you will be awake] |
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Ventrolateral Preoptic Area (vlPOA |
GABAergic neurons that suppress alertness and behavioral arousal and promote sleep -part of hypothalamus -when this turns on, you go to sleep |
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Orexin in Narcolpetic brain |
-orexin producing neurons in hypothalamus die -Orexin is not naturally being produced in narcoleptic brain, so orexin levels are low -orexin shuts off every now and then, so you drop to REM |
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Circadian Rhythms |
daily rhythmical change in behavior or physiological process -24 hour cycles (sleep, hunger, ovulation/menstrual/menopause)
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Zeitgebers |
stimulus that resets the biological clock responsible for circadian rhythms |
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Suprachiasmatic Nucleus |
a hypothalamic nucleus containing the biological clock for many of the body's circadian rhythms -Melanopsin: photopigment in retinal ganglion cells that project to the SCN |
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Control of Seasonal Rhythms |
For animals instead of humans -Pineal Gland: gland attached to the dorsal tectum; produces melatonin and plays a role in circadian and seasonal rhythms -Melatonin: hormone secreted during the night by the pineal gland, plays a role in circadian and seasonal rhythms |
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Changes in Circadian Rhythms [Shift Work and Jet Lag] |
-abrupt changes in daily rhythms desynchronizes internal circadian rhythms controlled by the SCN (suprachiasmatic nucleus) -this desynchronization produces sleep disturbances and mood changes and disrupts functioning during normal waking hours |
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Circadian Rhythms in the SCN |
-the protein enters nucleus suppressing the gene responsible for its production (no more messenger RNA is made) -The level of the protein fails, so the gene becomes active again -the gene is active; messenger RNA leaves the nucleus and causes the production of the protein [cycle continues over and over] |
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Schizophrenia |
disease where the mind has difficulty distinguishing between reality and what is not real -disorganization of thought [highly heritable; 90%] |
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Positive Schizo Symptoms |
-normal people do, plus more --delusions (thoughts and beliefs that are simply not true) --delusions of persecution --delusions of grandiosity --delusions about thought control |
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Negative Schizo Symptoms |
-typical people do, that schizo's don't do --loss of affect/motivation (flat affect) ---loss of speech ---loss of motivation (stop moving) |
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Concordance Rate |
the percentage of the time that 2 members of a pair will share the trait -traits that are highly genetic have a high concordance in identical twins, and a big drop in non-identical twins --if a trait were 100% genetic, the concordance rate in identical twins is 100% |
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Genotype |
genetics |
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Phenotype |
expressed final product [we are the phenotype of our genes] |
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Endophenotype |
brain development -the link between the genotype and the phenotype |
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Dopamine Hypothesis |
Why does Schizophrenia happen? -began with the discovery of chlorpromazine (thorazine) -they then found out that these drugs blocked dopamine (dopamine antagonists) -disease of too much dopamine |
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Where in the brain is there a lack of dopamine receptors that has an effect on Schizophrenia? |
frontal lobe |
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Where is there too much dopamine that affects Schizophrenia? |
Basal Ganglia |
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What other receptor is highly involved in Schizophrenia? What blocks this receptor? |
NMDA receptor (glutamate receptor) -PCP blocks this receptor |
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Pruning Hypothesis |
Our brains are cutting off unnecessary connections in late adolescence/early adulthood. -they think something goes wrong during this and too many connections are removed and results in a disconnected brain (schizophrenic brain0 |
