Title: Psychology / Biopsychology / 07_NeuroendocrinologyAndANS
Tags: Biopsychology::07_NeuroendocrinologyAndANS Biopsychology::Semester_1

Q: What is the difference between depolarisation and hyperpolarisation?
A: depolarisation: making the cell more positive
hyperpolarisation: making the cell more negative

Q: What is the difference between the somatomotoric nervous system and the autonomous nervous system in the way they connect to muscles?
A: somatomotoric: direct connection to muscle
autonomous: connected indirectly do synapses connecting to ganglia

Q: What are the 4 jobs of the sympathicus?
A: 4 Fs:
Fight
Flight
Fright
Sex

Q: What are the 4 jobs of the parasympathicus?
A: Digestion
Immune response
Energy Storage
Growth

Q: Under which circumstance do both sympathicus and parasympathicus activate?
A: Under no circumstance.

Q: Do sympathicus and parasympathicus directly control the organs like the heart?
A: No, they can only modulate them.

Q: Which two structures in the brain control the ANS?
A: The Hypothalamus
The nucleus of the solitary tract (part of medulla oblongata)

Q: Where is the enteric division of the ANS located?
A: In the guts (digestive tract)

Q: What is the job of the enteric division?
A: It houses neurons that are responsible for the movement of the guts and digestion.

Q: How is the brain involved in the enteric division?
A: No direct control, the brain is not needed. The brain does, however, modulate the activity of the enteric division.

Q: What is "Neurohormonal Communication"?
A: Neurons release hormones into the bloodstream and other neurons have receptors for those.

Q: Where is the hypothalamus in relation to the ventricles?
A: It is wrapped around the third ventricle.

Q: What are neurosecretory cells?
A: Neurons that can release hormones.

Q: What are the two lobes of the pituitary gland?
A: The anterior and the posterior lobe.

Q: Which lobe of the pituitary gland do magnocellar neurosecretory cells project into?
A: The posterior lobe.

Q: What two types of hormones do magnocellar neurosecretory cells release?
A: Oxytocin
Vasopressin

Q: What is the effect of Oxytocin?
A: motherly behavior
cuddle hormone
social trust

Q: What happened to males that were administered oxytocin in the study of Chen at al. (2014)?
A: They found other, strong males more likeable than the control group, suggesting that the oxytocin reduced the perceived potential threat.

Q: What does Vasopressin do?
A: It is important for regulating blood pressure and thirst.

Q: Which pituitary lobe do parvocellular neusosecretory cells affect?
A: The anterior lobe.

Q: What is the fundamental difference between magnocellar neurosecretory and parvocellar neurosecratory cells?
A: Magnocellar release hormones directly into the bloodstream
Parvocellar release hypophyseotropic hormones into the blood, which leads to the production of hormones in the anterior lobe, which are then released into the bloodstream

Q: What kind of cells are only found in the anterior lobe of the pituitary gland, but not in the posterior?
A: Endocrinic gland cells (releasing hormones)

Q: What 3 parts are involved in the stress response (neurophysiology)?
A: HPA Axis:
Hypothalamus
Pituitary Gland
Adrenal Gland

Q: What are the 4 steps of the stress response (neurophysiology)?
A: 1. Stress leads to a release of CRH in the hypothalamus
2. The pituitary gland releases ACTH
3. Adrenal gland (at kidney) releases cortisol (the stress hormone)
4. Cortisol leads to sympathetic activation

Q: What two brain structures regulate the HPA-axis response?
A: Amygdala and Hippocampus

Q: How is the Amygdala involved in the regulation of the HPA-Axis response?
A: Sensory information is processed in the basolateral nucleus and passed onto the central nucleus
→ The central nucleus activities the HPA-Axis and increases the stress response.

Q: How is the hippocampus involved in regulating the HPA-Axis response?
A: Receptors in the hippocampus measure cortisol levels and inhibit CRH release in the hypothalamus if it is too high.
→ This inhibits the HPA-Axis activation

Q: In patients with anxiety disorder, how is the amygdala affected?
A: The amygdala is over activated, resulting in an over activation in the HPA-Axis

Q: How does the brain change during behavioral therapy for specific phobias?
A: The over activation of the amygdala disappears and activity in the orbito-frontal cortex increases
(hinting that the patient attained cognitive control over the fear response).

Q: What is the basic idea of neuromodulation?
A: A small number of neurons affect a lot of other neurons.
This is done by neurons affecting the activation of other neurons through chemicals not in a specific way, but rather through a change in their activation baseline.

Q: What are the 2 main differences between neurotransmitters and hormones?
A: 1. Neurotransmitters are always released by neurons, while hormones can be released by both neurons and glands.
2. Hormones are released into the blood stream, neurotransmitters are always released into the synaptic cleft.

Q: What are the 2 branches of the dopamine neurotransmitter system?
A: Meso-cortical System (→ middle part of prefrontal cortex)
Striatale System

Q: Where does the dopamine neurotransmitter system originate?
A: ventral tegmental area

Q: What parts of the brain are drugs (nicotine, cocaine, heroin) mostly targetting, resulting in addiction?
A: Dopamine neurotransmitter system → increased release of dopamine

Q: What were early hypotheses about the location of the pleasure center of the brain?
A: That it was in the ventral tegmental area.

Q: Where does the noradrenergic neurotransmitter system originate?
A: In the locus coeruleus

Q: What is special about the number of neurons in the noradrenergic neurotransmitter system?
A: It only has around 24 000 neurons, but each neuron connects to up to 250k synapses

Q: What areas of the brain does the noradrenergic neurotransmitter system effect?
A: Basically all of them. Activity in the locus coeruleus raises the general activation level of the brain resulting in arousal and alertness

Q: What part of the autonomous nervous system narrows the blood vessels?
A: The sympathicus

Q: What is the name of the "cuddle hormone"?
A: Oxytocin

Q: Which hormone controls thirst and blood pressure?
A: Vasopressin