Pharmacological and biological approaches to clinical and health psychology - Notes lectures 1-4

Lecture 1: Neuroscience

Which topics are covered in the lecture?

Neurotransmission, action potentials, EPSPs and IPSPs, ionotropic and metabotropic receptors, NMDA-receptor, mechanisms to stop the process of neurotransmission, graded potentials, psychopharmacology, pharmacokinetics, depression, antidepressants.

Which topics are discussed that are not discussed in the literature?

The only thing is that in the literature there had been explained that therapists have to use trial and error to find out which antidepressant works for their clients. They just try some drugs and see if they work.

Which recent developments in the field are discussed?

First there was the monoamine hypothesis, but nowadays there is a revised monoamine hypothesis.

Besides that, first people thought that adolescents became suicidal as an consequence of antidepressants. It turns out that this isn’t true.

Which comments are made by the lecturer with regard to the exam?

There were no comments made in the lecture about the exam.

Which questions are dealt with that can be asked during the examination?

There were no questions asked that can also be asked on the exam.

Lecture 2: Neuroendocrinology

Which topics are covered in the lecture?

What neuroendocrinology is, the influence of the pituitary and hypothalamus on this phenomenon, the relation between ACTH and cortisol, CRH, feedback system, where cortisol reacts, somatostatin, oxitose, stress, functions of cortisol, receptors of cortisol, cushing’s disease, steroids, the influence of cortisol on the brain.

Which topics are discussed that are not discussed in the literature?

In the lecture there was said that you can measure cortisol by cutting off an hair from your head. If you divide this hair in pieces of one centimetre, you can see how much cortisol there was in your body every month. You then know in which months you were very stressed or the opposite.

People have a very good memory for stress in combination with the place where they felt this stress. For example when your wallet is stolen in a creepy neighbourhood. Each time you walk through that neighbourhood, you will think about the moment you wallet was stolen. This is because cortisol works on receptors in the hippocampus. The hippocampus saves new memories and cortisol leads to consolidation of memory.

Which recent developments in the field are discussed?

There were no recent developments in the field discussed.

Which comments are made by the lecturer with regard to the exam?

There were no comments made in the lecture about the exam.

Which questions are dealt with that can be asked during the examination?

There were no questions asked that can also be asked on the exam.

Lecture 3: Immunology

Which topics are covered in the lecture?

How the immune system works, different kinds of cells and their function (NK-cells, sentinel cells, lymphocytes, cytokines), bacteria, pathogens, paracrine action, T cells, clonal selection, B-lymphocytes, adaptive and innate immunity, Luis Pasteur, Selye, Pavlov, Walter Canon, MHC-molecules, experiments with rats, depression and the immune system, wound healing, stress and the immune system, acute and prolonged stress, sickness behaviour,

Which topics are discussed that are not discussed in the literature?

There are no topics that are discussed in the lecture and not in the literature.

Which recent developments in the field are discussed?

There are no recent developments in the field discussed.

Which comments are made by the lecturer with regard to the exam?

The lecturer said that the difference between adaptive and innate immunity is very important to remember. Adaptive immunity is one arm of the immune response that has a narrow specificity. This means that it does not recognize the total picture, but only specific molecules. This is hard to find and that’s why this gives a slow response, namely more than three days. This arm is the one that can “learn”. When you have been infected, the second time this bacteria encounters your body, the adaptive immunity recognizes it. Innate immunity is the other arm of the immune response and has a broad specificity. It does not recognize the specific molecules, but it recognizes patterns. This one has a fast response and cannot learn.

Which questions are dealt with that can be asked during the examination?

The lecturer said the next question is an excellent one for the exam: what does antibodies do? The answer is that they first bind to bacteria and put a layer on it so that this bacteria cannot go into other cells anymore (neutralization). Then the antibody helps engulfing the bacteria (opsonisation) and after that the antibody actives complement.

Lecture 4: Genetics

Which topics are covered in the lecture?

Nature/nurture, genetic material, codes in DNA, mRNA transcript, mutations, polymorphism, SNP, heterozygous/homozygous, epigenetics, diathesis stressmodel, allergies, immunesystem, heritability, genes,

Which topics are discussed that are not discussed in the literature?

There were no topics discussed that are not discussed in the literature.

Which recent developments in the field are discussed?

There is a new technique developed with which you can change DNA. We already could change the epigenome in DNA, but now we can change the genome itself. It works as follows: a kind of robot (CRISpr-CAS9) cuts the DNA and with this, we can make a lot of changes in our DNA. For example, to delete a disease.

We test this CRISpr-CAS9 in human embryo clones and destroy DNA that would result in a heartdisease. These embryos are being destroyed afterwards, because we don’t know what happens if they grow up.

Which comments are made by the lecturer with regard to the exam?

There were no comments made by the lecturer with regard to the exam.

Which questions are dealt with that can be asked during the examination?

Order the following conditions to the largest contribution of genetics: major depressive disorder (MDD), down’s syndrome, schizophrenia, allergy.

A.           Schizophrenia, down, allergy, MDD

B.            Schizophrenia, down, MDD, allergy

C.            Down, schizophrenia, allergy, MDD

D.           Down, allergy, schizophrenia, MDD

The right answer is: C