PSYC20006 Lecture Notes - Lecture 21: Impulsivity, Hypersexuality, Dementia
10 May 2018
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Lecture 21
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- Synthesise dopamine: substantia nigra (motor control) and ventral tegmental area
(most implicated in motivation, emotional response, reward, desire and addiction)
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- Cheese for serotonin and dopamine
- Building block is tryrosine
- Dopamine is broken down to become noradrenaline
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
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- L-DOPA was used in treatment of light stage Parkinson’s, only works for a few years
- Dopamine and Parkinson’s: caused by death of dopamine cells in the substantia
nigra; disease initially characterised by motor tremor, later symptoms include
cognitive impairments and dementia, symptoms often includes reduced “executive
function” [things like working memory and high level thoughts]; there is currently no
cure of the disease but symptoms can be reduced through drugs and deep brain
stimulation; treatment of the disease can cause impulsivity, hypersexuality, gambling,
addictive like behaviours
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- If outcome is better than expected → increase dopamine
- Brain is tuned to detect variations from fully expected
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
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- If outcome is worse than expected → reduce dopamine
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Synthesise dopamine: substantia nigra (motor control) and ventral tegmental area (most implicated in motivation, emotional response, reward, desire and addiction) Dopamine is broken down to become noradrenaline. L-dopa was used in treatment of light stage parkinson"s, only works for a few years. If outcome is better than expected increase dopamine. Brain is tuned to detect variations from fully expected. If outcome is worse than expected reduce dopamine. Opportunity cost ; task persistence is justifiable only while progress outpaces accruing costs. Drugs like ritalin or other amphetamine-based drugs aimed to be used as medication. Normally very slow acting, help to stabilise dopamine networks. 1st problem: drugs initiate (cid:3247)wanting(cid:3248) and in addicted people, this leads to drug urges or cravings. 2nd problem: cognitive ((cid:3247)top down(cid:3248)) control is reduced by impaired function of the prefrontal cortex (pfc) caused by excessive dopamine; imagine studies show pfc abnormalities.
