PSYC 2500 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Teratology, Legal Intoxicant, Thalidomide

• School: Carleton University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 2500
• Professor: Anne Bowker

Document Summary

Medical drugs can be a teratogen: **thalidomide: anti nausea drug caused deformities, women who took this had children who were born severely deformed, if taken during heart development, it would effect that, children were born missing limbs. Maternal illness can be a teratogen: **rubella (german measles, depends on when you contract them, even the flu can affect baby, can impact baby"s mental illness later on in adult life. Rebella- if heart is going through differentiation, then heart will have defects. After 12 weeks, when differentiation of senses is complete, you won"t see same defects but child may be born with cataracts: interaction between genetics and environment. Some will be hardier and less effected by teratogens than others: different t can produce the same defect, a single t can produce multiple defects, greater the exposure, more serious the harm. May not be obvious at birth and develop later on: importance of post-natal care.