Anatomy and Cell Biology 4451F/G Lecture Notes - Lecture 17: Thalamus, Sympathetic Nervous System, Twin

• School: Western University
• Department: Anatomy and Cell Biology
• Course: Anatomy and Cell Biology 4451F/G
• Professor: All

Document Summary

Clinical case: 35-year-old woman presented to psychiatry emergency a week following her fathers death and later diagnosed as having major depressive disorder (mdd). Note that she had several relapses at father"s death a(cid:374)(cid:374)iversaries. Stress may lead to serious mental disorders and may precipitate relapses. Stressors affect the limbic areas of the brain (prefrontal cortex, cingulate cortex, hippocampus, septal nuclei, thalamus). Li(cid:373)(cid:271)i(cid:272) areas a(cid:374)alyze stress, a(cid:374)d deter(cid:373)i(cid:374)e if it is (cid:862)salient enough(cid:863) (will deter(cid:373)i(cid:374)e if it is either trivial/(cid:374)o(cid:374)- salient or salient). Limbic brain areas, through the hpa axis and sympathetic nervous system, produce appropriate stress response. At the same time, brain learns the nature of the stressor and its effects for future response. Learning of the stressor and stress response is important because when we encounter similar stressors, we can better respond to them. Mediated by the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus.