PSYC 2012 Lecture Notes - Lecture 19: Excitotoxicity, Mptp, Apoptosis
Document Summary
Primary injury - necrosis of neuronal cells by viral lysis (bursting of viruses out of infected cell) or bacterial toxins that poison cell metabolism. Secondary injury - immune system tells infected neurons to die by apoptosis. Drugs and neurotoxins: destruction of neural tissue by ingested toxic substances. Industrial pollution - heavy metals such as mercury or lead, arsenic. Synthetic drugs - mptp, synthetic thc - k2, spice. Necrosis of neuronal cells by the toxin. Inflammation - immune system may accidentally kill some neurons while cleaning out necrotic cells. Glutamate excitotoxicity - some neurotoxins trigger excitotoxicity. Rehabilitation often involves activities which increase or strengthen these. Recovery from brain injury is a form of learning. Increased neurogenesis in key brain regions like the hippocampus. Neurodegenerative diseases: diseases that result in the progressive destruction of neurons. The(cid:455) do(cid:374)"t te(cid:374)d to (cid:373)a(cid:374)ifest u(cid:374)til late adulthood. The are progressive - they get worse over time.
