PSY 245 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Pessimism, Neurotransmitter, Heritability

• School: Tunxis Community College
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSY 245
• Professor: lauretano

Document Summary

Almost all depressed persons are anxious; not all anxious persons are depressed. Twin studies: same genetic factors contribute to both. Common symptoms are referred to as negative affect (these apply to both usually) Core symptoms of depression: anhedonia, slowing, negative cognitions. Core symptoms of anxiety: apprehension, tension, extreme worry. Twin studies- if one twin has it, the other is likely to have it, especially if identical. Neurotransmitter systems neurotransmitters, including dopamine and norepinephrine. The permissive hypothesis serotonin is thought to moderate all the other. Elevated cortisol (which instigates fight or flight) Suppressed hippocampal neurogenesis (hippocampus shuts down the hpa axis, so cortisol can stop being released) if cortisol keeps coming, hippocampus gets destroyed though, so it may not be able to shut down hpa axis in time. Dexamethasone suppression test (dst)- dexamethasone is supposed to reduce cortisol, but on about half of depressed people, it doesn"t work. (people got excited when they thought it was all)