PSY 240 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Dorothea Dix, Emil Kraepelin, Syphilis

• School: University of Miami
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSY 240
• Professor: Franklin Foote

Document Summary

Importance of contextual factors: diathesis-stress model applied to genes, diathesis = genetic vulnerability, when there is a genetic vulnerability, life events can more easily lead to a disorder, ex. Alcohol abuse diathesis (genetic tendency to become an alcoholic) plus a stressor (long bouts of binge drinking: reciprocal gene-environment model, genes shape how we create our environment, ex. Genetic tendency to develop blood/injury/injection phobia tendency towards impulsiveness (attracts situations that may involve blood) situations involving seeing blood: for some reason, there is a link between a phobia of blood and also impulsiveness, ex. Inverse agonists produce chemicals that deactivate the neurotransmitter: block the effect of neurotransmitter, glutamate and gamma aminobutyric acid (gaba, antagonists, glutamate excitatory, gaba inhibitory. Involved with anxiety when out of balance: benzodiazepines used to fix this (valium, xanax, fast acting, complex subsystems, serotonin, widespread, complex, regulates behavior, mood, thought process, regulates other neurotransmitters.