PSYC 1000 Chapter Notes -Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, Antipsychotic, Electroconvulsive Therapy
6 Aug 2012
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Textbook: psychology tenth edition in modules authored by david g. myers. Biomedical therapy can be used by physically changing the brain"s functioning by altering its chemistry with drugs, or affecting its circuitry with electroconvulsive shock, magnetic impulses or psychosurgery. Most widely used biomedical treatments today are the drug therapies. Since the 1950s, discoveries in psychopharmacolgy (the study of drug effects on mind and behaviour) have revolutionized the treatment of people with severe disorders, liberating hundreds of thousands from hospital confinement. Anti-psychotic drugs: such as chlorpromaxine (thorazine) dampened responsiveness to irrelevant stimuli, providing most help to patients experiencing positive symptoms of schizophrenia. The molecules of most conventional anti-psychotic drugs are similar enough to molecules of the neurotransmitter dopamine to occupy its receptor sites and blocks its activity. This finding reinforces the idea that an overactive dopamine system contributes to schizophrenia. Some produce sluggishness, tremors, and twitches similar to those of parkinson"s disease.
