NROSCI 0081 Lecture Notes - Lecture 30: Biology Of Depression, Dysthymia, Reward System
Lecture 30 Mood Disorders 12-2
• Mental illness: implies there is a behavioral norm against which behavior
is compared
o Can be subjective
o DSM-5
• Psychiatric Disorders – Affect disorders
o Anxiety, Mood, Psychotic
• Psychotherapeutics
o Antidepressants, Mood stabilizing, Anti-anxiety, Antipsychotics
Depression
o Criteria
▪ 5+ symptoms (depressed mood, irritable, lack of interest/pleasure)
o Types
▪ Unipolar – recurring episodes, disabling
▪ Bipolar – manic and depressive episodes, reckless behavior
▪ Dysthymia – low level, long lasting, SAD
o Prevalence
▪ 9.5% in the US
▪ Worldwide: 10-20%
▪ Risk factors: Female, Family history, Environment, Negative events
▪ Costs: Economic and Human suffering
o History
▪ Kraepelin → Freud
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▪ SSRI’s ad therap i the ’s
o Causes
▪ Some is normal – major depression is not
▪ Factors that increase chances
• Abuse, death, loss, major changes, conflict, illness, genetic
▪ Biological
• Moderate heritability: genetic and environmental interaction
• Chemical imbalance: drugs that modulate neurotransmission are
often effective treatments
• Weak synaptic connections – especially with reward system
▪ Biogenic Amine Hypothesis: depression produced by deficiency of
monoamines
• NE, 5HT, DA
• Reserpine – 5’s drug that elevated moods
o Treatment
▪ Psychotherapy and Talk Therapy
• Trai the rai thiks aout life’s hallegig eets
▪ Antidepressants
• Not completely understood how they work
• Theories
o Normalize naturally occurring neurotransmitters
o Alter strength of neural connections
• SSRI – selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor
o History
▪ Itrodued i the id ’s
▪ Most commonly used to treat depression
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