Book sent me this youtube clip that pertains to the side effects of SSRI:s. You should know the side effects of SSRI:s when you are discussing the effectiveness of SSRI:s for biomedical treatment of depression.
I however want to clarify that the adverse effects mentioned by this person are very rare. As any drug, there are always side effects, but in most cases they are mild. In addition, the side effects disappear if you stop taking the drug and there are no known negative long term effects (as far as I know). Ex-pharmaceutical rep. talks about adverse effects from SSRI's
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A friend sent me this article. It relates to a new area of research in psychology called cyberpsychology.
Contingencies of Self-Worth and Social-Networking-Site Behavior It is a difficult article to read, but it is a correlational study that has found out that people who have good self esteem and find themselves attractive are more likely to publish more pictures of themselves on facebook. In addition, people who are online a lot have low are more likely to have low self esteem. Classical conditioning is a psychological theory on learning that you no longer have to learn in the new IB psychology syllabus. I however think it is good to know how classical conditioning works in order to understand the underlying biological processes of learning.
In an earlier article I talked about neural pathways. The simplest neural pathway is a connection between two cells. Many basic reflexes are based on simple neural pathways, such as the knee jerk (patellar) reflex. Basic reflexes are simple neural pathways that we are born with, and not developed through learning. The pathways of these basic reflexes can usually be found in the spinal cord. For more complex behavior, the brain is involved. Reflexes and some simple behaviors are elicited by stimuli from the external world (for instance, your eye will be blinking from an air puff, and you will salivate by the sight of food) In terms of classical conditioning, these reflexes and basic behaviors are called unconditioned stimuli and unconditioned responses. Unconditioned stimuli can be paired with another stimuli to create the same response to the new stimuli. This was first demonstrated in a classic experiment by Pavlov in the early 1900s, when a dog learned to salivate to other things than food (such as a bell) after a sufficient number of pairings with the food and the other stimuli (for instance, every time the dog was fed, a bell was rung). When a dog shows a similar response to a stimulus other than the original unconditioned stimulus, it is called a conditioned stimulus. Similarly, a stimulus that elicits a similar response as for an unconditioned stimulus is called a conditioned stimulus. Conditioned responses are created through the making of neural pathways in the brain. This forming of neural pathways works through the process of neuroplasticity. Different areas of the brain are involved in different kinds of conditioning. Fear conditioning, for instance, takes place in the amygdala. In the famous Little Albert experiment, where a little boy was conditioned to fear rats, it can be assumed that there neural changes taking place in the boy's amygdala. The cerebellum (close to your neck), an area involved in motor control, is very important for the processes of classical conditioning. The importance of the cerebellum for classical conditioning has been demontrated in lesion experiments on rabbits for the eyeblink response. Other experiments on the eyeblink response has demonstrated that patients with Alzheimers disease have a decreased ability to learn conditioned eyeblink responses, long before other symptoms of the disease are visible. Here is an interesting article that may relate to culture and relationships.
Japanese teens and married couples losing sex drive Yesterday I read a scientific article on the brain and emotion. The information here may be used for the question how biological and cognitive factors interact in emotion and for many of the learning outcomes of the biological level of analysis.
Researchers do not yet agree whether emotions form part of one system or whether emotions are generated from many different systems distributed over the brain. The right hemisphere of the brain seems to have specialized to a certain degree on emotion, particularly in regards to expression and perception of emotion. Some specific areas seem to be more important for emotional processing. These are amygdala, prefrontal cortex, hypothalamus, the insular cortex and the anterior cingulate cortex (the last two areas can be found between the prefrontal cortex and the limbic system. The amygdala is involved in the consolidation of long term memories (one example of an interaction between cognitive and biological factors in emotion). It is also related to fear, processing of facial expressions and social signals. The hypothalamus is related to the reward system in the brain, along with basic motivations, such as sex and hunger. It influences emotion because it secretes certain hormones which affect the brain and body. The insular cortex is believed to be involved in many basic emotions, such as anger, fear, disgust, happiness and sadness. The anterior cingulate cortex integrates information from the body and brain and is believed to be the centre of conscious emotion (whereas amygdala may be the centre of unconscious emotion). It works closely with the prefrontal cortex. The prefrontal cortex is involved in control of emotions (here you can relate to the famous case of Phineas Gage, who lost control of his behavior after damage to his frontal lobe). The prefrontal cortex may also be involved in the interpretation of body signals and their modulation of the intensity of the emotional experience (it is in this area that the appraisal and body arousal are integrated to form an emotional experience as demonstrated in that famous experiment by Schachter & Singer) The prefrontal cortex can regulate emotional processes in other parts of the brain, such as amygdala, because it can choose where to which processes to direct attention and which goals that are more important than others (Even if there is a strong hunger signal from the hypothalamus, your prefrontal cortex can choose to ignore this because you think it is more important to finish reading that article on emotion and brain) Because researchers have not yet agreed on whether emotional processes form part of one system or several systems in the brain, it is difficult to schematize them. But basically you can imagine emotional stimuli and body signals reaching the thalamus (an area involved in basic consciousness) which then relays the information to the hypothalamus, amygdala and the anterior cingulate cortex. The pathways to the amygdala and hypothalamus are short and will therefore lead to a quick, unconscious body response (this may be why Ekman's hypothesis of microexpressions works) However, the pathway to the anterior cingulate cortex is longer, which means that the conscious, experience of an emotion is slightly delayed. (the short and long pathways of emotion have also been demonstrated in Le Doux's research on rats) The anterior cingulate cortex then passes on information to the prefrontal cortex, that can choose to regulate the processes of other areas involved in emotion, or make choices between conflicting motivational goals. One thing that I forgot to describe in my explanation of neurotransmission are the neural pathways in the brain. You already know that our brains consists of neurons and that they are connected in a network. Neurons are connected with each other in the brain through the neural pathways. A neural pathway is a connection between two or more neurons. One neuron can be connected with many neurons. These small connections are created through a process called long term potentiation (see an earlier article). If a certain group of neurons are repeatedly stimulated it will strengthen their pathways. Pathways which are not stimulated will be weakened. The neural pathways can relate to behavior, habits, reflexes, experiences or other psychological functions.
There are also several major neural pathways that connect between different regions of the brain and body. These major neural pathways carry out some kind of function. One example of major neural pathways is the reward pathways. The dopamine pathways are neural pathways that connects the midbrain with the limbic system and the prefrontal cortex. They are called the dopamine pathways because this neurotransmitter is acting on these pathways. The serotonin pathway starts in the raphe nuclei in the brain stem and then traverses through the entire brain. This makes sense, because serotonin is involved in so many brain functions. Unlike many other neurotransmitters, serotonin is not always produced in the synaptic terminal buttons, but sometimes on swellings around the axon and can travel over distance. Serotonin in the bloodstream have less affect on the brain because of the blood-brain barrier. However, an underproduction of serotonin in the brain can indirectly be measured through blood samples. Examples of other neural pathways include the corpus callosum, that connects the left brain hemisphere with the right brain hemisphere (this is the pathway that Sperry's participants lacked), the visual pathways that connects the eyes with the visual areas of the brain, and the motor pathways that connect the brain with the rest of the body. Today a student asked me in class about some clarification of how SSRI:s (Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors - a type of antidepressant) work.
Basically, they increase the level of serotonin in the synapse by inhibiting the reuptake of the neurotransmitter into the presynaptic cell. As you know, during neurotransmission, the presynaptic cell is releasing the neurotransmitters into the synapse, which bind to receptors in the receiving cell. This cause an electric impulse in the receiving cell. After the neurotransmitters have bound to the receiving cell they return to the presynaptic cell. SSRI:s however, inhibit the presynaptic cell's reuptake of serotonin, prolonging the time serotonin stays in the synapse, therefore prolonging the effect of serotonin of the receiving cell. Please note that serotonin does not increase the level of serotonin in the brain, only the level of serotonin in the synapses. Patients suffering from depression or anorexia usually have an imbalance in the Serotonin system. It could be good to know that patients with depression have a decreased activity of Serotonin neurotransmission (about 30 neurotransmitters are related to depression). Patients suffering from anorexia have a more complex imbalance of the serotonin system. Areas with the 5HT1A receptor (One type of Serotonin molecule) show a heightened level of serotonin. These areas are related to anxiety, mood and impulse control. Areas related to the 5HT2A serotonin receptor show a decreased serotonin activity (these areas are related to regulation of feeding, mood, and anxiety) Low serotonin activity is also related to violent behavior, something to consider when you evaluate the sociocultural explanations of violence. The following movies are great to see in order to increase your understanding of psychology. (In most cases I am only linking to the movie trailers, you will have to find the movie yourself)
One flew over the cucko's nest A great movie that relates to ethical issues and reliability/validity issues of diagnosis. Girls interrupted A movie with Winona Ryder and Angelina Jolie about life in a mental institution A beautiful mind A movie based on the life of John Nash, a Noble Prize Winner who suffered from schizophrenia The Wave, part 1 A movie based on a true story that relates to social identity theory Die Welle A German remake of The Wave. Das Experiment A German movie based on the Zimbardo Prison Experiment The Experiment An American movie based on the Zimbardo Prison Experiment Memento A thriller about a man suffering from a similar type of amnesia as H.M. and Clive Wearing Rain Man A movie about a character who is based on Kim Peek, a savant with exceptional memory The three faces of Eve A movie based on a true story about a woman suffering from multiple personality disorder Sybil A TV series based on a true story about a woman suffering from multiple personality disorder I never promised you a rose garden A movie based on a true story about a woman suffering from Schizophrenia Mocking birds don't sing A movie based on the true story of Genie High anxiety A not so serious comedy by Mel Brooks about a murder in a mental institution Limitless A new movie that relates to the coming future of mind enhancing drugs Inception An action movie that relates to stages of consciousness and dreams Black Swan A thriller about a ballet dancer suffering from Schizophrenia Shutter island A thriller that relates to treatment of abnormality in the 1950s and An occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge A short movie based on a short story by Ambrose Pierce that relates to consciousness Fisher king A movie that relates to depression, violence and schizophrenia. About two years ago I read Erich Fromm's book The art of loving. I have it in case you would like to borrow it from me. The content of this book has some relation to the role of culture in the formation and maintenance of relationships.
In the book, Fromm claims that love is not only a pleasant emotion, but an art, which therefore requires knowledge and effort. Love is something we learn through experience, which leads to understanding, which leads to love. Fromm claims that true love is rare in modern society. According to him, this is because we live in a market society. The focus is not how to love, but to find someone who is attractive; has all the traits that are sought after at the "personality market". Love has nowadays become a commodity, an exchange of goods. (one may of course argue that the traditional arranged marriage is also a type of economic exchange) The development of the market society coincides with the development of romantic love, which has transformed the view on love from an art in itself to the art of finding someone to love. In more traditional societies, marriages were arranged and not based on romantic love and freedom of choice. Love was expected to grow after some time. Indeed, as that Indian study by Gupta and Singh that we talked about in class shows, love grows after a few years in arranged marriages, while it tends to decrease in marriages that originated from romantic love. According to the contemporary view of romantic love, it is easy to love, but difficult to find the right person to love. As the increasing number of failed marriages in modern society show, love is not that easy. Fromm claims that the need for love originates from anxiety. It is the realization of our separateness from others, that drives us to union with others. This need of love can explain many psychological phenomena, such as conformity. Fromm means that this need has gone too far in modern society, that there now is an increasing tendency to eliminate differences between people because of egalitarian values. Instead of accepting that we are different and respecting those differences, Fromm argues that we now want others to think and believe as we do. For Fromm, real love is to preserve one's own individuality, and at the same time bond and unite with another being. He relates true love to altruism, when he claims that love is primarily giving and not receiving. For him, giving is the highest expression of strength and it is those that refuse that are impoverished in terms of human power and freedom. In order to practise the art of love (it may take you a few failed relationships until you learn), Fromm recommends self discipline (I believe that you need to have worked with your own issues to a certain extent before you can have satisfying relationships), patience, concentration (the ability to be present in a relationship and enjoy the moments with your partner), a supreme concern for love ("love each other or perish", as Auden said. If you are not courageous, don't have faith and believe in love, how is a relationship going to last?), and last but not least humility (accept that you are not always right). In short, Fromm means that in order to love, we should develop our inner qualities and not only focus on consumerism and accumulation of wealth. Ling send me the following clip which illustrates the stages in a relationship well.
Strangers, again There are many models of how interpersonal relationships develop. An influental model is Levingers model. According to the model, relationships go through five stages: 1. Acquaintance – Becoming acquainted depends on previous relationships, physical proximity, first impressions, and a variety of other factors. If two people begin to like each other, continued interactions may lead to the next stage, but acquaintance can continue indefinitely. 2. Buildup – During this stage, people begin to trust and care about each other. The need for intimacy, compatibility and such filtering agents as common background and goals will influence whether or not interaction continues 3. Continuation – This stage follows a mutual commitment to a long-term friendship, romantic relationship, or marriage. It is generally a long, relative stable period. Nevertheless, continued growth and development will occur during this time. Mutual trust is important for sustaining the relationship. 4. Deterioration – Not all relationships deteriorate, but those that do tend to show signs of trouble. Boredom, resentment, and dissatisfaction may occur, and individuals may communicate less and avoid self-disclosure. Loss of trust and betrayals may take place as the downward spiral continues, eventually ending the relationship. (Alternately, the participants may find some way to resolve the problems and reestablish trust. 5. Termination – The final stage marks the end of the relationship, either by death in the case of a healthy relationship, or by separation. (taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interpersonal_relationship) Maybe a model to consider if you answer a question related to how relationships change or end. |
AuthorThis is my class blog for IB Psychology. Here I will publish reflections on psychology, reviews of psychology books, recommended links, lecture notes, and information on psychology topics that are not covered by the syllabus. You are free to add comments or ask me questions. Archives
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