Psy 3720

EXAM FIVE STUDY OBJECTIVES

Language and Cognition

  1. Describe the experimental approaches used to examine cerebral lateralization in humans, and discuss the major findings that have resulted from these studies.
  2. Summarize the primary anatomical asymmetry between the left and right cerebral hemispheres.
  3. Describe Meyers' and Sperry's experimental work in cats. What contributions did this work give to our understanding of lateralization of function?
  4. Describe Sperry's and Gazzaniga's work with split-brain patients. What did their results reveal about the functions of the two cerebral hemispheres?
  5. Describe the dichotic listening task, its underlying theoretical rationale, and the general findings that relate to the study of hemispheric lateralization.
  6. Compare and contrast the symptoms and neuroanatomy of the major categories of aphasia.
  7. Describe the locations of Wernicke's and Broca's areas.
  8. Why is Wernicke's aphasia considered a receptive aphasia? List the primary characteristics of this aphasia.
  9. Why is Broca's aphasia considered an expressive aphasia? List three deficits which characterize Broca's aphasia. In what way does Broca's aphasia represent more than simply an impairment in speech production (i.e., how are grammar and comprehension affected?)
  10. How is conduction aphasia different from both Broca’s and Wernicke’s aphasias?
  11. Describe the reading and writing skills of people with aphasia.
  12. Summarize the Wernicke-Geschwind model of aphasia.
  13. Summarize some of the neuroanatomical findings associated with dyslexia.
  14. Distinguish between acquired and developmental dyslexias.
  15. Contrast surface dyslexia and deep dyslexia in terms of deficits and intact functions. What do these two subtypes suggest regarding brain systems involved in reading?

Emotions, Stress and Health

  1. List three components of emotions.
  2. Distinguish the James-Lange and the Cannon-Bard theories of emotion.
  3. Describe the behavioral features of Kluver-Bucy syndrome and describe the region of brain damage in these cases.
  4. List at least three structures in the limbic system.
  5. Describe the typical procedures used to demonstrate conditioned fear. Identify a brain structure that is critically involved in conditioned fear (i.e, damage to this region abolishes conditioned fear).
  6. Identify key brain regions involved in the different components of conditioned fear (behavioral, autonomic, hormonal).
  7. Identify at least one neurotransmitter system that has been examined in studies of aggression. Summarize key findings.
  8. Critically evaluate research regarding the link between testosterone and aggression. Summarize both nonhuman and human studies.
  9. Identify the adrenal hormones, pituitary hormones and hypothalamic hormones involved in the stress response. Describe the feedback loop among these structures and hormones.
  10. Describe the acute physiological effects of cortisol and the catecholamines.
  11. Define psychoneuroimmunology.
  12. Identify and describe potential health risks of chronic stress. What key factors appear to modulate these effects?
  13. Cite research evidence from humans and nonhumans regarding the hormonal effects of social stress.

Neuropsychiatric Disorders

  1. Define schizophrenia. Identify and describe the positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia.
  2. What have twin studies and adoption studies revealed regarding the heritability of schizophrenia?
  3. Describe the neuropathology of schizophrenia as indicated by CT and/or MRI scans of schizophrenics' brains.
  4. Describe/discuss the hypofrontality hypothesis of schizophrenia.
  5. Summarize the dopamine hypothesis of schizophrenia. Summarize key discoveries that led to the development of the DA hypothesis.
  6. Identify the first antipsychotic drug discovered and describe its pharmacological actions.
  7. What classes of drugs alleviate the positive symptoms of schizophrenia? What class of drugs produces such symptoms?
  8. Discuss the fundamental flaw of the DA hypothesis of schizophrenia.
  9. Summarize investigations regarding the possibility of excessive dopamine receptors in the schizophrenic brain. What were the main results?
  10. Describe and discuss the most serious side effects of neuroleptic drugs.
  11. Summarize the evidence for heritability of major depressive disorders.
  12. What have functional imaging studies demonstrated regarding neurological substrates of depression.
  13. Summarize the monoamine theory of depression and discuss criticisms of this theory.
  14. Summarize evidence for hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal system involvement in depression.
  15. Describe the sleep abnormalities that may accompany major depressive disorders.
  16. Besides pharmacotherapy, name two other types of physiological interventions sometimes used to treat depression.
  17. Name at least three classes of antidepressant drugs. Describe the pharmacological actions of each.
  18. How long does it typically take before antidepressant drugs to produce relief of depressive symptoms? How does this relate to current versions of the monoamine theory of depression?
  19. Identify specific subtypes of anxiety disorders and describe the characteristics of at least two of these disorders.
  20. Identify some of the drugs commonly used in the treatment of anxiety disorders and describe their neurochemical actions.
  21. Summarize some of the findings of neuroimaging studies of patients with panic disorder.
  22. Summarize some of the findings of neuroimaging studies of patients with OCD.
  23. Summarize some of the research evidence for neuropathological changes in patients diagnosed with PTSD. Discuss limitations of these studies and alternative explanations for the research findings.