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Psychopharmacology Final Exam 2025
Questions and Answers
nonessential physiological processes shut down (i.e. digestion & reproduction), energy is channeled into a host of functions preparing for rapid action. - Correct answer When a person or animal confronts actual (or perceived) danger situations, what neurochemical and hormonal reactions start to occur? cortex, amygdala - Correct answer Stressful events are perceived at the __________, processed at the _______, which then activates lower brain areas & puts the limbic system on alert norepinephrine - Correct answer when there is imminent danger, a burst of excitation originates from the locus coeruleus which releases _____________, which results in instantaneous hypervigilance. limbic system and hypothalamus by activating the SNS, HTA, or HPA - Correct answer what is responsible for the release of stress hormones? chloride - Correct answer _________ ions act as a brake and dampen the limbic alert benzodiazepines - Correct answer ________ enhance the flow of negative (chloride) ions which results in widespread calming in may areas of the brain serotonin - Correct answer excitability in the locus coerulues is also mediated by _______ inhibitory - Correct answer in the Locus Coeruleus, serotonin is ____________. activation - Correct answer A decrease in serotonin may impact the locus coeruleus by making it more disinhibited and more sensitive to ___________.
amygdala - Correct answer Acquired fears appear to be mediated primarily by the ___________. encodes - Correct answer After very frightening events, the amygdala ________ certain stimulus events of the experience. These memories are highly resistant to extinction. serotonin - Correct answer There is speculation that _______ many play a role in inhibiting cellular reactivity in the amygdala benzodiazepines, atypical antianxiety (buspirone), SNRIs and SSRIs, andn gabapentin - Correct answer What are four medication options for treating GAD? dependence/substance abuse - Correct answer Benzodiazepines can be used to treat severe cases of GAD, but should not be used if the patient is at risk for ___________ Buspirone - Correct answer _______ reduces worry and rumination seen in GAD, but it is not addictive gabapentin - Correct answer This antiseizure medication is primarily used to treat anxiety in bipolar disorder psychotropic medications - Correct answer Specific phobias are generally not treated with __________________. beta-blockers - Correct answer what is effective at reducing anxiety surrounding public speaking? SSRIs, SNRIs, or MAOIs - Correct answer Pervasive forms social anxiety (and avoidant personality disorder) may be treated with what three medications? panic disorder - Correct answer ____________ is the anxiety disorder for which medication treatment plays its most important role benzodiazepines, antidepressants, and MAO inhibitors - Correct answer What three medication classes generally treat panic?
high - Correct answer Psychotropic medications are believed to be about 50-60% effective in treating OCD, however, if a patient stops the medication the relapse rate is very ________. GABA - Correct answer Benzodiazepine receptors are co-located with _______ receptors which usually function as presynaptic inhibiting receptors. chloride ions - Correct answer Benzodiazepines enhance the effect of GABA and increase the influx of ____________. antihistamines - Correct answer these drugs work by blocking histamine receptors in the CNS beta-blockers - Correct answer These medications act by blocking the effects of norepinephrine at the receptor. They are good at reducing physical symptoms of anxiety, but not cognitive symptoms. clonidine - Correct answer This medication functions as a presynaptic inhibitor of norepinephrine release. stressful event, outcry, intrusion or denial, working through, completion - Correct answer What are the stages of the stress response syndrome? outcry - Correct answer this stage of the stress response syndrome is characterized by an eruption of intense, unpleasant emotion and denial intrusion - Correct answer this stage of the stress response syndrome occurs when a person experiences waves of intense emotion and a strong impulse to think about, imagine, remember, or mentally relive the stressful event. denial - Correct answer in the stress response syndrome, __________ may occur directly following outcry or may come on the heels of a period of intrusion. denial - Correct answer in the stress response syndrome, this stage is characterized by a state
of emotional numbness; people often feel nothing. neurobiology - Correct answer PTSD due to early, severe child abuse or neglect may leave not only emotional scars, but also ____________ may be altered. attachment and protection - Correct answer Severe stress during childhood and infancy in both humans and animals can result in an increased need for __________________________. separation-stress center - Correct answer The repetitive involvement in apparently aversive or abusive relationships may be related to hypersensitivity of the __________________ in the brain, which has been shown to respond favorably to treatment with antidepressants, especially MAO inhibitors and SSRIs. CRF, hippocampus - Correct answer Following early trauma, permanent alterations in the nervous system have also been documented, including persistent elevations in the neuropeptide ______ and atrophy of the ________________. emotion regulation - Correct answer When a traumatic experience occurs early in life a consequence, may be inadequate attachment and bonding. Insecure attachment may lead to difficulties with _____________, which may explain some of the behaviors seen in PTSD. hyperarousal - Correct answer Research has shown that mammals who are exposed to inescapable shock eventually show a depletion in norepinephrine which leads to changes in receptor sensitivity and may lead to chronic __________________. hyperarousal - Correct answer this symptom of PTSD may be due to more or less permanent dysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitaryadrenal axis damage to the hippocampus and anterior cingulated gyrus
Second-generation antipsychotics, anticonvulsants - Correct answer what medications can be used to treat treatment-resistant PTSD? response to stressful stimuli - Correct answer Animal models strongly support the notion that severely traumatic experiences alter brain functioning and may permanently change an organism's biologic capacity for _______________________. control - Correct answer Central to appropriate pharmacological treatment of PTSD is the restoration of some sense of __________ over turbulent emotions. enlarged lateral ventricles and cortical sulci - Correct answer What did CT and MRI scans find in people with schizophrenia that suggests that either there is brain atrophy or that in some types of schizophrenia there has been abnormal brain development anterior hippocampi - Correct answer MRI scans have shown the presence of smaller ___________________ schizophrenic subjects, which correlates with cognitive impairment SSRI antidepressants, second generation antipsychotics - Correct answer what medications can be used for Intrusive experiences: "flashbacks," avoidance, and numbing seen in PTSD? prefrontal cortex - Correct answer {ET scan studies of people with schizophrenia have shown decreased metabolic activity in the _______________, which correlates with the severity of negative symptoms. HVA - Correct answer in people with schizophrenia, studies have found a positive correlation between levels of ________ in plasma and clinical severity. the dopamine model - Correct answer this theory hypothesized that schizophrenia is caused by abnormal dopaminergic activity in the brain
emotional control, screening of stimuli - Correct answer In areas of the limbic and reticular systems, dopamine neurons appear to play an important role in ____________ and the ______________. overactive - Correct answer The dopamine model of schizophrenia holds that the basic physiological pathology involves primarily __________ dopamine neurons. dopamine - Correct answer excessive ___________ activity can lead to behavioral agitation, a failure to adequately screen stimuli, and disorganization of perception and thought block - Correct answer the potency of antipsychotic drugs has correlated closely with their ability to bind to and _________ the postsynaptic dopamine (D2) receptors in the mesolimbic system dopamine activity - Correct answer drugs that increase _______________________ can produce a paranoid psychosis similar to paranoid schizophrenia and, if given to schizophrenic patients, amphetamines may exacerbate psychotic symptoms. positive, negative - Correct answer In schizophrenia there appears to be an increase in dopamine activity in the mesolimbic tracts which leads to __________ symptoms, but a decreased dopamine activity in the prefrontal cortex which leads to __________ symptoms glutamate system - Correct answer It is hypothesized that in schizophrenia there is a primary dysregulation of the ____________________ resulting in cognitive deficits and that the dopaminergic hyperactivity, and resultant positive symptoms, are secondary phenomena brain - Correct answer There is now evidence to support the notion that being psychotic is
involving flushing, throbbing headache, nausea, and vomiting. Naltrexone - Correct answer ________________, an opiate antagonist, has also shown some promise in helping maintain abstinence by reducing craving for alcohol Acamprosate - Correct answer _______________ is a medication recently approved for maintenance of abstinence from alcohol. It is thought to reduce craving by its action on the glutamate and GABA neurotransmitter systems dopaminergic system - Correct answer Amphetamines are CNS stimulants and act on the ___________ euphoria, paranoia, and hyperexcitability. - Correct answer Amphetamines produce increased release of dopamine and norepinephrine and decreased reuptake. This leads to increased dopaminergic and noradrenergic activity and produces these symptoms: opiate - Correct answer Acute _______ intoxication leads to sedation, pupillary constriction, and respiratory depression and can be fatal opiate antagonist - Correct answer Another method of treating opioid dependence is to have the client take an _________________ so that the effect of the opiate will be blocked if it is used. glutamate - Correct answer It has been suggested that hypofunction of the ___________ neurons, which interconnect the four main areas shown to be abnormal in schizophrenia (prefrontal cortex, mesolimbic, striatum/ nucleus acumbens, and medial temporal lobe), may be the underlying pathophysiology. extrapyramidal - Correct answer The first-generation antipsychotics produce _____________ side effects due to the blocking of dopamine
receptors acetylcholine - Correct answer Antipsychotic medications block ____________ receptors and thereby affect the parasympathetic nervous system which leads to dry membranes , blurred vision , intestinal slowing , difficulty urinating, sedation, and sexual dysfunction neurodevelopmental - Correct answer The _______________ model proposes that in schizophrenia there is a brain defect that leads to abnormal development later in life, especially during the synaptic "pruning" during adolescence alpha-adrenergic - Correct answer Antipsychotic medications produce an _______________ blockade, which leads to orthostatic hypotension. serotonin - Correct answer In contrast to the first-generation antipsychotics, the second-generation antipsychotics are strong ________ blockers and produce varying degrees of dopamine (D2) blockade. second-generation (atypical) - Correct answer _________ antipsychotics generally are effective at treating both positive and negative symptoms with limited extrapyramidal side effects norepinephrine, dopamine - Correct answer The medications used to treat amphetamine use generally potentiate the effects of ___________ or__________. methadone - Correct answer One way to treat opioid abuse is to use ______________, a long-acting synthetic opiate that is well tolerated and reduces craving for other opiates such as heroin. It is used for maintenance treatment because, with its long half-life, it produces less of a "high" and is less prone to abuse dopamine - Correct answer The first-generation antipsychotics produce extrapyramidal side effects due to
