Behavioral Science: Neurophysiology

Objective 1:

Physiologic changes in common neuropsychiatric disorders

Disease	NT changes	Path changes	Misc
Alzheimer’s	¯ Ach	Tangles & plaques, starts in hippocampus & entorhinal cortex and spreads	#1 cause of dementia!
DLBD		Lewy bodies in brain stem, limbic, and cortex	2^nd most common cause of dementia
Parkinson’s	¯ dopamine	Loss of substantia nigra neurons
Schizophrenia	dopamine	ventricle-brain ratio
Huntington’s	¯ GABA, ¯Ach	Loss of caudate and putamen neurons
Depression	¯NE, ¯serotonin
Mania	NE, serotonin

Objective 3:

Physiology of Aging (see p. 1004 Cecil & nutrition book)

System	Change	Outcome
Body composition	fat ¯ body water	¯ basal metabolic rate (¯ muscle mass & adipose tissue) fat-soluble drug storage, with prolonged t1/2 concentration of water-soluble drugs
GI	¯ gastric acid secretion ¯ gastric motility ¯ lactase activity	¯ absorption of folate, protein bound B12 ¯bioavailability of minerals, vits, & protein
Hepatic	¯size & blood flow ¯activity of drug metabolizing enzymes	¯albumin syn rate Poor or delayed metabolism of certain drugs
Immune	¯T-cell function	¯resistance to infection anergy
Neuro	Brain atrophy	¯cognitive function
Renal	¯GFR	Reduced renal excretion of metabolites, drugs
Sensory	¯taste buds, papilla ¯olfactory n. endings ¯accommodation ¯hearing
Skeletal	¯bone density	fractures
Cardiovascular	¯contractility ¯conductivity systolic blood pressure?
Respiratory	¯lung elasticity ¯maximal breathing capacity
Endocrine	Impaired glucose tolerance ¯ androgens & estrogens

Objective 4: Anterior & Posterior Pituitary

	Anterior	Posterior
Embrylogy	Rathke’s pouch/surface ectoderm	Infundibular process (neuroectoderm of neural tube?)
Innervation (from hypothalamus)	Tuberohypophyseal tract (dopamine)	Supraopticohypophyseal tract (ADH)
Hormones	FSH LH ACTH TSH Prolactin GH	ADH Ocytocin
Blood supply	V: Hypophyseal portal veins (anterior?) and hypophyseal veins (posterior?) A: Superior and Inferior hypophyseal arteries