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AP Psychology 3.1 Treatment of Abnormal Behavior 2 Views


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AP Psychology 3.1 Treatment of Abnormal Behavior. Lithium is used to treat bipolar disorder and is believed to generally affect which neurotransmitter?

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Transcript

00:03

And here's your shmoop du jour brought to you by lithium the

00:06

number one target of verbal abuse among teenagers all right lithium is used to [girl holding a mobile phone]

00:10

treat bipolar disorder and is believed to generally affect which

00:14

neurotransmitter and here are the potential answers..GABA, dopamine,

00:18

norepinephrine, serotonin, glutamate... All right let's start by quickly recalling

00:24

what bipolar disorder actually is and no it doesn't describe a grizzly bear [Grizzly bears in the snow]

00:28

caught in an awkward love triangle with two snowy sweethearts it's actually a

00:32

manic-depressive illness when an individual cycles between periods of

00:36

elevated moods and periods of severe depression to answer our question all we [Mans face between two bowls of fire]

00:40

need to do is identify which neurotransmitter would be most closely

00:43

linked to this dramatic shift in moods well in the brain GABA regulates brain

00:47

activity it actually serves as an inhibitor slowing down neuron firing [GABA molecule drawn in notepad]

00:52

which can aid in calming an individual and reducing anxiety well it explains

00:56

why substances like alcohol and marijuana get their effect by boosting [Snoop Dogg with the GABA molecule]

01:00

it in the brain not quite what we're looking for though, Dopamine meanwhile

01:04

plays a major role in reward motivated behavior and is associated with the

01:08

pleasure system of the brain but while it might explain an elevated mood it [Molecule riding a bike over a hill]

01:13

wouldn't exactly explain the cycling between elevated and depressed moods so

01:16

this one doesn't cut the mustard either Norepinephrine is more closely linked

01:20

to a cycle but that cycle is of being awake and asleep it's said to mobilize [Norepinephrine molecule riding a bike]

01:25

the brain and body for more action releasing less during sleep and more

01:29

during times of anxiety stress or danger Oh wrong cycle wrong answer and

01:34

serotonin would be right if we were only talking about those elevated moods, it's

01:38

said to be the primary contributor to feelings of well-being and happiness but

01:41

even though it would make things a lot easier for our grizzly friend if it were [Grizzly bears cuddling on a park bench]

01:44

called mono polar it's not and so D doesn't work either well glutamate is

01:49

the answer we're looking for for over 50 years lithium has been used to treat

01:53

people with bipolar disorder by targeting glutamate and excitatory

01:56

neurotransmitter which affects both depressive and manic episodes, too bad

02:00

it doesn't also work on awkward love triangles [Grizzly bears in a love triangle]

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