It look long but these are just responses!These are 3 student responses that needs to be respondedto. The response must be 100 words. Please use all references!

Victoria Post

Part I

As we learned in the last module the hippocampus plays animportant role in memory formation. Thus, it makes perfect sense that it wouldbe associated with contextual fear conditioning. Contextual fear conditioningrelies on the ability to remember the context that sparked fear. When a patienthas bilateral hippocampal lesions, it blocks the development of a fear responseto the context (Pinel,2018).

The best example of contextual fear conditioning that I canextrapolate from my life experiences is the fear that sets in as I’m drivingnext to a semi or concrete barrier. The conditioning of this fear began when Iwas kid and the numerous accidents that occurred on a specific curve on a hillthat earned the nickname “Deadman’s hill”. It made me nervous to drive next tosemis especially as some friends and family members often had to clean up theaccidents and would talk about them at home. Reinforcement of this fearoccurred when I was involved in my own accident as a teenager that involvedbeing ran into a concrete barrier on the highway. The accident could have beensignificantly worse than it was but now when driving I will drive on the sideof the road that places the most distance from my door and the barrier or semi.I also adjust my driving to not be next to a semi around curves whether thatmeans slowing down so I can get behind the semi and allow other cars to pass orspeeding up to pass them before the curve.

Part II

Two treatments fordepression that utilize brain stimulation not listed in the book areelectroconvulsive therapy and transcranial direct current stimulation. Theeffects of electroconvulsive therapy in older patients has been a concern forproviders due to the possible negative impact on neurocognitive functioning.Studies have concluded that the deleterious cognitive effects ofelectroconvulsive therapy in late-life depression are transient and limited butcan be increased with bilateral stimulation. Transcranial direct currentstimulation involves applying a small electrical current to the head utilizingelectrodes placed on the skin rather than implanted into the body as seen withdeep brain stimulation (Wong, et al.,2019). The currents sent through theelectrodes don’t evoke action potentials themselves but change the neuralactivity of the brain by switching cortical activity from a state ofexcitability to a state of inhibition. Transcranial direct current stimulationhas proven to be effective in reducing the depressive severity and theremission rates in patients. The effects of Transcranial direct currentstimulation have shown sustained effects for up to three months while improvingoverall cognitive functioning and in verbal fluency (Wong, et al.,2019).Transcranial direct current stimulation has however shown low spatialresolution and difficulty in defining localization of the electrodes.

Mackenzie post

Part I: Describe the role of the hippocampus in contextual fearconditioning.

Can you think of aninstance where you have been subjected to contextual fear conditioning?Describe that instance. In your answer, describe the role of the hippocampus incontextual fear conditioning.

Contextual fear conditioning is a phenomenon that occurs when anonthreatening environment elicits a fearful response. This occurs when thereis repeated exposure to an object during a frightening situation and thesurroundings become associated with the emotional response (Pinel 2014). I havenot experienced contextual conditioning in the sense of an environment. I haveexperienced fear conditioning after a car accident I was involved in. The car Iwas in was a white Nissan, and ever since the accident I experience aphysiological response when I encounter a vehicle of the same make, model, andcolor. The hippocampus is responsible for memory and spatial understanding andis a key affected area during contextual fear conditioning. The hippocampuscreates a misattributed fear for the context of the stimuli instead of thestimuli itself (Pinel 2014). Research has also noted the potential role of thehippocampus in post-traumatic stress disorder since contextual stimuli canoften prompt episodes (Chaaya 2018).

Part II: Describe twoforms of treatment for depression that utilize brain stimulation.

There are many othertreatments for depression that aren’t discussed in this module. Name at leasttwo you know of. What is the evidence for their efficacy? Remember to properlycite and reference your sources in APA format.

One of the various treatments for depression is CognitiveBehavioral Therapy (CBT). CBT focuses on the core concept of psychologicalissues being caused by disordered patterns of behavior and how correcting thisbehavior will assist in recovery (American). CBT allows for patients to betheir own harbingers for therapy to facilitate easing depressive behaviors. CBTcan be effective when paired with other forms of treatment. CBT modifiesbehaviors after the onset of the depression whereas medication can assist withbiological elements since anti-depressants tend to be only 25% effective whenused as a singular treatment (Pinel 2014). Psychodynamic treatment ofdepression is a combination of any depression treatments to alleviate thesymptoms holistically. Psychodynamic treatment can apply CBT, medication, andlight therapy approaches to assist a patient diagnosed with depression.Psychodynamic therapy has been demonstrated to have successful outcomes inseveral clinical roles and practice settings (Busch 2016). Hence, providing abetter option for patients than implementing just one form of treatment.

Michael Post

Part I: Describe the role of the hippocampus in contextual fearconditioning.

Can you think of an instance where you have been subjected tocontextual fear conditioning? Describe that instance. In your answer, describethe role of the hippocampus in contextual fear conditioning.

Situations surround and instill meaning to events; they areessential for remembering the past, interpreting the present, and anticipatingthe future. Studies of fear conditioning and extinction suggest that a neuralcircuit including the hippocampus, amygdala and medial prefrontal cortex isinvolved in the learning and memory processes that enable context-dependentbehavior. Research on the neural mechanisms by which context representationsare encoded in the brain largely come from studies of associative learning inboth animals and humans. Indications have been made that the hippocampus has acrucial role in tasks involving learning and remembering contexts. The role ofthe hippocampus in encoding context representations is consistent with thelarge literature on the role of the hippocampus in spatial representation andnavigation. Growing up, I remember my brother experiencing this. One time wewere at the grocery store and my brother witnesses another kid throwing a fitbecause he did not get a candy. After a while, this kid’s parents caved in andgot him a candy. My brother figured he would do the same. He did not get thesame reaction from my mother. Instead, he got a whooping and did not get thecandy he wanted. I believe this was the last time he did that. He knew he wouldbe in trouble if he threw a fit like that again. My brother related the buttwhooping to the associated behavior and came to the realization that it was notworth it. One incident conditioned the fear of the whooping in him.

Part II: Describe twoforms of treatment for depression that utilize brain stimulation.

There are many other treatments for depression that aren’tdiscussed in this module. Name at least two you know of. What is the evidencefor their efficacy? Remember to properly cite and reference your sources in APAformat.

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a noninvasiveprocedure that uses magnetic fields to stimulate nerve cells in the brain toimprove symptoms of depression. TMS is used when other depression treatments donot work. Depression is a curable condition, but for some people, standardtreatments are not effective. Repetitive TMS is used when treatments such asmedications and talk therapy (psychotherapy) do not work. If rTMS works,depression symptoms may improve or go away completely. Symptom relief may takea few weeks of treatment. The effectiveness of rTMS may improve as researcherslearn more about techniques, the number of stimulations required and the bestsites on the brain to stimulate.

Deep brain stimulation, or D.B.S., has been performed fordecades to help people control the tremors of Parkinson’s disease. In treatingdepression, surgeons thread an electrode into an area of the brain that sitsbeneath the crown of the head which is known to be especially active in peoplewith severe depression. Running electrical current into that region, known asBrodmann Area 25, successfully shuts down its activity, resulting in relief ofdepression symptoms in many patients. The electrode is connected to a batterythat is embedded in the chest. The procedure involves a single surgery; theimplant provides continuous current from then on.