ABPS Psychiatry flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Dopamine hypothesis of psychosis

Excess mesolimbic dopamine activity is linked to positive psychotic symptoms; antipsychotic potency correlates with D2 receptor blockade, supporting this model.

Serotonin syndrome triad

Mental status change, autonomic hyperactivity, and neuromuscular abnormalities such as clonus and hyperreflexia, caused by serotonergic excess, often from drug combinations.

Neuroleptic malignant syndrome

A life-threatening reaction to dopamine antagonists with rigidity, hyperthermia, autonomic instability, altered mental status, and elevated creatine kinase.

Clozapine monitoring requirement

Absolute neutrophil count must be monitored regularly because of agranulocytosis risk; clozapine is reserved for treatment-resistant schizophrenia.

Lithium therapeutic range

Serum lithium is usually maintained around 0.6 to 1.2 mEq/L; levels above this increase risk of tremor, ataxia, confusion, and renal or thyroid toxicity.

Tardive dyskinesia

Involuntary choreoathetoid movements, often of the tongue and face, emerging after prolonged dopamine antagonist exposure; treated with VMAT2 inhibitors.

Delirium versus dementia

Delirium has acute onset, fluctuating course, and impaired attention; dementia has chronic progressive cognitive decline with relatively preserved attention until late.

Criterion A trauma

Exposure to actual or threatened death, serious injury, or sexual violence through direct experience, witnessing, learning of a close person's event, or repeated occupational exposure.

Panic attack specifier

A discrete surge of fear with somatic and cognitive symptoms; in DSM-5 it is a specifier applied to disorders rather than a standalone diagnosis.

Mental status examination

Structured assessment of appearance, behavior, speech, mood, affect, thought process and content, perception, cognition, insight, and judgment.

Capacity assessment elements

Decision-specific abilities: understanding relevant information, appreciating consequences, reasoning about options, and communicating a choice; distinct from legal competence.

Montreal Cognitive Assessment

A 30-point screening tool more sensitive than the MMSE to mild cognitive impairment and executive dysfunction; scores below 26 suggest impairment.

Confusion Assessment Method

A brief delirium screen requiring acute onset with fluctuation, inattention, and either disorganized thinking or altered level of consciousness.

Exposure and response prevention

A CBT technique for OCD in which patients confront feared stimuli while refraining from compulsions, producing habituation and reduced anxiety.

Dialectical behavior therapy

A structured treatment combining individual therapy, skills training, phone coaching, and team consultation; it reduces self-harm in borderline personality disorder.

Motivational interviewing OARS

Core skills of open questions, affirmations, reflections, and summaries used to explore and resolve ambivalence about behavior change.

HPA axis sequence

Corticotropin-releasing hormone from the hypothalamus stimulates pituitary ACTH release, which drives adrenal cortisol secretion; cortisol feeds back to inhibit the axis.

Long-term potentiation

Activity-dependent strengthening of synapses, a cellular model of learning and memory; glutamate NMDA receptor activation and BDNF signaling support it.

Nigrostriatal pathway

Dopamine projection from substantia nigra to striatum controlling movement; blockade here produces extrapyramidal symptoms and drug-induced parkinsonism.

Tuberoinfundibular pathway

Dopamine projection from hypothalamus to pituitary that inhibits prolactin release; blockade by antipsychotics causes hyperprolactinemia.

Alcohol withdrawal treatment

Symptom-triggered benzodiazepines guided by CIWA-Ar, plus thiamine given before glucose to prevent Wernicke encephalopathy; monitor for seizures and delirium tremens.

Opioid use disorder pharmacotherapy

Buprenorphine and methadone are agonist treatments that reduce mortality and craving; naltrexone is an alternative after full detoxification.

Contingency management

A behavioral treatment providing tangible rewards for verified abstinence; it is the most effective established approach for stimulant use disorder.

ADHD diagnostic criteria

Inattention and/or hyperactivity-impulsivity symptoms beginning before age 12, present in at least two settings, and causing clear functional impairment.

Autism spectrum disorder core

Persistent deficits in social communication and interaction plus restricted, repetitive behaviors or interests, with onset in the early developmental period.

Family-based treatment

The Maudsley approach, an outpatient therapy for adolescent anorexia nervosa that empowers parents to manage refeeding and weight restoration.

Lewy body dementia features

Fluctuating cognition, recurrent visual hallucinations, parkinsonism, and severe sensitivity to antipsychotics, often with REM sleep behavior disorder.

Beers criteria

A list of potentially inappropriate medications for older adults, including benzodiazepines and anticholinergics, used to reduce adverse drug events.

Duty to protect

A legal obligation, arising from Tarasoff-type rulings, to take reasonable steps such as warning or protecting identifiable third parties from a patient's serious threat.

Competence to stand trial

A defendant's present ability to understand the proceedings and assist counsel, a legal determination distinct from criminal responsibility at the time of the offense.

Involuntary commitment criteria

Statutory grounds typically requiring mental illness plus danger to self or others or grave disability; specific standards vary by jurisdiction.

Postpartum psychosis

A psychiatric emergency with delusions, confusion, and mood instability after childbirth, carrying high suicide and infanticide risk; requires urgent inpatient treatment.