Author: Glossary

A procedure in which subjects, individuals are taught appropriate interpersonal responses involving frank, honest, and direct expression of their feelings, both positive and negative. Method used in psychotherapy in which one is taught to state negative and positive feelings directly and frankly.  

A team treatment approach designed to provide comprehensive, community-based psychiatric treatment, rehabilitation, and support to persons with serious and persistent mental illness (e.g., schizophrenia). Among the services ACT teams provide are case management, initial and ongoing assessments, psychiatric services, employment and housing assistance, family support and education, and substance abuse treatment services to allow individuals…

A pervasive developmental characterized by gross and sustained impairment in social interaction and restricted, repetitive, and stereotyped patterns of behavior, interests, and activities occurring in the context of preserved cognitive and language development. A developmental disorder characterized by poor social skills, repetitive behaviors, and focused interest in an esoteric topic that limits social and occupational…

An older tricyclic antidepressant that has been reported to cause extrapyramidal reactions (muscle stiffness, motor restlessness, and decreased movements) and tardive dyskinesia. The brand name for amoxapine.  

An atypical antipsychotic medication approved for the treatment of schizophrenia and acute mania associated with bipolar i disorder. Marketed under the brand name saphris (a sublingual tablet).  

A computer using ideas and methods of computation. Investigators use AI to understand and recreate the principles that make  intelligence possible. Aspects of cognitive processing carried out by a computer. A term used to describe a type of system in which the computer appears to be “thinking,” and thus exhibits intelligence. Although the system appears…

A form of dementia that is caused by thromboembolic cerebral vascular disease. It is usually associated with microinfarcts and vascular changes in areas of the brain where no overt motor signs, such as arm and leg weakness, are noted.  

  A commercial preparation of trihexyphenidyl. An anticholinergic medication used to treat muscle stiffness and other motor side effects from Parkinson’s disease or as a result of treatment with traditional antipsychotics such as Haldol (haloperidol) . The brand name for trihexyphenidyl.  

A category of sleep disorders (also known as parasomnias) that includes sleepwalking and sleep terrors. Most of the symptoms are due to central nervous system (CNS) activation, specifically motor and autonomic discharge. Arousal disorders have several features in common: mental confusion and disorientation, automatic behaviors, nonresponse to external stimuli, difficulty in being fully awakened, and…

A physiological and psychological state of being awake, alert, or reactive to stimuli. In psychology, a state of generalized physiological activation manifest in bodily changes such as increased heart rate and palmar sweating. Felling and physical signs of sexual desire. The act of waking up from sleep, unconsciousness or a drowsy state. Increased responsiveness to…