maternal PKU

a condition in women who have phenylketonuria (PKU) and become pregnant. Expectant mothers with high levels of blood phenylalanine—hyperphenylalaninemia—are at risk of giving birth to offspring with high rates of congenital heart defects, intrauterine growth retardation, intellectual disability, and microcephaly (a small head). Treatment entails dietary management for the expectant mother before and during pregnancy to reduce blood levels of phenylalanine.

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Psychology term of the day

February 22nd 2025

reciprocal inhibition

1. a technique in behavior therapy that aims to replace an undesired response (e.g., anxiety) with a desired one by counterconditioning. It relies on the gradual substitution of a response that is incompatible with the original one and is potent enough to neutralize the anxiety-evoking power of the stimulus. See also systematic desensitization. [devised by Joseph Wolpe]

2. in neuroscience, the inhibition of one spinal reflex when another is elicited. [proposed by Charles Scott Sherrington]

3. a neural mechanism that prevents opposing muscles from contracting at the same time.

4. the inability to recall two associated ideas or items because of their interference with each other.