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Psycopathology > 9. Biological Approach To Explaining OCD > Flashcards

9. Biological Approach To Explaining OCD Flashcards

1
Q

What is a genetic explanation?

A

Genes passed down by parents are the cause of OCD

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2
Q

Who did Lewis observe in 1936?

A

OCD patients and their family members

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3
Q

What percentage of Lewis’ patients had parents with OCD?

A

37%

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4
Q

What percentage of Lewis’ patients had siblings with OCD?

A

21%

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5
Q

What is likely passed down through the genes rather than genetic certainty?

A

Genetic vulnerability

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6
Q

What does the diathesis-stress model say?

A

Certain genes leave people more likely to suffer a mental disorder, but it is not certain

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7
Q

What are candidate genes?

A

Genes that create vulnerability for OCD

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8
Q

What are some OCD candidate genes involved in?

A

Regulation of the serotonin system

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9
Q

What gene is thought to affect the transport of serotonin across synapses?

A

5HT1-D beta

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10
Q

What does polygenic mean?

A

Many genes influence a trait

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11
Q

How many genes did Taylor find in 2013 could be linked to OCD?

A

230

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12
Q

What two neurotransmitters are most believed to be associated with OCD?

A

Serotonin, dopamine

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13
Q

What does aetiologically heterogenous mean?

A

The genes that cause OCD are different from person to person

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14
Q

What types of OCD are most likely the result of particular genetic variations?

A

Hoarding disorder, religious obsession

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15
Q

What did Nestadt et al study in 2010?

A

Twin studies relating to OCD

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16
Q

In Nestadt et Al’s study, what percentage of identical twins shared OCD?

A

68%

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17
Q

In Nestadt et Al’s study, what percentage of non-identical twins shared OCD?

A

31%

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18
Q

What did Cromer et al find in 2007 about the past of OCD patients?

A

Over half had a traumatic event in their past, and OCD was more severe in those who had more than one trauma

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19
Q

What are neurotransmitters responsible for?

A

Relaying information between neurons

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20
Q

What are neural explanations?

A

OCD is determined by the behaviour of the nervous system, including the brain and neurotransmitters

21
Q

What happens if someone has low levels of serotonin?

A

Their mood is affected

22
Q

What neurotransmitter abnormality can sometimes explain OCD?

A

Serotonin

23
Q

What do some cases of OCD, in particular hoarding disorder, seem to be associated with?

A

Impaired decision making

24
Q

What part of the brain can impaired decision making be associated with?

A

The lateral frontal lobes

25
Q

What are the lateral frontal lobes responsible for?

A

Logical thinking and decision making

26
Q

What other part of the brain functions abnormally in OCD?

A

Parahippocampal gyrus

27
Q

What is the parahippocampal gyrus associated with?

A

Processing unpleasant emotions

28
Q

What drug treatment can be given to reduce symptoms of OCD?

A

Antidepressants

29
Q

Why does the effectiveness of antidepressants show that OCD can be related to the serotonin system?

A

Antidepressants work purely on the serotonin system

30
Q

What is the issue with using brain systems to identify OCD?

A

No system has been found that always plays a role in OCD

31
Q

Why should we not argue neurotransmitter or brain structure abnormalities cause OCD?

A

They may be the result, rather than the cause

32
Q

What other mental disorder do people with OCD usually face?

A

Depression

33
Q

What is co-morbidity?

A

Having two mental disorders together

34
Q

Why is accompanying depression an issue for explaining OCD?

A

The disruption to the serotonin system may be from depression, rather than OCD

35
Q

Why are twin studies flawed as genetic evidence?

A

As well as having shared genes identical twins are likely to have a more similar environment than non-identical twins

36
Q

Why might non-identical twins not have the same environment?

A

They could be opposite genders, which leads to different life experiences

37
Q

What are the 3 aspects of the genetic explanation of OCD

A
  • candidate genes
  • OCD is polygenic
  • there are different types of OCD
38
Q

What is an example of a candidate gene for OCD

A

5HT1-D, which is implicated in the efficiency of transport of serotonin across synapses

39
Q

Two weaknesses of genetic explanation

A
  • too many candidate genes

- environmental risk factors

40
Q

Too many candidate genes

A
  • psychologists have been largely unsuccessful at pining down all of the genes involved in OCD
  • this is largely because there are several genes involved, and each genetic variation increases risk by only a fraction
  • so the genetic explanation is unlikely to ever be very useful because it provides very little predictive value
41
Q

environmental risk factors

A
  • environmental factors can also trigger OCD (diathesis risk model)
  • so OCD can not be entirely genetic in origin, at least not in all cases
  • it may be more productive to focus on the environmental causes because we are more able to do something about these
42
Q

An example of environmental stress causing OCD

A
  • Cromer eat al
    Found that over half of the OCD patients in their sample had a traumatic event in their lives, and the OCD was more severe in those with more than one trauma
43
Q

Neural explanations

A

The view that physical and psychological characteristics are determined by the behaviour of the nervous system, in particular the brain as well as individual neurons.

44
Q

Role of serotonin

A

a neurotransmitter believed to help regulate mood

45
Q

A strength of neural explanations of OCD

A
  • supporting evidence
  • some antidepressants which work purely on the serotonin system by increasing levels, have effectively reduced OCD symptoms
  • OCD symptoms also form part of other biological originated conditions like Parkinson’s disease, suggesting biological processes that cause symptoms in those conditions may also be responsible for OCD
46
Q

3 weaknesses of the biological approach to explaining OCD

A
  • it is not clear exactly what neural mechanisms are involved
  • we should not assume that the neural mechanisms cause OCD
  • the serotonin ocd link may simply be co morbidity with depression
47
Q

It is not clear exactly what neural mechanisms are involved

A
  • cavedini et als study has shown that these neural systems are the same systems that function abnormally in OCD
  • but, research has also identified other brain systems that may be involved sometimes, but no system has been found that always plays a role in OCD
    So we can’t really claim to understand the neural mechanisms involved in OCD
48
Q

We should not assume the neural mechanisms cause OCD

A

There is evidence suggesting that various neurotransmitters and brain structures function abnormally in OCD patients, but we can’t be sure that these cause it- they could develop because of it

49
Q

The serotonin-ocd link may simply be co morbidity with depression

A
  • many ocd sufferers also become depressed (co-morbidity)
  • this depression likely involves disruption to the serotonin system
  • so we can’t be sure that serotonin disruption is involved with OCD: it may be that the serotonin system is simply disrupted because the patient is depressed as well

Psycopathology (10 decks)

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