Area 2: mental health

Question 1

what is the biochemical explanation of depression?

Answer 1

the monoamine hypothersis

Question 2

what is the monoamine hypothersis

Answer 2

Depression is caused by reduced levels of monoamines
Group of neurotransmitters monoamines such as: noradrenaline- alertness, Serotonin- mood, Dopamine-pleasure, regulate the limbic system ‘emotional expression.’

Question 3

what evidence supports the monoamine hypothersis?

Answer 3

meyer- studied 17 patients with depression who hadn’t took medication compared to 17 ‘normal people’ using PET scans and found depressed patients had higher monoamine oxidase levels in all 11 brain areas, this chemical breaks down monoamines

Question 4

what is the biochemical explanation of schizophrenia?

Answer 4

the dopamine hypothersis

Question 5

what is the dopamine hypothersis?

Answer 5

1st -excess of dopamine at limbic system
Revised-excess of dopamine at D2 receptors so more dopamine is absorbed at the post synaptic neurone.
+ve symptoms - too much dopamine activity in mesolimbic pathway responsible for motivation, emotion, and reward.
-ve symptoms - erratic dopamine function in mesocritical pathway responsible for executive function.

Question 6

what evidence supports the dopamine hypothesis?

Answer 6

Seeman:
-Drugs increasing dopamine increase positive symptoms e.g. hallucinations
-Anti psychotics reduce symptoms
-Post mortems show higher density of D2 receptors in schizophrenics.

Question 7

what is the biochemical explanation of phobias?

Answer 7

GABA

Question 8

what does GABA have to do with phobias?

Answer 8

Inhibitory neurotransmitters in CNS switch off next neurone.
GABA counterbalances excitatory action of glutamate transmitters. which are responsible for memory and learning. people with phobias had low levels of GABA so pathway of glutamate isn’t stopped leading to feeling of panic and anxiety.

Question 9

what evidence supports the GABA explanation of phobias?

Answer 9

Pande: randomly assigned 69 patients with social phobia to either take a drug increasing GABA levels or took a placebo drug. found significant decrease in symptoms in GABA group so higher levels of GABA lower levels of anxiety.

Question 10

what is the brain abnormality explanation of depression?

Answer 10

increased activity in amygdala which regulates emotion, when depressed patients are presented with negative stimuli and decreased activity with happy stimulus.
Hippocampus- significantly smaller in people with depression. The more severe the depression the more loss of grey matter in the hippocampus

Question 11

what is the evidence for the brain abnormality explanation of depression?

Answer 11

Sheline- fMRI scans of 11 depressed patients and 11 normal people. Scans showed amygdala was more active in depressed during resting and when presented with emotional images showing fear
Kronmuller- significantly smaller hippocampus in 33 females and 24 males who relapsed after 2 years of being treated for depression compared to a control group of 30.

Question 12

what is the brain abnormality explanation of schizophrenia?

Answer 12

Enlarged ventricles- 4 ventricles in the brain hold cerebrospinal fluid which provide nutrients to the brain. Enlarged ventricles in the brain mean decreased grey matter in the temporal lobe which causes hallucinations and frontal lobe which causes disorganized speech.
The thalamus is also reduced in grey matter which can cause verbal and audio hallucinations. They also have a smaller brain size meaning further reduction in grey matter.

Question 13

what is the evidence for the brain abnormalty explanation of schizophrenia?

Answer 13

Pol- 159 people with schizophrenia,158 control group. Found up to 30% increase in size of ventricles in people with schizophrenia meaning less grey matter=less functionality.

Question 14

what is the brain abnormality explanation of phobias?

Answer 14

Prefrontal cortex- when not functioning properly it fails to supress the fearful urges from the amygdala.
Amygdala- People with phobias have a smaller amygdala which has increased blood flow, therefore it is unable to control behavioural and physiological responses to fearful objects or situations.
Hippocampus- Reduced functioning may mean a person only recalls link between a stimulus and a previous fearful experience rather than the neutral and positive feelings.

Question 15

what is the evidence for the brain abnormality explanation of phobias?

Answer 15

Ahs- used PET scans to measure cerebral blood flow in amygdala and PFC of patients with snake or spider of phobia. Increased activity amygdala, decreased in PFC

Question 16

what genetic explanation of depression?

Answer 16

Family studies-Gottesman study shows increased risk that children have of developing bipolar if parents have it or another disorder.
Twin studies-major depression concordance rate between monozygotic twins is between 30%-50%. dizygotic twins is 12-14%
Adoption studies-few studies are conducted so less consistent support

Question 17

what is the genetic explanation of schizophrenia?

Answer 17

Family studies-1% prevalence in the world, but risk is 10 times greater than baseline for 1st degree relatives (A parent, sibling, or child of an individual)
Twin studies-Glatt found concurrence for schizophrenia in MZ twins is 46%-53%. DZ twins concordance rate is about 15%
Adoption studies-Finnish adoptive study found lifetime schizophrenia risk for adopted away child if biological mum had schizophrenia was 9.4%. if biological parents were unaffected, it was 1.2% risk.

Question 18

what is the genetic explanation of phobais?

Answer 18

twin studies-Kendler found that concordance rate for animal type specific phobias was 25.9% for MZ twins and 11% for DZ twins. no difference for situation specific phobias.

Question 19

what is the background of gottesman?

Answer 19

Past research has been done showing the increased risk of psychological disorders when parent(s) have a disorder. This can also be useful in genetic counselling.

Question 20

what is the aim of gottesman?

Answer 20

to Use a large sample to investigate the likelihood of offspring having schizophrenia or bipolar if one or both parents suffer from one of the disorders.

Question 21

what is the sample of gottesman?

Answer 21

Population based cohort of 2.7 million people born in Denmark alive in 1968 or born later than 1968 with register link to both parents aged over 10 in 2007.

Question 22

what is the design of gottesman?

Answer 22

Secondary data from a civil registration database

Question 23

what is the measure of gottesman?

Answer 23

risk of bipolar or schizophrenia disorder as cumulative incidences by age 52.

Question 24

what is the procedure of gottesman?

Answer 24

Used civil registration to identify parents. Then each child and parents was checked to seer if they were om the psychiatric register and if so what specific diagnosis. Data on each offspring was then linked with parents’ psychiatric history so likelihood of disorder could be calculated.

Question 25

what is the risk of developing schizophrenia if both parents have schizophrenia?

Answer 25

Both parents with diagnosis:
27.3% chance, 67.5% other diagnosis

Question 26

what is the risk of developing schizophrenia if only 1 parent have schizophrenia?

Answer 26

1 parent = 7%

Question 27

what is the risk of developing bipolar if both parents have the disorder?

Answer 27

24.95% chance
44.2% other diagnosis

Question 28

conclusions of Gottesman?

Answer 28

If only one parent has a disorder there is an increased risk of developing that disorder, however this is even greater when both parents suffer from either schizophrenia or bipolar.
Supports the genetic approach that if 1st degree relatives have a disorder this has an increased risk on an individual.
Could be useful in genetic counselling.

Question 29

what are the 3 main biological treatments?

Answer 29

antidepressants
antipsychotics
ECT

Question 30

what are antidepressants and what do they do?

Answer 30

SSRI’s - Blocks the reuptake of serotonin at the pre synaptic neuron
therefore increasing the amount of serotonin in the synaptic gap and
therefore increasing the individual’s mood

Question 31

what are antipsychotics and what do they do?

Answer 31

block the dopamine by occupying post synaptic receptor sites at the D2 receptors.
atypical- also help deal with positive and negative symptoms. lowers level of of dopamine being absorbed so post synaptic neuron wont be overstimulated. reduces symptoms such as hallucinations

Question 32

what is ECT?

Answer 32

uses electrodes to send mild currents into the brain usually bilaterally on both sides. it creates a siezure in the patient and is given to people with severe depression.

Question 33

how often is ECT given?

Answer 33

6-8 treatments over a 3-4 week period

Question 34

what does the electrical currents do?

Answer 34

changes activity of neurotransmitters in the brain and stimulates the limbic system