Biological Explanation Of Schizophrenia

Question 1

what is the biological Explanation of schizophrenia?

Answer 1

the idea that schizophrenia is caused by biological processes such as genes and neurotransmitter such as dopamine

Question 2

genetics KW

Answer 2

strands of dna that produce instructions for physical and psychological features of an organism, such as eye colour and mental disorder. Genes are inherited and transmitted from parents to offspring.

Question 3

dopamine KW

Answer 3

a neurotransmitter that generally has an excitatory effect and is associated with the sensation of pleasure ( food,love, addictions). High or low levels can cause schizophrenia.

Question 4

neural correlates KW

Answer 4

brain scans on people with SCHIZ on their structure or activity in the brain correlated with symptoms of schizophrenia.

Question 5

the genetic basis of schizophrenia

Answer 5

> SCHIZ runs in families but they do share the same environment
there’s a strong correlation with greater genetically similar family members and them both developing SCHIZ
stronger genetic similarity= higher risk of SCHIZ (100%)
identical twins-48% chance if SCHIZ ( share 100% DNA)
suggesting nurture has a large influence as it’s not 100%
siblings- 9%
SCHIZ is polygenic < many candidate genes involved)
SCHIZ is aetiologically heterogeneous ( different combinations can lead to SCHIZ)

Question 6

study that proves SCHIZ is polygenic

Answer 6

Ripke

• studied whole human genome by gathering previous data of people’s genomes of SCHIZ
• 37,000 patients compared to 113,000 controls
• 108 separate genetic variations were associated with increased risk of SCHIZ

Question 7

the role of dopamine in SCHIZ

Answer 7

• neurotransmitter
• creates pleasurable feelings which causes positive reinforcement
• comes from many things such as food ( evolutionary reason)
• can be either high or low levels that cause SCHIZ

Question 8

the dopamine hypothesis

Answer 8

hyperdopaminergia- high levels in the subcortex ( central areas of the brain) or too many receptors increase positive symptoms
hypodopaminergia- low levels in the prefrontal cortex ( thinking and decision making) or not enough receptors lead to negative symptoms of SCHIZ
> high = positive
>low= negative

Question 9

neural correlates of negative symptoms of SCHIZ

EXAMPLE

Answer 9

juckel

• compared suffers of SCHIZ with negative symptoms to a control group by brain scans
• found a correlation between negative symptoms ( such as avolition, flattening) and abnormality of the ventral striatum

Question 10

neural correlate with positive symptoms of SCHIZ

EXAMPLE

Answer 10

-Allen at el
> scanned brains of those experiencing auditory hallucinations and compared them to control group whilst they identified pre recorded speech
> lower activation levels in the superior temporal gyrus and anterior cingulate gyrus were found in the hallucination group