Biological Explanations: Neural Correlates

Question 1

Neural correlates are

Answer 1

Areas of the brain linked to schizophrenia due to either structure or function

Question 2

Hypofrontality

Answer 2

Frontal lobes in schiz patients have reduced activity and size compared to healthy controls

Question 3

Functions of frontal lobes are fluency of verbal expresssion and links to schizophrenia because

Answer 3

Reduced activity could produce disorganised speech

Question 4

Ventricles are fluid cavities in the brain which have found

Answer 4

To be larger in schiz patients than in healthy controls, links to frontal lobe abnormalities because ventricles have expanded to fill space of frontal lobes

Question 5

Ventricle enlargement linked to type 2 schiz

Answer 5

Type 2 schiz patients have mostly negative symptoms

Question 6

Abnormality in the ventral striatum linked to

Answer 6

Avolition,

region linked to anticipation of award so can indirectly explain lack of motivation and avolition

Question 7

Evidence to support link between some abnormalities
Junkel
Andreason

Answer 7

Lower levels of activity in ventral striatum of schiz patient than healthy controls

In CT scans found significant enlargement of ventricles in schiz patients compared to controls

Increases validity of neural correlates explanation by showing link between brain abnormalities and schiz, may be the cause

Question 8

Methodological flaws with correlational evidence

Answer 8

Difficult to establish cause and effect, brain abnormalities can not be manipulated and observed after diagnosis
Alternative could be symptoms lead to changes in brain areas.

Negative symptoms may result in less information passing through the striatum, causing reduced activity

Reduces validity of neural correlates explanation, implies may not be the cause of schizophrenia

Question 9

Conflicting research into neural correlates

Answer 9

Failed to replicate previous results
Neural correlates hard to define and measure accurately
Abnormalities not found in all patients with schizophrenia
Hard to measure ventricle enlargement accurately
No set criteria/definition for enlargement
Ventricle size varies according to age and gender
Reduces reliability, cannot explain all cases of schizophrenia