biological explanations of SCZ

Question 1

What are the biological explanations for schizophrenia?

Answer 1

Genetics and neural correlates including the dopamine hypothesis

Question 2

How do genetic factors contribute to schizophrenia?

Answer 2

Schizophrenia tends to run in families and research suggests a genetic predisposition increases the likelihood of developing the disorder

Question 3

What are neural correlates in the context of schizophrenia?

Answer 3

Neural correlates are patterns of brain activity or structures associated with the symptoms of schizophrenia

Question 4

What is the dopamine hypothesis of schizophrenia?

Answer 4

The dopamine hypothesis suggests that schizophrenia is linked to an overactivity of dopamine in certain brain regions

Question 5

Which brain areas are implicated in the dopamine hypothesis?

Answer 5

The mesolimbic and mesocortical pathways are key areas involved in dopamine overactivity

Question 6

How is dopamine overactivity related to positive symptoms of schizophrenia?

Answer 6

Excess dopamine in the mesolimbic pathway is thought to cause positive symptoms like hallucinations and delusions

Question 7

How is dopamine underactivity related to negative symptoms of schizophrenia?

Answer 7

Reduced dopamine in the mesocortical pathway is associated with negative symptoms such as avolition and flat affect

Question 8

What evidence supports the genetic basis of schizophrenia?

Answer 8

Twin studies family studies and adoption studies have shown higher concordance rates for schizophrenia among individuals who share more genetic material

Question 9

What are the key neurotransmitters involved in schizophrenia?

Answer 9

Dopamine and more recently glutamate has also been implicated

Question 10

What type of studies are used to investigate the genetic basis of schizophrenia?

Answer 10

Twin studies family studies and adoption studies are commonly used

Question 11

What is the role of the prefrontal cortex in schizophrenia?

Answer 11

The prefrontal cortex involved in decision-making and reasoning shows reduced activity in individuals with schizophrenia contributing to cognitive symptoms

Question 12

What structural abnormalities are associated with schizophrenia?

Answer 12

Enlarged ventricles reduced grey matter and abnormalities in the temporal and frontal lobes

Question 13

How does the glutamate hypothesis relate to schizophrenia?

Answer 13

The glutamate hypothesis suggests that schizophrenia may involve reduced glutamate activity particularly in the prefrontal cortex

Question 14

(Evidence for genetic links in SCZ)

What did Shields (1962) find regarding schizophrenia?

Answer 14

Shields found higher concordance rates for schizophrenia in monozygotic twins (MZ) compared to dizygotic twins (DZ) supporting a genetic basis

Question 15

(Evidence for neural correlates)

What did Johnstone et al. (1976) find regarding brain structure and schizophrenia?

Answer 15

Johnstone et al. found that individuals with schizophrenia had enlarged ventricles in the brain suggesting a link between structural abnormalities and the disorder

Question 16

What did Gottesman et al. (1991) find about genetic risk for schizophrenia?

Answer 16

Gottesman et al. found that the risk of developing schizophrenia increases with genetic relatedness to an affected individual with concordance rates highest in monozygotic twins

Question 17

Evidence against genetic explanations of SCZ.

Answer 17

No study has found a 100% concordance rate between MZ twins, so SCZ cant just be caused by genes.

Other factors must be considered

Question 18

Evidence for dopamine hypothesis.

Answer 18

Antipsychotic drugs reduce the symptoms of SCZ by blocking D2 receptor.

drugs such as amphetamines, which increase dopamine function can sometimes cause SCZ like symptoms in people witout SCZ

Question 19

Evidence against dopamine hypotheses.

Answer 19

Antipsychotics only work on positive symptoms of SCZ.

Link with dopamine is correlational so it doest show cause and effect relationship.

Question 20

Evidence against neural correlates.

Answer 20

people without SCZ can also have enlarged ventricles.

findings are correlational/