Carlsson Flashcards
What are the aims of Carlsson?
They aimed to see if neurotransmitters other than dopamine were implicated in causing schizophrenia. They aimed to see what role glutamate has in causing schizophrenia
What type of study is Carlsson?
A review study looking at previoulsy published research
How many studies did Carlsson review?
32
What type of studies did Carlsson look at?
32 studies were reviewed looking at such as those using : Rodents and primates to test neurotransmission, Brain structure scans, Those on amphetamines & PCP , those on medication, people with parkinsons, Sz and in remission
What did Carlsson say about the Dopamine hypothesis?
It is insufficient to explain Schizophrenia and other NT could be involved
Which neurotransmitters did Carlsson identify as important?
Glutanate and Serotonin amongst others
What did Carlsson say about Glutamate?
It could be low levels of Glutamate which is causing schizophrenia as evidenced from the effect of PCP
What is the effect of Glutamate?
Glutamate helps control dopamine so low levels of glutamate can cause high levels of dopamine
Failure in Glutamate in which brain system leads to negative symptoms?
Cerebral cortex
Failure in Glutamate in which brain system leads to positive symptoms?
Basal ganglia
What evidence led Carlsson to conclude that Serotonin might be involved?
Clozapine is a very effective drug for Schizophrenia which also effects Serotonin
Which drug was found to be particularly effective because it has both antidopaminergic and antiserotonergic functions?
Clozapine
What is good about using a review study?
You gather a larger sample and more data than someone could with a single study which lets you get a more representative picture
Is Carlsson replicable?
Yes as you could gather a simiilar set of studies now to see if they showed the same results
What is an issue with some of the studies Carlsson gathered?
They used animal studies such as primates which might not apply to human neurotransmitters
What is a strength of studies chosen by Carlsson e.g. the brain scans?
They are empirical scans of brain activity so you get direct and objective measurements
What is a possible issue of using those with Parkinsons and on illicit drugs?
They aren’t exactly the same as Schizophrenia and so findings from these studies might not fully apply
What is an issue with secondary data?
You don’t know exactly how each study was operationalised which might make the findings less valid
Are there ethical issues in Carlsson?
Not directly as it is secondary data so this study doesn’t directly breach guidelines
