Chapter 13 Flashcards

1
Q

The hallmark of schizophrenia is ___________

A

psychosis (loss of contact with reality)

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2
Q

First clinical description of schizophrenia

A
  • 1810, John Haslam (apothecary in first psychiatric institution in Europe)
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3
Q

Benedict Morel ‘demence precoce’

A
  • 1860
  • described case of 13yo boy
  • case had dementia features to it
  • thought boys’ intellectual, moral, and physical functions deteriorated bc of brain degeneration of hereditary origin
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4
Q

Emil Kraepelin ‘dementia praecox’

A
  • latin for demence precoce
  • mental deterioration at an early age
  • noted disorder characterized by hallucinations, apathy/indifference, withdrawn behavior, incapacity of regular work
  • best known early definition
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5
Q

Eugen Bleuler (1857-1939)

A
  • coined term schizophrenia
  • schizo = to split; phren = mind
  • disorder is lack of coherence between thought and emotion; to split from reality
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6
Q

Schizophrenia DSM-5 Criteria

A
  • 2+ of symptoms present for at least 1mo
  • delusions
  • hallucinations
  • disorganized speech
  • grossly disorganized/catatonic behavior
  • negative symptoms (ie dim. emotional expression)
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7
Q

Lifetime prevalence of schizophrenia

A

just under 1% (0.7%)

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8
Q

Risk factors for schizophrenia

A
  • having father over 50 (at conception)
  • parent in dry cleaning business
  • first/second generation immigrants (esp Black Caribbean/African ppl living in white communities)
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9
Q

Onset of schizophrenia

A
  • 18-30 (more likely early onset in men)
  • more common/severe in men
  • second and third peak in mid 40s and ealy 60s in women
  • low estrogen worsens symptoms so might play a protective role in women
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10
Q

Delusions

A
  • erroneous belief fixed/firmly held despite clear contradictory evidence (disturbance in content of thought)
  • more than 90% of patients have them at some point
  • ex thoughts being broadcast/inserted/taken away; neutral env. having special meaning; bodily changes/removal of organs
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11
Q

Hallucinations

A
  • sensory experience that seems real but occurs in absence of any external perceptual stimulus
  • auditory most common (75% of patients)
  • likely that auditory hallucinations occur when patients misinterpret self-generated thoughts as coming from another source (show activation of Broca’s area-speech production-and not speech comprehension areas)
  • visual in 39%
  • patients become emotionally involved in hallucinations; incorporate them into delusions
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12
Q

Disorganized speech

A
  • disorder in thought form (delusions are disorder of thought content)
  • fail to make sense even though they are using language in conventional way
  • may make up new words (neologisms)
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13
Q

Disorganized behavior

A
  • elements of this often present in children even when no other symptoms are there yet
  • impairment of goal-directed activity
  • ex issues w hygiene, silliness, unusual dress
  • catatonia: almost no movement
  • catatonic stupor: virtual absence of all mvmt+speech
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14
Q

Positive symptoms of schizophrenia

A
  • excess/distortion in normal behavior and experience
  • “what there is more of”
  • delusions, hallucinations
  • most medications work primarily on positive symptoms!
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15
Q

Negative symptoms of schizophrenia

A
  • absence/deficit of normally present behaviors
  • reduced expressive behavior (ie blunted affect, alogia-little speech)
  • reduced motivation/experience of pleasure (avolition/anhedonia)
  • presence of negative symptoms not a good sign
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16
Q

Schizoaffective Disorder

A
  • features of schizophrenia AND severe mood disorder
  • “schizophrenia w a lot of emotional distress”
  • poor diagnostic reliability
  • moving toward needing to be in full depressive episode for diagnosis
  • 10y outcome better than for schizophrenia patients
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17
Q

Schizophreniform Disorder

A
  • schizophrenia-like symptoms lasting at least 1mo but less than 6mo
  • basically less severe form of schizophrenia
  • prognosis better than for schizophrenia
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18
Q

Delusional Disorder

A
  • delusional beliefs w otherwise normal behavior
  • erotomania delusion involves great love for someone (usually high status) – lots of stalkers!
  • like nano-robots in covid vaccine thing
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19
Q

Brief Psychotic Disorder

A
  • sudden onset of psychotic symptoms/disorganized speech/catatonic behavior
  • typically lasts a few days
  • usually triggered by high stress situation
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20
Q

Familial factors of schizophrenia

A
  • tend to run in families (familial)
  • prevalence in first-degree relatives is 10%
  • second-degree relatives (share 25% of DNA) have 3% prevalence
  • familial =/= genetic
  • risk for identical twins is close to 50%
  • this and bipolar are most genetically based disorders
21
Q

Twin/adoption studies in schizophrenia

A
  • concordance rate for MZ twins 28%, DZ twins 6%
  • higher rates when biological parent has schizophrenia
  • kids at high genetic risk raised in healthy environment ( and low-communication-deviance) don’t develop problems more than kids at low genetic risk
  • so genetic risk + adverse environment is very bad!
22
Q

Molecular genetics and schizophrenia

A
  • probably involves many genes
  • candidate genes: havent rly been identified
  • genome-wide association study (GWAS) looks for profiles of aberrant genetic code (found 103 loci ass. w schizophrenia)
  • COMT gene on chromosome 22 involved in dopamine metabolism (more likely to develop schizophrenia if gen. material del. or w cannabis use in adolescence)
  • strongest finding is region on chromosome 6 (genes involved in immune functioning)
  • some risk alleles also implicated in bipolar
23
Q

Endophenotypes and schizophrenia

A
  • trait that individuals who have this condition tend to have
  • often present before individual develops condition
  • discrete, stable, measurable trait thought to be under genetic control
24
Q

Prenatal exposure in schizophrenia

A
  • higher rates in children born to mothers in second trimester at time of influenza epidemic (viral infection during pregnancy can increase risk!)
  • rhesus incompatibility between mother and infant can increase risk of brain abnormalities
25
Pregnancy/birth complications and schizophrenia
- delivery problems that affect oxygen supply are risk - could be triggered by early nutritional deficiency - SLE late in 1st trimester/early in 2nd
26
Attenuated psychosis syndrome
- new in DSM5 as disorder in need of futher study - focus on prodromal (very early) signs - ppl with this syndrome at risk for later psychosis - commonly perplexed by reality (eg mix up dreams and reality)
27
Neurocognition in schizophrenia
- cognitive impairment is core feature - almost all aspects of cognition are impaired - lower IQ may be risk factor; higher IQ may be protective - sharp decline occurs during transition from premorbid period to full-blown illness - often see poor reaction times, poor Pro50 suppression (no habituation to sounds), eye tracking dysfunction (might be useful endophenotype for genetic studies)
28
Social cognition in schizophrenia
- significant impairments - failure to recognize social hints - difficulty recognizing emotions in faces/speech
29
Loss of brain volume in schizophrenia
- enlarged brain ventricles (more in males) is indicator of reduction in brain tissue - decrease in volume present early in illness - progressive deterioration for many years - psychosis and cortical thinning go together - gradual loss of gray matter in multiple regions (study found 3% decrease in 1y)
30
Affected brain regions in schizophrenia
Reduction of frontal and temporal lobes (memory, decision-making, processing auditory memory) - prefrontal cortex - medial temporal areas (decision-making) - amygdala (emotion) - hippocampus (memory) - thalamus (sensory input) - cause of abnormal brain structure unclear; might be related to stage of illness, medications
31
White matter problems in schizphrenia
- white matter important for connectivity of the brain - abnormalities correlated w cognitive impairments - reductions in volume AND structural abnormalities (abnormalities in first-episode patients and genetic high risk ppl) - like if electrical wire system lost insulating coating
32
Brain functioning in schizophrenia
- hypofrontality (deficits to organize info and take action) - impaired functioning of frontal lobes esp in early stages and those at high risk - dysfunction of temporal lobes (how activity in diff. regions gets coordinated)
33
Cytoarchitecture in schizophrenia
- if cells don't migrate properly, cytoarchitecture is compromised (increase in neural density in some areas) - abnormal distribution of cells in cortex and hippocampus - missing inhibitory interneurons (so can't regulate overactivity)
34
Brain development in adolescence and schizophrenia
- major brain injuries in this period increase risk of developing schizophrenia - ppl hospitalized for head injury have 65% increased risk - if injured between 11-15 risk increased by 85%
35
Psychosocial and cultural aspects of schizophrenia
- past theory that family was to blame (conflicting messaging communication style) but no empirical evidence - if not genetically at risk, adverse env has little effect
36
Expressed Emotion (EE) and schizophrenia
- measure of family environment based on how family member speaks ab patient in interview - 3 elements: criticism, hostility, emotional overinvolvement (EOI) - High-EE homes >2x chance of relapse (esp for chronically ill patients) - still don't know exactly how it affects the brain
37
Urban living as a risk factor for schizophrenia
- kids who spent first 15y in urban settign 2.75x more likely to develop schizophrenia - estimated if we all lived in rural settings number of cases would decrease by 30%
38
Immigration and schizophrenia
- recent immigrants at much higher risk - darker skin more at risk - no evidence this can be explained by cultural misunderstandings - ppl who feel discriminated against more likely to develop psychotic symptoms
39
Cannabis use and schizophrenia
- ppl w schizophrenia 2x more likely to smoke cannabis (might be correlate not cause) - majority of cannabis users never develop schizophrenia - might accelerate progressive brain changes
40
Diathesis-Stress model of schizophrenia
- genetic predispositions shaped by environmental factors (prenatal exposures, infections, stressors) - genetic factors+prenatal/perinatal env.=brain vulnerability - stress+developmental maturation processes act on brain vulnerability and lead to psychosis
41
Nongenetic risk factors for schizophrenia (7)
- older father - virus exposure - obstetric complications - urban upbringing - head injury - cannabis use - migrant status
42
Neurochemistry and schizophrenia
Dopamine linked to schizophrenia - chlorpromazine blocks dopamine receptors (helps reduce psychosis) - amphetamines produce excess dopamine and mimic psychotic state - L-DOPA used in Parkinson's might cause psychosis Glutamate - excitatory neurotransmitter - when receptors blocked, schizophrenia-like symptoms (PCP and ketamine do this)
43
Pharmacological treatments of schizophrenia
- first gen antipsychotics (block action of dopamine); neuroleptics like chlorpromazine and haloperidol - second gen antipsychotics (less parkinson-ish side effects) - research on role of estrogen
44
Second-gen antipsychotics
- block dopamine receptors more selectively - less likelihood of extrapyramidal (motor) side effects - clozapine, olanzapine, risperidone, ziprasidone
45
Clinical outcomes of schizophrenia
- not favourable; lifelong condition - 38% of patients thought of as recovered 15-25y after development of disorder (less delusions/hallucinations but don't go back to normal) - about 12% of patients need long-term institutionalization - men die 14.6y earlier - women w schizoaffective die 17.5y earlier
46
Neuropleptic Malignant Syndrome
- life-threatening idiosyncratic rxn to antipsychotic drugs - fever, altered mental status, muscle rigidity, autonomic dysfunction - associated w virtually all neuroleptics (incl newer atypical antipsychotics and other meds that affect central dopaminergic neurotransmission
47
Estrogen treatment and schizophrenia
- PANSS positive symptom scores go down with estrogen treatment over 28 days vs placebo
48
Patient perspectives in schizophrenia
- not all benefit from antipsychotics - side-effects can lead to discontinued meds - need other interventions (ie social skills) - might avoid taking meds bc it confirms they are mentally ill
49
Treatment approaches in schizophrenia
- Case management (coordinating services) - Family therapy - Psychoeducation - Social-skills training (transitional living unit) - Cognitive remediation (training cognitive skills) - CBT (address delusions) - Exercise