Explanations of schizophrenia Flashcards

You may prefer our related Brainscape-certified flashcards:
1
Q

what are the three biological explanations for schizophrenia?

A

-genetics
-neural correlates
-dopamine hypothesis

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

what are the three conditions of research in genetic studies?

A

-family studies
-twin studies
-adoption studies

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

what’s a piece of research on genetics using family studies?

A

Parmas et al 1993
longitudinal study, found 16% of kids who’s mum had schizophrenia developed it compared to 2% who’s mums didn’t have it

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

what’s a piece of research on genetics using twin studies?

A

Gottesman + Shields 1976
concordance rates were 75-91% for monozygotic twins with severe schizophrenia, suggesting genetics play a bigger role in chronic forms

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

what’s a piece of research on genetics using adoption studies?

A

Kety + Ingraham 1992
prevalence rates were 10x higher in genetic relatives than adoptive relatives suggesting genetics play a bigger role than the environment

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

briefly evaluate the genetic explanation

A

-if it was purely genetic, concordance rates would be 100% in monozygotic twins
-small sample sizes make it hard to generalise (leo 2006)
-doesn’t consider other factors
-scientists portray it in a biased way (hedgecoe 2001)
-gene mapping can lead to further development

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

what are neural correlates?

A

abnormalities in specific brain areas that can be associated with the development of schizophrenia. used scanning techniques. commonly found in schizophrenia:
-enlarged ventricles
-prefrontal cortex

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

what was Boo et al’s 2012 research on neural correlates?

A

used MRI scnas on 155 schizophrenia patients, 186 of their mentally stable siblings and 122 non-related schizophrenia patients. found that people with the disorder had decreased grey matter and cortical thinning

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

what are 2 pieces of neural correlates research that pinpoint brain locations?

A

-Juckel et al 2006 - abnormality in the ventrial striatum
-Ho et al 2003 - scanned patients with recent onset then rescanned them 3 years later, found the damage had worsened, especially in frontal lobes

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

briefly evaluate the neural correlated explanation of schizophrenia

A

-some people without schizophrenia have enlarged ventricles, some people with schizophrenia don’t
-patients who don’t respond well to medication have enlarged ventricles
-must consider the environment
-only longitudinal research will show if damage worsens

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

what is the dopamine hypothesis?

A

the neurotransmitter, dopamine, being linket to the onset of schizophrenia
dopamine controls the rate of firing neurons

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

how was the dopamine hypothesis created?

A

it was discovered phenothiazine worked by decreasing dopamine levels

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

what other neurotransmitter may be involved?

A

glutamate (reduced function of the NMDA glutamate receptor in schizophrenia patients, as dopamine receptors restrict the release of glutamate)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

how did Davis et al 1991 update the dopamine hypothesis?

A

not all schizophrenia patients have high dopamine levels, suggested high levels of dopamine in the mesolimbic dopamine system caused positive symptoms, while high levels in the mesocortical dopamine system caused negative symptoms

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

what was Kessler et al’s 2003 research on the dopamine hypothesis?

A

used PET and MRI scans to compare people with schizophrenia to people without. found that people with it had elevated dopamine receptor levels in the basal forebrain and substantia nigra/ventral tegmental brain areas as well as differences in cortical dopamine levels

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

what was Randrup and Munkvad’s 1966 research on the dopamine hypothesis?

A

they created schizophrenic-like behaviour in rats by giving them amphetamines (activates dopamine production) then reversed the effects by giving them neuroleptic drugs which inhibit dopamine release

17
Q

briefly evaluate the dopamine hypothesis

A

-evidence in inconclusive
-several neurotransmitters may be involved
-over-simplistic
-pharmaceutical companies are keen to see it promoted (Healy 2000)
-recovery is slow despite the fact that medication instantly decreases dopamine levels
-could be an effect of schizophrenia, not a cause

18
Q

what are the 3 dysfunctional characteristics expressed in family dysfunction?

A

-high levels of interpersonal conflict
-difficulty communicating with eachother
-being excessively critical and controlling

19
Q

what are 2 key phrases in family dysfunction?

A

-double-blind (bateson et al)(contradictory situations)
-expressed emotion (hostility and criticism)

20
Q

2 pieces of research on family dysfunction

A

-Tienari et al 2004 - 5.8% of kids adopted into healthy families developed the disorder compared to 36.8% adopted into unhealthy families
-Bateson 1956 - hospital visit from a mother exhibiting double-blind

21
Q

briefly evaluate the family dysfunction explanation of schizophrenia

A

-therapies that lower expressed emotion reduced relapse rates
-why do all kids in bad families not develop it if it was a sole explanation
-Bateson was accused of having selective bias
-schizophrenia can cause family dysfunction rather than the other way round

22
Q

what’s the cognitive theory of schizophrenia?

A

focuses on maladaptive thought processes
cognitive deficits (attention, communication and information overload)

23
Q

what role do Beck and Rector 2005 play in the cognitive explanation?

A

proposed a cognitive model that combined interactions between neurobiological, environmental, behavioural and cognitive factors to explain schizophrenia

24
Q

what does the cognitive explanation say causes positive symptoms?

A

cognitive biases
biased information processing
alien control symptoms

25
Q

what does the cognitive explanation say causes negative symptoms?

A

the use of cognitive strategies to control high levels of mental stimulation

26
Q

2 pieces of research on the cognitive explanation of schizophrenia

A

-Elvevag + Goldberg 2000 - schizophrenia is better characterised by cognitive deficits rather than symptoms
-Takahashi et al 2013 - compared electrical brain activity of 410 patients with schizophrenia to 247 patients without when exposed to auditory tunes

27
Q

briefly evaluate the cognitive explanation of schizophrenia

A

-cognitive theories don’t explain what led to cognitive dysfunctions
-may be possible to construct a specific cognitive deficit profile for better diagnosis
-accounts for both positive and negative symptoms
-can be combined with other explanations for a better understanding

28
Q

what is metacognition?

A

the cognitive monitoring of ones own thoughts which enables them to detect errors
it allows people to make sense of their lives and deal with changing environments

29
Q

2 pieces of research on dysfunctional thought processes

A

-Brune et al 2011 - reviewed 20 years of evidence, poor metacognition was evident
-Joshua et al 2009 - sentence completion test, 39 schizophrenia patients vs 40 without, the schizophrenia patients were slower

30
Q

how do dysfunctional thought processes relate to schizophrenia?

A

can lead to serious impairments in goal-directed behaviour, attention, memory, cognitive, flexibility, self-monitoring, inhibition of inappropriate responses and physical motor control of the body

31
Q

briefly evaluate the dysfunctional thought process explanation of schizophrenia

A

-therapies should focus on metacognitive abilities
-research suggests it occurs before onset
-Hemsey said the main problem was a disconnection between stored knowledge and new info
-some models combine with a neurological approach