Final Flashcards
(235 cards)
What is the definition of Schizophrenia?
a sever, lifelong mental illness consisting of distrubed thinking, abnormal behavior, an inability to understand what is real, and impaired processing of emotions
What are positive symptoms in schizophrenia?
presence of abnormal behaviors (hallucinations, delusions, thoughts of persecution)
What are negative symptoms of schizophrenia?
reduction in normal behaviors (reduced emotional responsiveness, social withdrawal, reduced movemet, lack of motivation)
How long must the schizophrenic symptoms be present in order to be diagnosed?
6 months
What are the five types of schizophrenia?
- paranoid- prominent positive symptoms
- catatonic- predomininant negative symptoms
- disorganized- silly or immature emotional responses
- undifferentiated- does not appropriately fit these categories
- residual- now present less symptoms than they did in the past
What percent of patients exhibit chronic symptoms of schizophrenia? The remaining percent exhibit….
50-70% of patients exhibit chronic symptoms…the remaining 30-50% exhibit residual features
What is treatment resistant schizophrenia? How many patients exhibit this?
exhibit minimal or no improvements afer two trails with either typical or atypical antipsychotic drugs… 1/3 qualify.
When are benzodiazepines prescribed to patients with schizophrenia? What causes the reason?
those with catatonia (negative symptoms)
may be caused by depression, alcohol withdrawal, AIDS
Nearly all patients with schizophrenia have deficits in…
cognitive functioning (working memory, reference memory, attention, executive function)
People with schizophrenia often have poor functional outcomes, what does this mean?
patients inclusion in a community, behaving normally in social situations, successful psychosocial skills are all impraied
What is a sensory gating deficit? What test is used to test for this?
low capacity to filter out unimportant stimuli in the enviornment (misinterpretation of the enviornment…can lead to delusional behavior)
test used: prepulse inhibition procedure…schizophrenia patients have a diminished ability to inhibit a startle response
What is cognitive dysmetria?
abnormalties in processing, coordinating, and responding to information
When is schizophrenia usually first diagnosed?
late teens/early 20s (never really before puberty or after 40)
How many people does schizophrenia affect?
1% of world population (~3 million in the US)
How does schizophrenia affect men and women
equal prevalence in both, but earlier onset in males (18-25) later in women (25-35)
-men will prematurely have poor socail functioning, whereas women portray fewer schizotypal traits
men show more negative symptoms, more withdrawn and passive…women have pos. symptoms (hallucinations and paanoia, more emotional and impulsive–easier to treat)
What happens in the prodromal phase of schizophrenia?
pre-schizophrenia signs characterized by less frequent and less severe symptoms…attention impairment most predictive
exhibit reduced volume of cortical gray matter
What does schizophrenia derive from?
genetic abnormalities, reduced volume of brain structure, and abnormal connectivity among brain structures
most evidence of the derivation of schizophrenia is found in what gene? and what does this gene code for?
disrupted SIDC1 gene (gene codes for a protein important in signaling event that occur within neurons, development of neurons, and cell migration)
What is the most consistent observation in schizophrenic brains?
reduced volume sizes of structures in the left hemisphere and temporal lobe
–also fine decreased volume of frontal lobe, reduced connectivity from thalamus to cerebellum
What is found in the cognitive dysmetria theory?
dysfunctions in connectivity between thalaus and cerebellum…and thalamus and cerebral cortex
leads to abnormal sensory processings, timing functions, and error processings
What is found in the brain during auditory hallucinations, memory tasks, and rest in schizophrenia?
abnormal levels of activity in the hippocampus
What is the neurodevelopmental hypothesis?
abnormal nervous system develoopment leads to irregular neuronal signaling in the brain
–genetics impacts synaptogenesis and myelination
What did early treatments of schizophrenia include?
confinement, induced fevers, convulsive shock therapies, and frontal lobotomies
What drug did Dr. Henri Laborit administer in 1952 which showed a reduction in psychotic symptoms?
preanesthetic agent: chlorpromazine