L2 - Schizophrenia 7/10

Question 1

What are copy number variants?

Answer 1

Changes in the number of copies of a particular gene - deletion or duplication

Question 2

What are the effects of copy number variants?

Answer 2

Associated with things like ASD and SZ, and similar effects are found if the gene is missing or duplicated

Question 3

How are copy number variants linked with brain differences e.g dopamine?

Answer 3

Not known - but there are some genes related to dopamine within this CNV region

Question 4

What sort of differences can be found between the brain of a healthy person and a schizophrenic person?

Answer 4

Reduced grey matter
Enlarged ventricles
Smaller hippocampus
Temporal lobe degeneration
Large ventricle
Atrophy in frontal cortex

Question 5

Discuss Thompson et al’s 2001 study

Answer 5

Young adolescents - 12 years old - who had an early onset of SZ
Longitudinal MRI
Watched grey matter over time
Compared with control

Question 6

What were the results of Thompson et al’s 2001 study?

Answer 6

Severe loss of grey matter is observed, upto 5% annually - in parietal, motor, and temporal cortices

Question 7

How might the loss of grey matter lead to symptoms?

Answer 7

It might be easier to link this general neuropathology to ‘underlying’, ‘basic’ cognitive symptoms than hallucinations or delusions

Question 8

Discuss eye tracking and schizophrenia

Answer 8

Basic eye tracking of smooth pursuit is disrupted in schizophrenia - could be related to overactive dopamine or too much caffeine

Question 9

What is the Wisconsin card sorting task?

Answer 9

A neuropsychological test that measures frontal cortex function and executive function. In the task, participants are asked to sort cards based on different rules (like colour, shape, or number), but the rules change without warning during the test. The ability to do the task is impaired in individuals with SZ and frontal lobe damage.

Question 10

What is the prepulse inhibition?

Answer 10

A weaker, non-startling stimulus is played and reduces the reaction of hearing a stronger startling stimulus after.

Question 11

What is the relationship between the prepulse inhibition and SZ?

Answer 11

Impaired in SZ - people with SZ can’t habituate to stimuli due to an increase in the dopaminergic system. This means you cannot figure which stimuli is important - starts to have auditory hallucinations

Question 12

What is the Theory of Mind?

Answer 12

The ability to understand that other people have thoughts, beliefs, desires, intentions, and perspectives that are different from one’s own.

Question 13

What is the Sally Anne Task?

Answer 13

Sally puts ball in basket
Anne moves ball out of basket and puts in a box
Sally comes back and subject has to say where Sally will look for the ball. Most children can do this task at the age of 4 or 5. Children with an early diagnosis of ASD cannot do this very well.
If you have a theory of mind you will know Sally is unaware of what Anne did and that Sally will look in the basket where she left the ball.

Question 14

What is the relationship between ToM and SZ?

Answer 14

They might find ToM tasks more difficult. Could have an overactive ToM

Question 15

What are cognitive biases?

Answer 15

Overreport confrontational interactions

Question 16

What are attentional biases?

Answer 16

Like anxiety over attend to negative stimuli (and those relevant to delusions)

Question 17

What are reasoning biases?

Answer 17

Jumping to conclusions

Question 18

What are interpretational biases?

Answer 18

Hearing voices

Question 19

What is Seligman’s attributional model?

Answer 19

The way individuals attribute causes to successes or failures influences their emotional responses and behaviour

Question 20

What are the three dimensions of Seligman’s attributional model?

Answer 20

Internal vs external
Global vs specific
Stable vs Unstable

Question 21

How are negative events interpreted to lead to depression? (Find examples of each when you are revising)

Answer 21

Internal, global, stable

Question 22

How are negative events interpreted to lead to delusions?

Answer 22

External, global, and stable

Question 23

How can the family be implicated in schizophrenia?

Answer 23

Double bind and paradoxical communication
Communication deviance
Expressed emotion

Question 24

What is double bind and paradoxical communication?

Answer 24

Double bind - A person receives conflicting messages/demands - e.g being told to tell the truth then receiving an angry reaction after being honest
Paradoxical communication - refers to messages that contain inherent contradictions or are self-defeating - essentially no choice but there is the illusion of choice - ie a sign that says Do not read this sign.

Question 25

What is communication deviance?

Answer 25

Refers to unclear, fragmented, or confusing communication patterns that make it difficult for a listener to follow or understand. These patterns often lack clear organization or coherence, making the conversation hard to interpret.

Question 26

What is expressed emotion?

Answer 26

refers to the emotional climate or tone of family interactions, particularly in the context of caring for someone with a mental illness. It typically involves three key components:

Criticism: Negative comments about the individual, often regarding their personality or behavior.

Hostility: More intense negativity, reflecting rejection or anger towards the individual.

Emotional Over-Involvement (EOI): Overprotective, intrusive, or overly concerned behaviors that suggest a lack of boundaries between family members.

Question 27

What is socioeconomic status?

Answer 27

Household income, access to facilities, educational attainment

Question 28

How can SES be related to SZ?

Answer 28

Lower SES - more financial stress, increased stressors, lack of education

Question 29

What is the social drift hypothesis?

Answer 29

Those with schizophrenia have difficulty with employment and drift to lower SES

Question 30

What is the sociogenic hypothesis?

Answer 30

Lower SES, more stressful life events