Lecture 13: Neuropsychiatric disorders & Psychotic disorders: Chapter 24 Flashcards
Why is schizophrenia relevant to neuropsychiatry? (2)
- Severe mental disorder
- Neruobiology and cognition is important to understanding the condition
What are the 7 disorders in schizophrenia spectrum and other psychotic disorders in the DSM?
- Schizophrenia
- Delusional disorder
- Brief Psychotic disorder
- Schizophreniform disorder
- Schizoaffective disorder
- Substance/medication induced psychotic disorder
- Psychotic diorder due to another medical condition
What percentage of people fully recovers? Which percentage of people recover partially?
Full: 25%
Partial: 50%
What is the life expectancy of people with schizophrenia and why?
Live 15-20 years shorter due to all the other symptoms –> heart disease, diabetes, suicide
Why do some people prefer psychosis spectrum instead of schizophrenia spectrum?
Schizophrenia has a lot of stigma
Describe the 3 factors in the schizophrenia spectrum
- Experiences: ideas, noticing something in your environment
- Symptoms: convinced some things are a sign and thinking about the experiences
- Disorder: you always think you’re getting signs and it interrupts your life
What is a common ground for people believing in fake news and people in psychosis?
Both are convinced something is real, despite of real convincing objective evidence.
It’s really hard to tell these people these things aren’t true and then have them accept it
What do we mean with precision medicine?
It’s important to adapt medication to the individual, since not all people respond well to e.g. antipsychotics
Which psychological disorder has the most overlap in SNP (single nucleotide polymorphisms) with schizophrenia?
Bipolar disorder –> some similar genetic predispositions
Do all schizophrenics share the same neuro-biology? Why?
No, the symptoms and behavior of schizophrenia is very heterogeneous
What is research domain criteria (RDoC)? How does it relate to the DSM?
An attempt to (re)map clinical conditions from the bottom up
From genes/cells to behavior and experience
It’s not meant to replace the DSM, but it’s meant to be an addition to the DSM
What is HiTOP?
An attempt to move away from the classical diagnostic classification of the DSM and move toward dimensions of symptoms with a statistical basis
What is the difference between dopamine receptor agonists and antagonists? Give an example of a type of medication for each
Agonists: activates receptors (anti-parkinson)
Antagonists: blocks receptors (antipsychotics)
What is the dopamine hypothesis of schizophrenia?
There are too many dopamine receptors, so antipsychotics are necessary to block some receptors
Why do sometimes dosages of antipsychotics have to be increased?
The initial response of the body to antipsychotics may be to make extra dopamine receptors. Then the dosage has to be higher to block more dopamine receptors
What are Bleuler’s 4 A’s of schizophrenia?
- Ambivalence: decrease goal-oriented actions
- Blunted Affect: decreased emotional expression
- Autism: decreased participation social interactions
- Loosening of Association: incoherent line of thought
What are the 3 categories of symptoms in schizophrenia described nowadays?
- Positive symptoms: hallucinations, delusions
- Negative symptoms: blunted affect, ambivalence, autism
- Disorganization: loosening of association
What percentage of schizophrenics suffer from cognitive impairments?
70-80%
When does the initial psychotic episode usually occur? When do mild cognitive impairments occur?
Initial psychotic: early adulthood
MCI: before first episode
Why does the DSM not include cognitive impairment in their criteria?
Because these symptoms are not specific and are found in many other psychiatric disorders
What 3 social factors contribute to a higher prevalence of schizophrenia?
- Migrants
- Developed countries
- Higher geographical degrees of latitude
What is seen in first-degree relatives of someone with schizophrenia?
They show subclinical symptoms of schizophrenia, often negative symptoms and neurocognitive impairments
What are 3 abnormalities in schizophrenia on the brain level?
- Decreased grey matter volume
- No assymmetry of cerebral hemispheres
- Different white matter pathways between 2 hemispheres
What is the impact of antipsychotic drugs on brain volume?
Enlargement of basal ganglia within 6 months of treatment with antipsychotic drugs
Why are changes in activation of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) decreased and increased as well?
Increase with task load of executive functions
Decrease when task load exceeds the capacity, resulting in giving up the task