Module 15.2

Question 1

What are the negative symptoms of schizophrenia?

Answer 1

weak social interactions, emotional expression, speech and working memory

Question 2

What are the two clusters of positive symptoms of schizophrenia?

Answer 2

psychotic and disorganized

Question 3

What is the main cognitive problem in schizophrenia?

Answer 3

disordered thoughts

Question 4

What physiological problem might underlie schizophrenia?

Answer 4

abnormal interactions between the cortex and the thalamus and cerebellum

Question 5

What is the overall incidence of schizophrenia?

Answer 5

1% of people

Question 6

Does the incidence of schizophrenia vary by gender or ethnicity?

Answer 6

It does not vary by ethnicity, but it more common in men than women

Question 7

*What evidence from twins suggests a genetic basis for schizophrenia? What are the concordance rates?

Answer 7

Monozygotic twins have higher concordance than dizygotic

Question 8

How might one form of the DISC1 gene increase the incidence of schizophrenia?

Answer 8

It controls the rate of generation of new neurons in the hippocampus

Question 9

What can we conclude about the role of genetics in schizophrenia?

Answer 9

Some cases do have a genetic bases, others do not

Question 10

What evidence suggest that schizophrenia may result from abnormalities in the early development of the brain?

Answer 10

Several kinds of prenatal or neonatal difficulties are linked to later schizophrenia and people with schizophrenia have minor brain abnormalities that apparently originate early in life

Question 11

During which season of birth is there a slightly greater likelihood of developing schizophrenia? What factor may account for this effect

Answer 11

winter; complications of delivery or early nutrition or flu virus

Question 12

What brain abnormalities have been linked with schizophrenia?

Answer 12

smaller left temporal and frontal areas of the cortex and thalamus
ventricles are larger than normal

Question 13

Why do researchers believe the abnormalities resulted from developmental defects, rather than from gradual brain damage in adulthood?

Answer 13

Many studies have found no significant differences in the brains of older & younger patients

Question 14

How might one explain the late onset of schizophrenia symptoms, if the damage occurred early in development?

Answer 14

The prefrontal cortex isn’t developed until adulthood

Question 15

What is the dopamine hypothesis of schizophrenia? What are the main lines of evidence favoring it?

Answer 15

The idea that schizophrenia results from access activity at dopamine synapses in certain brain areas. Large, repeated doses of amphetamine, methanphetamine, and cocaine induce substance-induced psychotic disorder

Question 16

What are two chemical families of antipsychotic (neuroleptic) drugs that have been in wide use for many years? What is their major effect of receptors?

Answer 16

Phentothizines and butyrophenones. Block D2 receptors

Question 17

What drugs can induce a state similar to schizophrenia?

Answer 17

PCP

Question 18

What is a problem with the dopamine hypothesis?

Answer 18

Block dopamine is important, but antipsychotic drugs block dopamine within hours, but symptoms take weeks to improve, so something else is going on

Question 19

What kinds of evidence suggests an abnormality in glutamate release or receptors?

Answer 19

the drugs that have the effects of decreased glutamate effect the NTs within hours, but take weeks for symptoms to subside

Question 20

Why may blockade of dopamine receptors have beneficial effects, even if the original problem is deficient glutamate?

Answer 20

increased dopamine has the same effect as low dopamine, so drugs that block dopamine cause an effect of increased glutamate

Question 21

What is phencyclidine?

Answer 21

PCP; a drug that inhibit ithe NMDA glutamate receptors

Question 22

What is PCP’s effects of receptors?

Answer 22

inhibits NMDA glutamate receptors

Question 23

What are PCP’s psychological effects?

Answer 23

At low doses, it produces intoxication and slurred speech. At larger doses, it produces both positive and negative symptoms of PCP.

Question 24

What other neurotransmitter, besides dopamine, has been hypothesized to be abnormal in schizophrenia?

Answer 24

glutamate

Question 25

Why would it be unwise to administer glutamate to schizophrenic people?

Answer 25

excess glutamate can cause stroke

Question 26

How does glycine affect NMDA receptors? What were the clinical findings regarding glycine?

Answer 26

The NMDA glutamate receptor has one site that is activated by glutamate and another that is activated by glycine. Glycine increases the effects of NMDA glutamate receptor. Studies found that glycine decreases the effects of PCP.

Question 27

What is tardive dyskinesia?

Answer 27

side effect of neuroleptic drugs characterized by tremors and other involuntary movements

Question 28

What causes tardive dyskinesia?

Answer 28

the drugs used to treat schizophrenia block dopamine neurons in the mesotriatal system, which projects to the basal ganglia

Question 29

What are five atypical antispychotic drugs?

Answer 29

Clozpine, amisulpride, risperidone, olanzapine, and aripiprazole

Question 30

How do the five atypical antipsychotic drugs work?

Answer 30

Antagonize serotonin type 5-HT2 receptors and increase the release of glutamate

Question 31

What is a major advantage of taking atypical antipsychotic drugs?

Answer 31

they treat the negative effects of schizophrenia, the old drugs only treated the positive