PSYC 276 Chapter 12: Psychopathology Flashcards
a false belief that is strongly held in spite of contrary evidence
delusions
12.1
Originally, “paralytic dementia” (ft sudden onset of delusions, grandiosity, euphoria, poor judgment, impulsive behavior, disordered though, physio signs like abnormal pupillary constriction) was believed to be caused by ———-.
Postmortem analyses of their brains revealed that cause was actually ——-.
weak character; syphilis
severe psychopathological disorder characterized by negative symptoms (e.g., emotional withdrawal and flat affect), positive symptoms (hallucinations, delusions, word salad, disorganized thought), and cognitive symptoms (e.g., poor attention span).
schizophrenia
Why is schizophrenia also a public health problem?
people with schizophrenia have it their entire lives and often become homeless
By the 1980s, it became clear that many schizophrenia symptoms could be viewed as belonging to which two groups?
positive symptoms and negative symptoms
abnormal behaviors that have been gained (were not previously present)
positive symptoms
abnormalities resulting in the loss of normal function
negative symptoms
Positive symptoms of schizophrenia include:
Hallucinations, delusions, disordered speech (word salad), and disordered behavior
Negative symptoms of schizophrenia include:
emotional dysregulation:blunted affect, lack of emotional expression, inability to experience pleasure in daily activities (anhedonia)
impaired motivation: reduced conversation (alogia), diminished ability to begin/sustain activities, social withdrawal
Contemporary view of schizophrenia symptoms distinguishes between postive symptoms (psychosis) and negative symptoms (emotional/motivational impairments), but recognizes an additional dimension, which is ——–
cognitive impairment
In schizophrenia, problems with processing and acting on external information are ——–
cognitive symptoms
Neurocognitive impairments in schizophrenia include:
- memory problems
- poor attention span
- difficulty making plans
- reduced decision-making capacity
- poor social cognition
- abnormal movement patterns
People with ————————— are at increased chances of developing schizophrenia, indicating the disorder has a ——— component.
relatives who have schizophrenia; heritable
Studies of adopted people confirm ———- in schizophrenia.
a strong genetic factor
In identical twins, if one twin has schizophrenia, the other twin has ——— chance of also developing the disorder.
In fraternal twins, if one twin has schizophrenia, the other has ——— chance of developing schizophrenia.
50%; 17%
sharing of a characteristic by both individuals of a pair of twins
concordance
What does it tell us that the concordance rate for schizophrenia between identical twins is 50%?
genes cannot be fully responsible for development of schizophrenia
What do twin studies about schizophrenia tell us?
it has both environmental and genetic origins
People with schizophrenia often have subtle neurological signs, such as ———— and ———–.
impaired motor coordination; difficulty with smooth movements of eyes to follow moving target
Genetic analyses suggest that ————— influencing the likelihood of schizophrenia are scattered across many different human chromosomes.
over 100 genes
Genes known to participate in ————– appear to be abnormal in people with schizophrenia.
synaptic plasticity
mutant, disabled version of a gene invovled in schizophrenia
disrupted in schizophrenia 1 (DISC1)
An epigenetic factor in schizophrenia is ———–.
paternal age at the time of conception
maybe bc older men’s sperm = more time to accumulate mutations
Research suggests that stressful events significantly increase risk of developing schizophrenia. Notably, stress of ——————– is associated with greater risk.
city living
medium-sized = 1.5x more likely
big city = even more likely
- earlier a person begins living in city, the greater the risk
- children who move from city to country have reduced risk
Certain events that occur during —————- can make a difference in whether schizophrenia develops.
prenatal development
events include maternal stress, incompatible blood type with mom, mom becomes diabetic during pregnancy, low birth weight, birth complications depriving child of oxygen
From some researchers’ perspectives, the emergence of schizophrenia and related disorders depends on what?
whether a genetically susceptible person is subjected to environmental stressors
Alteration of brain development in people with schizophrenia is indicated by ————-, a result of ——-.
acceleration of the normal thinning of cortical gray matter
synapse rearrangement
3 events during developmental periods that are associated with development of schizophrenia
- prenatal stress
- urban living
- stress
Neuron loss is a normal part of development, but adolescents with schizophrenia lose ————- over wide regions at a faster rate.
gray matter
Most people with schizophrenia have enlarged ———————, especially the ————. Why is this structural abnormality significant?
cerebral ventricals, especially the lateral ventricles
this is significant because enlarge ventricles come at the expense of brain tissue
Among those with schizophrenia, people with larger ventricles benefit less from ——-.
antipsychotic drugs
Mice inserted with this mutated gene developed enlarged lateral ventricles.
DISC1
this gene normally regulates trafficking of molecules with neurons
People with schizophrenia have abnormalities in structure and function of this part of the brain.
corpus callosum
In addition to accelerated cortical thinning, people with schizophrenia are often impaired on neuropsych tests sensitive to ———— lesions. This raised possibility that activity in this area of the brain is abnormal in people with schizophrenia.
frontal cortical
PET scans found that people with schizophrenia had ——————– in the ———- lobes relative to other brain regions.
reduced metabolic activity
frontal
the idea that schizophrenia may reflect underactivation of frontal lobes
hypofrontality hypothesis
seems to be supported by reviews of many studies
In many cases, drugs that alleviate symptoms of schizophrenia also increase —————.
activation of the frontal cortex
the surgical separation of a portion of the frontal lobes from the reset of the brain, a former treatment, now discredited, for schizophrenia and many other ailments
lobotomy
———– revolutionized the treatment of schizophrenia.
antipsychotic medications
an early antipsychotic drug that revolutionized the treatment of schizophrenia
chlorpromazine (Thorazine)
