PSYC 276 Chapter 12: Psychopathology

Question 1

a false belief that is strongly held in spite of contrary evidence

Answer 1

delusions

12.1

Question 2

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 ——-.

Answer 2

weak character; syphilis

Question 3

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).

Answer 3

schizophrenia

Question 4

Why is schizophrenia also a public health problem?

Answer 4

people with schizophrenia have it their entire lives and often become homeless

Question 5

By the 1980s, it became clear that many schizophrenia symptoms could be viewed as belonging to which two groups?

Answer 5

positive symptoms and negative symptoms

Question 6

abnormal behaviors that have been gained (were not previously present)

Answer 6

positive symptoms

Question 7

abnormalities resulting in the loss of normal function

Answer 7

negative symptoms

Question 8

Positive symptoms of schizophrenia include:

Answer 8

Hallucinations, delusions, disordered speech (word salad), and disordered behavior

Question 9

Negative symptoms of schizophrenia include:

Answer 9

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

Question 10

Contemporary view of schizophrenia symptoms distinguishes between postive symptoms (psychosis) and negative symptoms (emotional/motivational impairments), but recognizes an additional dimension, which is ——–

Answer 10

cognitive impairment

Question 11

In schizophrenia, problems with processing and acting on external information are ——–

Answer 11

cognitive symptoms

Question 12

Neurocognitive impairments in schizophrenia include:

Answer 12

• memory problems
• poor attention span
• difficulty making plans
• reduced decision-making capacity
• poor social cognition
• abnormal movement patterns

Question 13

People with ————————— are at increased chances of developing schizophrenia, indicating the disorder has a ——— component.

Answer 13

relatives who have schizophrenia; heritable

Question 14

Studies of adopted people confirm ———- in schizophrenia.

Answer 14

a strong genetic factor

Question 15

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.

Answer 15

50%; 17%

Question 16

sharing of a characteristic by both individuals of a pair of twins

Answer 16

concordance

Question 17

What does it tell us that the concordance rate for schizophrenia between identical twins is 50%?

Answer 17

genes cannot be fully responsible for development of schizophrenia

Question 18

What do twin studies about schizophrenia tell us?

Answer 18

it has both environmental and genetic origins

Question 19

People with schizophrenia often have subtle neurological signs, such as ———— and ———–.

Answer 19

impaired motor coordination; difficulty with smooth movements of eyes to follow moving target

Question 20

Genetic analyses suggest that ————— influencing the likelihood of schizophrenia are scattered across many different human chromosomes.

Answer 20

over 100 genes

Question 21

Genes known to participate in ————– appear to be abnormal in people with schizophrenia.

Answer 21

synaptic plasticity

Question 22

mutant, disabled version of a gene invovled in schizophrenia

Answer 22

disrupted in schizophrenia 1 (DISC1)

Question 23

An epigenetic factor in schizophrenia is ———–.

Answer 23

paternal age at the time of conception

maybe bc older men’s sperm = more time to accumulate mutations

Question 24

Research suggests that stressful events significantly increase risk of developing schizophrenia. Notably, stress of ——————– is associated with greater risk.

Answer 24

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

Question 25

Certain events that occur during —————- can make a difference in whether schizophrenia develops.

Answer 25

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

Question 26

From some researchers’ perspectives, the emergence of schizophrenia and related disorders depends on what?

Answer 26

whether a genetically susceptible person is subjected to environmental stressors

Question 27

Alteration of brain development in people with schizophrenia is indicated by ————-, a result of ——-.

Answer 27

acceleration of the normal thinning of cortical gray matter

synapse rearrangement

Question 28

3 events during developmental periods that are associated with development of schizophrenia

Answer 28

• prenatal stress
• urban living
• stress

Question 29

Neuron loss is a normal part of development, but adolescents with schizophrenia lose ————- over wide regions at a faster rate.

Answer 29

gray matter

Question 30

Most people with schizophrenia have enlarged ———————, especially the ————. Why is this structural abnormality significant?

Answer 30

cerebral ventricals, especially the lateral ventricles

this is significant because enlarge ventricles come at the expense of brain tissue

Question 31

Among those with schizophrenia, people with larger ventricles benefit less from ——-.

Answer 31

antipsychotic drugs

Question 32

Mice inserted with this mutated gene developed enlarged lateral ventricles.

Answer 32

DISC1

this gene normally regulates trafficking of molecules with neurons

Question 33

People with schizophrenia have abnormalities in structure and function of this part of the brain.

Answer 33

corpus callosum

Question 34

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.

Answer 34

frontal cortical

Question 35

PET scans found that people with schizophrenia had ——————– in the ———- lobes relative to other brain regions.

Answer 35

reduced metabolic activity

frontal

Question 36

the idea that schizophrenia may reflect underactivation of frontal lobes

Answer 36

hypofrontality hypothesis

seems to be supported by reviews of many studies

Question 37

In many cases, drugs that alleviate symptoms of schizophrenia also increase —————.

Answer 37

activation of the frontal cortex

Question 38

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

Answer 38

lobotomy

Question 39

———– revolutionized the treatment of schizophrenia.

Answer 39

antipsychotic medications

Question 40

an early antipsychotic drug that revolutionized the treatment of schizophrenia

Answer 40

chlorpromazine (Thorazine)