Psychiatric Disorders Flashcards
what are psychiatric disorders?
distrubance in thought, mood and/or behavior that impairs function or causes distress
diagnosed by behavioral symptoms vs lab test- Diagnostic & Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)
biological underpinnings
prevalence
more than 1/3 of US population reported at some point symptoms matching psychiatric disorders
sex differences
age on onset
may be due to differences in diagnosis rates vs. differences in risk, societal expectations, etc..
negative affective disorders
negative affect
genetic risk
chronic, lower grade stressors
negative affect
experiences world in negative terms
higher levels of distress, anxiety, dissatisfaction
low subjective sense of well-being
genetic risk
many genes contribute to susceptibility
chronic, lower grade stressors
increase risk for anxiety disorders or depression
Schizophrenia literally translates to:
A. To split the personality
B. To split the mind
B. to split the mind
schizo
to split
phren
mind, not personality
thought, mood, affect, and behavior are splintered
spectrum of disorders
psychosis
psychosis
disconnection from reality
prevalence and age of onset of schizophrenia
3% of US population
age of onset- around 20 years old
symptoms
positive symptoms
negative symptoms
cognitive symptoms
positive symptoms
neurotypical people wouldn’t experience
psychosis
added to the behavior
negative symptoms
subtractive- taking away from what a neurotypical person would have
cognitive symptoms
depend on cortex’s ability to process information- complex information, memory, poor decisions, impulse control, poor attention span
Delusions are an example of a ___ symptom in a schizophrenic
patient.
A. Negative
B. Positive
C. Cognitive
B. positive
what may promote psychosis
psychotropic substances
inflammation, injury, illness
stress/trauma susceptibility
genetic susceptibility
psychotropic substances
stimulant drugs of abuse, high potency cannabis & psychedelics (ex. PCP or angel dust)
can induce a psychosis event
inflammation, injury, illness
meningitis & encephalitis
tumors, strokes, Parkinson’s disease & Alzheimer’s disease
genetic susceptibility
twin studies- monozygotic vs. dizygotic
discordant monozygotic twins- birth weight, early psychological distress, motor coordination
hundreds of genes that may contribute to genetic susceptibility
DISCI (disrupted in SCZ)= brain synapse development
stress and how it may contribute to susceptibility
SCZ appears in transition from child to adult- physical, emotional, lifestyle changes
prenatal stress- flu (7x risk), incompatible blood type, gestational diabetes
city living- move from one to other
During what stage of life is a stress a risk factor for developing
schizophrenia?
A. Prenatal
B. Infancy
C. Adulthood
D. All of the above
D. all of the above
symptoms of schizophrenia
positive
negative
cognitive
positive symptoms
symptoms that are present but should not be
hallucinations
negative symptoms
absent but should be present
reduced facial expression
cognitive symptoms
difficulties processing and decision-making
neurobiology behind schizophrenia
- ventricle volume
- limbic system
- cortex
ventricle volume
no relationship to illness length or hospitalization period
predicts responsiveness to antipsychotic drug- works less well on people with larger ventricles
larger ventricles in people with schizophrenia- DISC1 gene
DISC1 gene and its effect on schizophrenia
mutation in DISC1 gene causes an enlargement of ventricles-> higher risk of developing schizophrenia-> lower susceptibility to antipsychotic drug
limbic system
hippocampus and amygdala smaller in SCZ-discordant twin
disorganization of hippocampal pyramidal cells
cortex
thinning of grey matter
hypofrontality
hypofrontality
less cortical activation in discordant twin at rest and during task
Which brain structure is altered in the brain of a schizophrenic
patient?
A. Ventricle
B. Hippocampus
C. Cortex
D. All of the above
D. all of the above
first antipsychotic drug reveals role of dopamine
chlorpromazine
chlorpromazine
anesthetic
lessened psychosis symptoms
dramatically impaired/slowed voluntary movement- D2 antagonist effects in extrapyramidal motor system, L-DOPA can evoke/worsen psychosis in Parkinson’s patients
D2 antagonism predicts clinical efficacy
direct measurements of dopamine release
dopamine increased in schizophrenics
change in positive symptoms increased in schizophrenics with increased dopamine release
dopamine hypothesis
dopamine overactivity in limbic system causes positive symptoms- dopamine release, dopamine receptors
dopamine function is too low in the frontal cortex- causes the limbic overactivity
