Psychopathology Flashcards
What does psychiatry use to diagnose patients
Solely behavior
What % of the population fit the criteria of a psychological disorder
almost 50% (46.4% to be exact)
Positive symptoms of schizophrenia
Symptoms not present in neurotypicals
Give an example of positive symptoms
- Hallucinations
- Delusions
- Disorganized thoughts and speech
- Bizarre behaviors
Negative symptoms
Characteristics that should be present but are absent
Give an example of a negative symptom of schizophrenia
- Flat affect
- Anhedonia
- Lack of emotional expression
- Reduced conversation
- Social withdrawal
Give an example of cognitive symptoms of schizophrenia
- Memory problems
- Poor attention span
- Difficulty making plans
- Reduced decision making capacity
- Abnormal movement patterns
How do people with schizophrenia have differing eye movements
- Difficulty smoothly tracking a moving object
- “Jagged” eye movements when looking at something stationary
What is the degree of heritability of schizophrenia
The more related you are to a person with schizophrenia, the more likely you are to develop schizophrenia yourself
What role do DISC proteins play in schizophrenia
If you a have a certain version of the DISC protein/gene, you are more likely to develop schizophrenia
Explain the interaction between environmental stress and gene influence on schizophrenia
The fewer genes you have that favor schizophrenia, the more environmental stress you can take before you develop schizophrenia.
The more genes you have that favor schizophrenia, it takes less stress to develop schizophrenia.
What change occurs in the ventricles when affected with schizophrenia
Ventricles become enlarged
What change occurs in the hippocampus in people with schizophrenia
The pyramidal cells in the hippocampus are disorganized, which lead to a disrupted circuitry
What change occurs in grey matter in adolescents with schizophrenia
Adolescents have an accelerated loss of gray matter
Hypofrontality in schizophrenia
When presented with a card sorting task (which uses the frontal lobe), people with schizophrenia exhibit less activity than they should
Dopamine hypothesis of schizophrenia
People with schizophrenia have an excess of dopamine release or dopamine receptors
Correlation between antipsychotic dose and its affinity for D2 receptors
The more affinity an antipsychotic has for D2 receptors, the lower dose you need
What effect does PCP have on NMDA receptors
It’s a non competitive antagonist. When PCP is bound, no other ligand can activate the NMDA receptor
Psychomimetic
A drug that induces a state resembling schizophrenia, such as PCP
What is observed when amphetamines are taken for a long time
When taken in high doses for a long time, positive symptoms like the ones seen in schizophrenia are exhibited
What causes the emergence of positive symptoms when taking amphetamines
Vesicles containing dopamine leak, increasing the concentration of dopamine leading to positive symptoms
How do major tranquilizers such as Haloperidol affect schizophrenia symptoms
They decrease positive symptoms by antagonizing dopamine receptors
What side effects do dopamine antagonists cause
Tardive dyskinesia (involuntary facial tics) and Parkinsons.
Too low dopamine levels lead to tremors seen in these disorders.
What is the glutamate hypothesis of schizophrenia
Schizophrenia results from an underactivation of glutamate receptors, which may be what causes hypofrontality
Explain the side effects of antipsychotics
- People not on drugs went longer without a relapse
- People never on antipsychotics worked more than people always prescribed antipsychotics
Second-generation antipsychotics
Antipsychotics that act on other receptors as well as dopamine receptors
Name 2 symptoms of depression
- Feelings of sadness, tearfulness, emptiness or hopelessness
- Angry outbursts, irritability or frustration, even over small matters
- Loss of interest or pleasure in most or all normal activities, such as sex, hobbies
or sports - Sleep disturbances, including insomnia or sleeping too much
- Tiredness and lack of energy, so even small tasks take extra effort
- Reduced appetite and weight loss or increased cravings for food and weight gain
- Anxiety, agitation or restlessness
- Slowed thinking, speaking or body movements
- Feelings of worthlessness or guilt, fixating on past failures or self-blame
- Trouble thinking, concentrating, making decisions and remembering things
- Frequent or recurrent thoughts of death, suicidal thoughts, suicide attempts or
suicide - Unexplained physical problems, such as back pain or headaches
What is the cognitive cycle of depression
Negative thoughts -> Low mood (feeling worthless and discouraged) -> reduced behavior
What changes occur in nREM sleep in people with depression
- They have difficulty falling asleep and staying asleep
- Reduction in SWS
- Increase in Stage 1 and 2 sleep