Psychosis

Question 1

What is psychosis?

Answer 1

A neurodevelopmental condition where an individual loses contact with reality, with disrupted thoughts and perceptions.

Question 2

What triggers maladaptive stress responses in psychosis?

Answer 2

Exposure to peripheral and central stressors that affect immune cells.

Question 3

What are the positive symptoms of psychosis?

Answer 3

• Hallucinations
• Delusions
• Disorganized speech

Question 4

What are the cognitive symptoms of psychosis?

Answer 4

• Cognitive impairment
• Poor memory
• Reduced processing speed

Question 5

List the negative symptoms of psychosis.

Answer 5

• Anhedonia (inability to feel pleasure)
• Anergia (lack of energy)
• Apathy (lack of interest)
• Avolition (lack of motivation)

Question 6

What is the incidence rate of psychosis in England?

Answer 6

31.7 per 100,000.

Question 7

What are the key pathological factors of psychosis?

Answer 7

• Neuroinflammation caused by overactive astrocytes releasing cytokines.
• Imbalance in neurotransmitters like glutamate and dopamine.
• Environmental and genetic risk factors.

Question 8

Why is early intervention important in psychosis?

Answer 8

It is clinically and cost-effective, improves outcomes, and increases lifespan.

Question 9

What are the benefits of exercise in psychosis therapy?

Answer 9

• Shifts inflammatory state to anti-inflammatory. (Shaw et al, 2018)
• Reduces oxidative stress.
• Has neuroprotective effects.
• Offsets drug-induced weight gain.
• Prevents MetS/CVD.
• Reduces premature mortality risk.

Question 10

What were the findings of the Fisher et al. (2020) case study?

Answer 10

• High exercise attendance (80%).
• Reduction in positive symptoms.
• Maintained or improved health markers.

Question 11

Describe the intervention used in Dunleavy et al. (2022) case study.

Answer 11

• 6 weeks of physical activity exceeding 150 minutes per week.
• Exercise intensity above 50-70% HRmax.

Question 12

What were the key findings from Dunleavy et al. (2022)?

Answer 12

• Reduction in IL-6 concentrations.
• Increases in IL-8, IL-10, BDNF.
• Reduced negative symptoms.
• Improved quality of life and cognition.

Question 13

How do antipsychotic drugs work?

Answer 13

By blocking dopamine receptors to regulate dopaminergic transmission, reducing positive symptoms.

Question 14

What are the limitations of antipsychotic drugs?

Answer 14

They do not address negative symptoms and can induce health problems like MetS and CVD.

Question 15

What scales are used to measure symptoms in psychosis?

Answer 15

• PANSS (Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale)
• TEPS (Temporal Experience of Pleasure Scale)

Question 16

How does exercise improve cognitive functioning in psychosis?

Answer 16

By enhancing working memory, attention, and social cognition, and promoting neurogenesis and synaptic potentiation.

Question 17

What is the role of cytokines in psychosis pathology?

Answer 17

They contribute to neuroinflammation, which affects brain function.