Schizophrenia Flashcards

1
Q

What kind of disorder is schizophrenia classified as?

A

A psychotic disorder

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2
Q

What were the historical names for schizophrenia?

A

Back in the olden days, schizophrenia was known simply as madness or lunacy?

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3
Q

Who was the first to thoroughly define the symptoms of schizophrenia?

A

Emil Kraeplin was the first, he did this by combining several elements of insanity into one. He called it schizophrenia dementia praecox (premature dementia) because this disorder appears late in adolescence

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4
Q

Who introduced the term schizophrenia and what ddi they believe?

A

Eugen Bleuler introduced the term. He believed that the core problem was not the premature aging of the brain. He believed that the various elements of the individuals mind become disconnected from each other. That thoughts no longer have any logical connection to each other.

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5
Q

What are the 3 basic groups that schizophrenic symptoms can be divided into?

A
  1. Positive symptoms: symptoms that go beyond normally occurring experiences
  2. Negative symptoms: characterized by a deficit or absence in normal behaviour
  3. Cogntiive Symptoms: symptoms characterized by erratic changes in speech, motor behaviour, and emotions
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6
Q

What are the symptoms of Positive Symptoms?

A
  • Delusions: irrational beliefs or paranoia that misrepresents reality, can be classified as bizarre if if they are clearly implausible but can be also classified as non bizarre is somewhat plausible
  • Hallucinations: the experience of sensory events without any inout for surrounding environment, can involve any senses but auditory hallucinations are most common
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7
Q

What are the symptoms of negative symptoms?

A
  • Apathy: inability to get started, to perform basic day-to-day functions (can lead to problems with hygiene, keeping a job, etc)
  • Autism: refers to tendency to keep to oneself and lose interest in everything else
  • Ambivalence: emotional and social withdrawal
  • Anhedonia: without pleasure, indifferent to activities that are considered pleasurable
  • Active flattening: absence of visible emotions, facial expressions, and emotional inflections in speech
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8
Q

What are the symptoms of cognitive symptoms?

A
  • Disorganized speech: confusing way of talking , jump around randomly from topic to topic, or go off on illogical tangents
  • Inappropriate affect: displaying of emotions inappropriate for current situation
  • Disorganized behaviour: motor symptoms ranging from wild agitation to catatonic immobility, the ability to seem frozen in place but display waxy flexibility
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9
Q

What are the key points for the diagnostic criteria?

A
  • Individual must have atleast one of delusions, hallucinations, or disorganized speech
  • Diminished level of function
  • Long lasting symptoms
  • Not due to drugs or medical condition
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10
Q

When does schizophrenia develop?

A

It is usually diagnosed in late adolescence or early adulthood, usually preceded by a prodromal stage which is a 1-2 year period where subdued symptoms begin to appear

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11
Q

What are the statistic for remission?

A

Complete remission is very rare as 78% of schizophrenic patients go through a patten of relapse and recovery.
- Remission is more likely given if:
- Good social adjustment before onset of schizophrenia
- Low proportion of negative symptoms
- Good support system

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12
Q

What are some factors that lead to schizophrenia?

A
  • Through genetics if members in family have it
  • Problems shortly after child birth
  • Fetal exposure to influenza and viral diseases
  • Pregnancy and delivery complications
  • Prenatal nutrition and stress
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13
Q

What is seen in the brain of a schizophrenic patient?

A
  • Enlarged lateral ventricles due to lack of development or atrophy and is filled with CSF
  • Reduced dendritic spines density in prefrontal cortex
  • Reductions in hippocampal size due to degradation, disorganized neurons in hippocampus of brain
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14
Q

What are antipsychotic drugs?

A

They are drugs that reduce psychotic symptoms without producing too much too much general sedation like chlorpromazine

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15
Q

How do antipsychotics work?

A

They reduce schizophrenia symptoms. They work by blocking dopamine receptors, especially the D2 variants. They are D2 antagonists

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16
Q

What is the Positron Emission Tomography (PET)

A

PET is an imaging technique that detects changes in blood flow by measuring changes in uptake of compounds such as oxygen or glucose. Radioactive molecules are injected into the bloodstream, used to analyze the metabolic activity of neurons

17
Q

What is the striatum?

A
  • It is part of the basal ganglia.
    2 parts of the striatum,:
  • Dorsal striatum: involved in habit learning, motor and action planning
    -Ventral striatum (nucleus accumbens): involved in reward learning, motivation
18
Q

What is the importance of D2 receptors in schizophrenia?

A

Positive symptoms of schizophrenia seem to be caused by excessive stimulation of dopamine D2 receptors in the striatum

19
Q

What do stimulant drugs do?

A

Stimulant drugs such as cocaines and amphetamines can cause psychosis when taken in high doses.

20
Q

What importance in schizophrenia do D1 receptors have?

A

Schizophrenia may also involve under-stimulation in of dopamine D1 receptors in the PFC. This condition is called hypofrontality and can explain why people with schizophrenia struggle with planning, problem sovling, and high level reasoning

21
Q

What would the ideal drug for schizophrenia do?

A

Block D2 receptors but activate D1 receptors

22
Q

What are some side effects of antipsychotics?

A

Sedation, excess salivation, motor function, feeling of being fine.
Quitting these drugs can prove disastrous as the full spectrum can return after only a few days