Schizophrenia

Question 1

What are the positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia?

Answer 1

Positive: Hallucinations, delusions, unusual thinking and disorganized speech, bizarre behavior
Negative: Loss of motivation, diminished feelings of pleasure, flat affect, reduced speaking, cognitive symptoms

Question 2

What are the benefits of genetic studies of schizophrenia?

Answer 2

Earlier diagnosis and treatment.
Helps us look into the causation, and differentiate between biological causations and environmental causations.
Look at the whole genome (unbiased) - no need to make biological hypothesis (except that it is herreditary)

Question 3

What are the (five) main hypotheses on schizophrenia pathology?

Answer 3

1) Abnormal pre-synapic dopaminergic activity
2) Glutamate hypothesis
3) Dysregulation of synaptic pruning
4) Disruptions of early brain development
5) Postsynaptic mechanisms involved in synaptic plasticity

Question 4

Why are common high-risk variants of schizophreina unlikely to exist?

Answer 4

Because the disease is associated with reduced fecundity (lower reproductive success)

Question 5

What is a polygenic score?

Answer 5

A PGS is the summarization of an individuals genetic liability for schizophrenia

Question 6

What other psychiatic disorders share genetic liability with schizophrenia?

Answer 6

Bipolar disorder (most), MDD, OCD, ASD, Anxiety disorders and ADHD

Question 7

Where are schizophrenia genes most highly expressed?

Answer 7

In neurons in the frontal cortex.
Many have functions in synaptic organization.

Question 8

How is schizophrenia relate to complement factor C4?

Answer 8

Schizophrenia associated with C4 forms ->
C4 expression associated with the C4 forms ->
C4 expression in brain associated with schizophrenia ->
C4 promotes synaptic pruning