Schizophrenia Flashcards
What is the two factor model of schizophrenia?
Factor 1:
- confabulations and delusions
Factor 2:
- failure in a common set of evaluation and monitoring processes, which allow these thoughts to be accepted and maintained rather than being rejected (no “tag” by unconscious system)
What are the 3 main symptoms of schizophrenia + definitions?
1) positive symptoms = excesses of thoughts, emotions, or behaviors
2) negative symptoms = deficits of thought, emotion and behavior
3) disorganized symptoms = disturbance in the production and organization of thoughts
What is the prevalence and age of appearance of schizophrenia?
lifetime prevalence = 1%
appearance in late adolescence or early adulthood
What is the 2 phases which occur in the course of schizophrenia?
1) prodromal phase = period of significant symptoms are apparent
2) active phase = symptoms are most pronounced
3) residual phase = primary symptoms have subsided, but other symptoms may still be present
What are the outcomes for patients with schizophrenia 10 years after initial diagnosis?
25% completely recoverd 25% improved, relatively independent 25% improved, but extensive support required 15% hospitalized, unimproved 10% deceased (mostly suicide)
What are the most common comorbid disorders with schizophrenia?
50% substance abuse
up to 15% commit suicide
What is the etiology of schizophrenia?
- genetics
- neurotransmitters (abnormalities in DA, also serotonin, GABA, glutamate and others)
- brain imaging: enlarged ventricles
What are the 2 forms of pharmacological treatment of schizophrenia + their mechanisms?
1) traditional antipsychotic drugs
- primarily blocking D2 receptors
- reduction of positive and disorganized symptoms
- little or no effect on negative symptoms
2) atypical antipsychotic drugs
- not primarily blocking D2 receptors
- broader spectrum of receptor activity with higher affinities to other receptors (e.g. serotonin, GABA)
- reduction of positive and disorganized symptoms
- mabe better in reducing negative symptoms
Name the psychological treatments of schizophrenia (4)
- psychoanalytic therapies
- family therapy and reducing expressed emotion
- social-skills training
- CBT
What are the strongest neuropsychological predictors of clinical outcome in schizophrenia? (5)
- working memory
- executive functioning
- verbal learning
- memory
- processing speed
Do cognitive impairments precede schizophrenia?
Yes: cognitive deficits are markers of schizophrenia vulnerability
Describe the ethical dilemma of using animal models of schizophrenia
One the one hand: animal rights
On the other:
- experiments can be performed that cannot be performed in humans
- these experiments may be crucial for the development of new treatment approaches
How are the positive, negative and cognitive symptoms of schizophrenia measured in animal models?
- positive: hyperactivity, hyperlocomotion and stereotypic behavior
- negative: social withdrawal
- cognitive: tested by maze tasks
What are delusions?
Beliefs:
- that are not objectively true
- that would not be accepted as true within the persone’s culture
- that the person holds firmly in spite of contradictory evidence
What are the most common delusions?`
60-70%: delusions of reference or persecution
+/- 30%: religious or grandiosity delusions
What is theory of mind?
The ability to infer the mental states (beliefs, thoughts, and intensions) of others in order to predict their behavior
What did Firth (1992) hypothesize regarding ToM in schizophrenia?
Firth proposed that ToM deficits underpin the origin of delusions. He hypothesized that ToM skills in people with delusions develop normally but are “lost” during an acute psychotic episode
