Schizophrenia Flashcards
Schizophrenia
unusual array of symptoms like hallucinations, delusions, disorganized thought, depression, flat affect, catatonic state, and changes in memory
Positive Symptoms
abnormal behaviors gained
incoherent thought, rhyming, echolalia, hallucinations, hyperactivity
Negative Symptoms
loss of normal functions
catatonic stupors, poverty of speech, flat affect, social withdrawal
stages of illness
Premorbid Phase
Prodromal Phase
Syndromal Phase
Chronic Phase
Premorbid Phase
Early life experiencing cognitive emotional and behavioral deviation in childhood
Prodromal
period during which behavior and function deteriorates immediately before onset of psychosis
Syndromal
Deterioration into psychotic symptoms
Chronic
all symptoms present
Genetic Component
Identical twins: 50%
Fraternal twins: 17%
Working Memory Test
Wisconsin Card Sort Test (WCST)
Schizo patients perform poorly on this test
Thought Disorder Test
Measured through thought disorder index (TDI)
P50 Suppression
Auditory test, testing patients ability to screen out stimuli and focus on salient aspects of environment
Pre-pulse inhibition startle response
Measures deficit in information gating/processing
Neurodevelopment Onset
Perinatal insult disrupts normal maturation of brain. Onset of symptoms triggered by interaction between initial defat and neuronal maturation
Neurodegenerative Onset
Cognitive/behavioral disturbance sin childhood amplified in adolescence and prominent just before/after first psychotic episode
Brain Alterations
Enlarged ventricles
Decrease in hippocampus and amygdala volume
Frontal Cortex volume decreased
Hypofrontality Onset
Reduced metabolic activity in frontal lobes leads to schizophrenia
DISC1 Gene
Regulates coin dynamics, spine maintenance, and synapse stabilization
DISC1 knockout mice have enlarged ventricles
Major Histocompatatbility Complex
contains genes involving immunity
Strongest risk of schizophrenia was associated with loci near the C4 gene
Higher levels of CHA expression leads to greater risk of schizo
C4 Gene
plays key role in pruning synapses
explains why schizo patients tend to have thinner cortex
Increased pruning during adolescence explains onset of disease
Dopamine Hypothesis
Excessive dopamine causes schizo symptoms
Antipsychotics that block D2 receptors reduced positive symptoms
Over stimulation of D2 receptors lead to positive symptoms
Glutamate Hypothesis
PCP and Ketamine which block NMDA receptors induce schizo symptoms
Causes of Schizophrenia
Family History CNS Damage Prenatal bereavement Rubella Infection CNS infection
Sex Differences
Men are 1.5x more likely to develop
Age of onset earlier for men
