Schizophrenia Flashcards
Associated symptoms Biological basis
Describe what it is due to known history across the world?
People who hear voices, believe they are being persecuted, act unusually (talk to themselves), withdraw from society.
Meaning of the disorder name (ancient Greek)??
‘To split’ and ‘the mind’
He meant to split from reality.
3 core impairments?
Auditory hallucinations: heating voices
Delusions: unjustifiable beliefs, incorrect faults that they have strong convictions about even with no grounds of proof
Changes in affect: mood
Positive symptoms (addition of something)
Hallucinations
Delusions (of grandeur, of persecution, of control)
Incoherant/disordered thought process
Bizarre behaviours
Negative symptoms (removal of something)
Inappropriate/flat affect (mood)
Anhedonia - inability to experiance anything as pleasure
Social withdrawal
Improverished speech - not speak, repeating (echolalia)
Causes
Biological disorder
Has a genetic component
1% of the population
10% of close family members of likely to have it
Genetic components… (twins)
Concordance of schizo in identical twins is around 50%
Likely many genes are Associated with schizo
Adoption studies highlight importance of genetic factor
Can the environment impact of schizo development?
Yes
Describe the structural brain abnormalities
Reduced cortical thickness particularly in frontal and temporal cortices
These structures are associated with language, memory and decision making.
Loss of brain volume in frontal and temporal cortices
Not possible to determine whether observed changes were due to schizo or already present at the time of manifestation of the disorder
Neurochemical abnormalities
The dopamine hypothesis:
Amphetamine enhances dopaminergic activity (promotes release of dopamine & stops reuptake mechanism)
Amphetamine can produce psychotic symptoms similar to some schizo symptoms
Drugs known as neuroleptics or antipsychotic
Some drugs work without affecting dopamine system at all. Some patients have no effect with these drugs
Take weeks to take effect whereas biochemically their reaction is within hours
Brain abnormalities - not appear connected to dopamine system.
Once a schizo, always a schizo?
False. After remission, people can be free of it
