The biological approach to schizophrenia

Question 1

what does the biological approach suggest the three main causes of schizophrenia are

Answer 1

Genetics
Dopamine hypothesis
Neural correlates

Question 2

TRUE or FALSE schizophrenia is a monogenic illness

Answer 2

FALSE
it is a polygenic disorder

Question 3

How many genes are involved in increasing the chances of a person getting Sz

Answer 3

108

Question 4

who researched the amount of genes that increases a persons risk of developing Sz

Answer 4

Ripkey et al

Question 5

what does the phrase ‘Sz appears to be polygenic and aetiologically heterogenous’ mean?

Answer 5

It means that schizophrenia requires multiples genes to be shown as a behaviour and that different factors work together to cause Sz

Question 6

Who researched the effects of genetics on the heritability of Sz

Answer 6

Gottesman (1991)

Tienari et el (200)

both separate pieces of research that both research Sz and genetics

Question 7

What was Gottesmans procedure when researching sz and genetics

Answer 7

He reviewed over 40 studies in Germany, Switzerland, Scandinavia and UK by looking through medical records for Sz.
it was a meta-analysis

Question 8

what did gottesman find when researching Sz and genetics

Answer 8

those that share 100% of their genetics (monozygotic twins) have a 48% of both having sz meaning 52% of the risk comes from the environment

share 50%: 6-17% risk
share 25%: 2-6% risk
share 12.5%: 2%

He went on to state that if both your parents have Sz there was a 46% chance of you developing Sz

Question 9

what did Tienari et al investigate relating to Sz and genetics

Answer 9

the combination of genetic vulnerability and parenting style as a trigger using adopted children

Question 10

what was Tienari’s procedure when investigating Sz and genetics

Answer 10

investigated 164 adoptees whose biological mothers had been diagnosed with Sz and then 197 control adoptees.
all from Finland

Question 11

what did Tienari find when investigating Sz and genetics

Answer 11

adopted children w/ Sz mums that also had Sz themselves: 11 (6.7%)
control adoptees who had Sz: 4 (2%)

this shows it is not due to being raised in an environment with a Sz mum but the genetics

Question 12

what does the dopamine hypothesis claim theres too much of in certain regions of the brain

Answer 12

it says there excess dopamine within the prefrontal cortex which is associated with positive symptoms of Sz

Question 13

DP HYPOT: what causes hyperdopaminergia in Sz

Answer 13

the neurons fire too easily and too often leading to hallucinations and delusions (pos symptoms)

they also are thought to have a higher amount of D2 receptors on receiving neurons which means that more dp binds with receptors which leads to more neurons firing again producing pos symptoms

Question 14

what does the dp hypothesis suggest the reason is for neg symptoms

Answer 14

neg symptoms are thought to arise from a deficit in DP in areas of the prefrontal cortex

Question 16

who investigated the dopamine hypothesis

Answer 16

Leutch et al

Question 17

what was the procedure of leutch et als research into dopamine hypothesis

Answer 17

a meta-analysis of 212 studies analysing the effectiveness of different anti-psychotic drugs in comparison to a placebo was completed.

Question 18

what did leutch et al find from his research into dopamine hypothesis

Answer 18

he found that all drugs tested were sig more effective than placebo in treat ment of pos + neg symptoms
which achieved the normalisation of dopamine levels

Question 19

what does neural correlates mean

Answer 19

areas of the brain that are associated with Schizophrenia

Question 20

TRUE or FALSE: there is only neural correlates for negative symptoms

Answer 20

FALSE
There are neural correlates for both the positive and the negative symptoms of schizophrenia

Question 21

what is the function of the neural mechanism, prefrontal coretex

Answer 21

Helps people think logically + organise their thoughts

Question 22

what is the function of the neural mechanism, visual and auditory cortexes

Answer 22

processes information recieved form the eyes and ears

Question 23

what is the function of the neural mechanism, basal ganglia

Answer 23

located deep inside the brain and affects movement and thinking skills

Question 24

what is the function of the neural mechanism, amygdala

Answer 24

responsible for basic feelings such as fear, lust and hunger

Question 25

what is the function of the neural mechanism, Dopamine

Answer 25

responsible for feelings of pleasure and also affects thinking and movements

Question 26

what is the neural mechanism, the prefrontal cortexes role in schizophrenia

Answer 26

many schizophrenia have lower activity in this area, which could be like delusions and disorganised thoughts

Question 27

what is the neural mechanisms, visual and auditory cortexes role in schizophrenia

Answer 27

schizophrenic have the same activity in these areas when they hallucinate as sane people do when they have real visual and auditory behaviour

Question 28

what is the neural mechanism, basal ganglia, role in schizophrenia

Answer 28

research shows that this structure is larger in Sz which leads to motor dysfunction i.e catatonic behaviour (neg symptom)

Question 29

what is the neural mechanism, amygdala, role in schizophrenia

Answer 29

smaller in schizophrenics so can link to loss of emotion (affective flattening) (neg symptom)

Question 30

what is the neural mechanism, Dopamine, role in schizophrenia

Answer 30

low levels in certain areas of the brain are linked to a loss of pleasure.

high levels in brain areas are linked to pos symptoms.

Question 31

Strength of biological approach to schizophrenia

Question 32

Limitation of biological approach to schizophrenia