unlearn biological schrizopherian explanation

Question 1

What does the genetic explanation say about schizophrenia?

Answer 1

CIf members of our family have schizophrenia, we are more likely to develop schizophrenia.

DThe more genetic risk alleles a person has, the more likely they are to develop schizophrenia.

AThere are multiple gene alleles that increase the risk of developing schizophrenia.

Question 2

Which of the following statements best describes a concordance rate?

Answer 2

DThe percentage of twins that both share the same trait, given that at least one twin has the trait.

Question 3

Which of the following statements are true of Gottesman and Shields’ twin study on schizophrenia?

Answer 3

The concordance rates for monozygotic twins was
$74\%.$
74%.

DThe concordance rates for dizygotic twins was
$24\%.$
24%.

The concordance rates for monozygotic twins show the environment also plays a role in schizophrenia development.

Question 4

Which of the following is an issue that twin studies may have?

Answer 4

Twin studies might over exaggerate the importance of genetics. Due to environment

Question 5

Which of the following are libations of adoption studies

Answer 5

They assume that any similarity between biological parents and adopted child is solely down to genetics
They ignore similarities in enviroments shared between adopted children and their biological parents
They assume that adoptive parents have no control over how the child develops
They ignore the similarities in environment shared between adopted children and their adoptive parents

Question 6

If adopted children are often matched to adults that are similar to their biological parents what does this mean for our interoperation of adoption studies?

Answer 6

Similarities between adopted children and biological parents may also be result of environmental influences
Adoption studies may over exgarrate the rile of genetics

Question 7

Explain one limitation of adoption studies, with reference to the environmental influence on a child.

Answer 7

Adoption studies assume that the biological parent has no environmental influence on the child. However, children are often paired with adoptive parents who come from a similar background and live in a similar area. Therefore, while there is no direct influence, the adopted child may still grow up in an environment similar to how they would have grown up with their biological parent. This is a limitation because adoption studies may be over-exaggerating the genetic influence on the child, because they are ignoring the potentially shared environment between the adopted child and biological parent.

Question 8

What does the neural correlates explanation of schizophrenia say the disorder is caused by?

Answer 8

abnormal brain structure - big ventricles smaller frontal Cortex

Question 9

What does an MRI scan do?

Answer 9

BProvides an image of the structure of an individual’s brain.

Question 10

Which of the following statements are true of the findings of Torrey’s brain imaging study?

Answer 10

CTorrey found that people with schizophrenia had
$15\%$
15% larger ventricles than those in the control group

ETorrey’s study supports the neural correlates explanation of schizophrenia.

Question 11

Which of the following are limitations of the neural correlates hypothesis?

Answer 11

AWe don’t have sufficient evidence to conclude that brain abnormalities cause schizophrenia, because the evidence obtained from MRI studies are correlational.

The drug medication that patients take to treat schizophrenia may act as a confounding variable in studies of neural correlates.

AThere are individual differences in the brain abnormalities displayed in patients with schizophrenia.

BTThe hypothesis ignores the fact that there are individual differences in brain structure across different people.
Show Explanation

CNot all schizophrenia patients display enlarged ventricles.

Question 12

. Explain one limitation of studies investigating the neural correlates hypothesis, with reference to the scenario given.

Answer 12

One limitation is that the evidence from these studies is correlational - it does not prove that brain abnormalities are causing schizophrenia, only that there is a correlation between these two factors. For example, taking certain medications could cause a side effect where people develop larger ventricles, which could act as a confounding variable in the research. In Sarah’s case, she may have developed enlarged ventricles after consistently taking the medication she was given after her diagnosis. Therefore, studying people who are already on medication does not necessarily show that they have schizophrenia because of these enlarged ventricles.

Question 13

What does the dopamine hypothesis suggest schizophrenia is caused by ?
Abnormal brain function

Answer 13

Which of the following statements are correct about dopamine levels in schizophrenia
People with schizopherian have higher levels of dpamine than healthy people
The neurons of people with schizophrenia generate more electrical activity than those of healthy people

Which of the following statements are correct about neiuron activity in schirpherina
Neurons are overactive only in the mesolimbic system
Neuron overactivity causes delusions

Question 14

Which of the following statements are correct, according to the revised dopamine hypothesis?

Answer 14

FUnderactivity causes negative symptoms.

BPeople with schizophrenia have lower levels of dopamine in the frontal cortex than usual.

Question 15

Drug studies?

Answer 15

BWhen normal people take amphetamines, they can experience hallucinations and delusions.

CDrugs that reduce dopamine decrease the likelihood of people with schizophrenia having hallucinations and delusions.

Question 16

Which of the following statements about the findings of Noll’s study are correct?

Answer 16

DThe study suggests that high levels of dopamine are not the only cause of positive symptoms.

EThe study suggests that, for the majority of people, high levels of dopamine cause positive symptoms.’

AThe results show a limitation of the dopamine hypothesis.

Question 17

Why did Montcrieff conclude that the evidence supporting the dopamine hypothesis is inconclusive?

Answer 17

CDrugs that increase dopamine, like amphetamine, also increase the levels of other neurotransmitters, so we can’t be sure that it’s the increased dopamine that is causing these symptoms.

DSome post-mortem studies reported increased levels of dopamine in the mesolimbic pathway, but other studies reported no difference compared to the control brains.

Question 18

Callum and Jodie both have schizophrenia. As patients in a psychiatric ward, doctors prescribed them drugs that aimed to reduce their dopamine levels. The nurses monitored both Callum and Jodie over several weeks, to see any long-term change in their behaviour.
$$

Jodie made improvements in her mental state, and nurses noticed how her auditory hallucinations had subsided. Callum on the other hand was still dealing with paranoid delusions and visual hallucinations.
$$

Question
$5.$
5. Referring back to the scenario, explain one limitation of the dopamine hypothesis.

Answer 18

The dopamine hypothesis assumes that it is the high levels of dopamine in the mesolimbic system that cause the positive symptoms of schizophrenia - hallucinations and delusions. However, drugs that reduce levels of dopamine do not always reduce symptoms. In this example, Callum has not stopped experiencing delusions or hallucinations, despite being on the same drugs as Jodie. Therefore, this suggests that it is not only dopamine that causes positive symptoms of schizophrenia, but that something else must also be involved.

Question 19

Noll (2009) conducted a review of drug studies, where drugs were administered to reduce dopamine levels in the brains of people with schizophrenia.
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Question
$7.$
7. Describe the results of the review, and explain what this suggests about the positive symptoms of schizophrenia.

Answer 19

Noll found that across the studies,
$33\%$
33% of patients did not experience a reduction in positive symptoms after being administered a drug that reduced dopamine levels. This suggests that a majority of people experience positive symptoms because of high levels of dopamine in the mesolimbic system. However, this also suggests that high levels of dopamine are not the only cause of positive symptoms, because the drugs were not effective on
$100\%$
100% of patients.

Question 20

People with schizophrenia carry alleles that increase the risk of developing schizophrenia.

Answer 20

Genetic explanations

Question 21

Schizophrenia is caused by an abnormal brain structure.

Answer 21

Neural corellasis hypotheiss

Question 22

People who have schizophrenia experience an imbalance of neurotransmitters in the brain.

Answer 22

Dopamine

Question 23

Kyle was given antipsychotics to treat his schizophrenia. He took the medication as prompted, and his positive symptoms went away. However, since taking his medication, Kyle has begun experiencing stiffness and mobility issues.
$$

Question
$4.$
4. Referring to Kyle’s symptoms, explain one limitation of medication as a treatment for schizophrenia.

Answer 23

Antipsychotic drugs are able to reduce the positive symptoms of schizophrenia by reducing dopamine overactivity of the mesolimbic system. However, antipsychotics also reduce dopamine activity all areas of the brain, leading to unwanted side effects. Kyle is experiencing the common side effects of antipsychotic medication, which are known as extrapyramidal symptoms, which include stiff, jerky movements, caused by reduced dopamine activity in the motor cortex.

Question 24

What other side effects are common in people who take antipsychotics?

Answer 24

The mobility issues caused by the extrapyramidal side effects of antipsychotics means that patients are at risk of physical side effects too. This includes obesity, cardiac issues, and an increased chance of developing diabetes.

Question 25

Explain why antipsychotic drugs both are unable to treat negative symptoms, and potentially make them worse.

Answer 25

Antipsychotics reduce the dopamine activity levels in all areas of the brain. Negative symptoms of schizophrenia are thought to be caused by reduced dopamine levels in the frontal cortex. So antipsychotics not only lack the ability to treat these symptoms, but could make them more intense, because they further reduce dopamine activity levels in the frontal cortex.

Question 26

Which of the following statements about the method of Leucht’s study are correct?

Answer 26

DLeucht looked at the effectiveness of antipsychotic drugs.

ALeucht conducted a meta-analysis.

Question 27

Which of the following statements about the findings of Leucht’s study are correct?

Answer 27

DLeucht found that antipsychotic drugs led to lower relapse rates.

ELeucht found that antipsychotic drugs led to less severe positive symptoms.

ALeucht found that antipsychotic drugs were more effective at treating schizophrenia than a placebo.

Question 28

Why do atypical antipsychotics lead to fewer side effects?

Answer 28

They bind to dopamine resceportos for a shorter period of time

Question 29

What is a limitation of both typical and atypical antipsychotics?

Answer 29

BPatients who stop taking either drug are likely to experience relapse.

Question 30

Which of the following statements are differences between typical and atypical antipsychotics?

Answer 30

Antipsychotics of both kinds work by binding to the dopamine receptors of postsynaptic neurons. However they bind to dopamine receptors for different periods of time, and one has more side effects than the other. Although not fully known how, atypical antipsychotics are also able to treat negative symptoms of schizophrenia, while typical antipsychotics cannot.

Question 31

Explain why atypical antipsychotics have fewer side effects than typical antipsychotics.

Answer 31

Atypical antipsychotics bind to dopamine receptors for a shorter period of time than typical antipsychotics. By allowing dopamine to still bind to the receptors from time-to-time, people who take atypical antipsychotics typically experience less side effects, because there is less disruption to dopamine activity in all areas of the brain.

Question 32

Other than the chance of experiencing side effects, explain one limitation that is shared by both typical and atypical antipsychotics.

Answer 32

One limitation of both types of antipsychotics is that people with schizophrenia have a high likelihood of relapsing if they stop taking their medication. This is important because drugs might not be treating the underlying cause of the disorder - they may just be blocking the symptoms.