Schizophrenia and Psychopathy Lecture Review

These flashcards cover key concepts related to schizophrenia and psychopathy, including definitions and symptoms.

Schizophrenia

A psychotic disorder involving disturbance of thought, emotion, and behavior, considered to be the most devastating mental illness.

Lifetime prevalence of Schizophrenia

Approximately 1% of the population.

Positive Symptoms

Symptoms that are present in schizophrenia, including hallucinations and delusions.

Negative Symptoms

Symptoms that reflect a decrease in or absence of normal functions, such as lack of emotion or inability to experience pleasure.

Hallucinations

Sensory experiences that happen in the absence of environmental stimuli, most commonly auditory.

Delusions

Beliefs held with strong conviction despite evidence to the contrary.

Avolition

Lack of energy and inability to persist in routine activities.

Anhedonia

Inability to experience pleasure.

Cognitive Deficits

Deficiencies in cognitive functions such as memory, attention, and decision-making associated with schizophrenia.

Antisocial Personality Disorder

A pervasive pattern of disregard for and violation of the rights of others, beginning in childhood or early adolescence.

Hare Psychopathy Checklist

A structured interview tool used to assess the nature and severity of psychopathy.

Catatonia

Prolonged motor immobility states that alternate with periods of excitability.

Neologisms

Made-up words that can occur in individuals with formal thought disorder.

Clozapine

An atypical antipsychotic that is most effective for schizophrenia but has a risk of agranulocytosis.

NMDA receptor modulation

Experimental treatment approach targeting hypofunction of NMDA receptors in schizophrenia.

Emotional Circuit Maturation

The process of development in emotional circuits that begins in early life.

Early Life Adversity (ELA)

Stressful or traumatic experiences in early life that alter emotional circuit development and create vulnerabilities.

Myelin and Perineuronal Nets

Structurally significant factors that close sensitive periods of brain development.

Orbitofrontal Cortex

A brain region implicated in psychopathy and emotional processing.

Limbic Structures

Brain regions involved in emotional responses, often affected in individuals with psychopathy.