Medications for Schizophrenia and Mood Disorders

Vocabulary flashcards covering the definitions of symptoms, hypotheses, and pharmacological treatments for Schizophrenia and Mood Disorders based on lecture notes.

Schizophrenia (SCZ)

A severe mental disorder resulting in a loss of contact with reality and psychosis.

Positive Symptoms

Symptoms involving delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, catatonic behavior, and loosening of associations.

Delusions

False beliefs held despite contradictory evidence.

Hallucinations

Sensory experiences without external stimuli.

Negative Symptoms

Symptom cluster including reduced emotional expression, poverty of speech (alogia), absence of will, social withdrawal, and memory impairment.

Alogia

Poverty of speech, categorized as a negative symptom of Schizophrenia.

Biomedical Model

Asserts that abnormal thoughts and behaviors are the result of faulty biochemical processes within the brain.

Glutamate Hypothesis

Proposes that Schizophrenia may result from a hypofunction of glutamate, characterized by NMDA receptor dysfunction.

First-Generation Drugs

Typical antipsychotics that act mainly on D2 receptors to improve positive symptoms but can lead to Tardive Dyskinesia.

Second-Generation Drugs

Atypical antipsychotics that act on both D2 and D4 receptors, treating both positive and negative symptoms with fewer movement side effects.

Third-Generation Drugs

Newer atypical antipsychotics that stabilize D2 receptors and can target glutamate, with lower risk for metabolic side effects.

Tardive Dyskinesia

A late-appearing movement disorder characterized by involuntary movements resulting from antipsychotic use.

Monoamine Hypothesis of Depression

Proposes that depression is associated with a deficiency in neurotransmitters like norepinephrine and serotonin.

Diathesis-stress Hypothesis

Suggests that genetic susceptibility (diathesis) combined with environmental stressors leads to the onset of depression.

HPA Axis

A major system regulating stress response which is activated during stress and turned off by negative feedback from the Hippocampus.

MAO Inhibitors

Antidepressants that inhibit the enzyme Monoamine Oxidase to increase levels of NE and serotonin.

Tricyclics

A class of antidepressants that work by blocking the reuptake of neurotransmitters.

SSRIs

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors that specifically target serotonin levels.

SNRIs

Antidepressants that target the reuptake of both norepinephrine and serotonin.

Lithium

The lead treatment for bipolar disorder, effective in treating mania by stabilizing mood and neurotransmitter activity.