schizophrenia

Prodromal

Early stages of schizophrenia, social withdrawal, reduced motivation and difficulty concentrating

Active phase (acute phase)

Not being able distinguish between reality or psychotic experience

Residual phase

When they receive treatment and their symptoms start decreasing

Positive symptoms

Hallucinations, delusions, paranoia

Negative symptoms

Is the absence of normal emotion responses, everyday behaviours, and personal drive that healthy people usually have.

This includes alogia poverty of speech

Blunted affect (lack of motivation)

Asociality (social withdrawal)

Anhedonia (inability to feel pleasure)

Cognitive symptoms

Involves problems with memory, attention, bad at daily tasks.

Including brains processing speed

Working memory

Attention and focus

Verbal and visual memory

Grossly disorganised

The negative symptoms of schizophrenia

Biological factor of schizophrenia

Genetic predisposition, Brain structure and dopamine

What is the genetic predisposition

C4

Who discovered the C4 gene

MIT and Harvard

Brain structure and function of Neurotypical brain and schizophrenic brain

-The brain of a person with schizophrenia has lower activity in the frontal lopes, but increased activity in the visual cortex and auditorium cortex.

Indicating that the sensory areas of the brain may be more active

Van Rossum 1967

Suggests that too much dopamine in the brain is associated with the positive symptoms of schizophrenia

What treatment helps with positive symptoms of schizophrenia?

Antipsychotic medication because it reduces dopamine

Howas and Kapur 2009

Genetic factors + environmental stressors → contributes to altered dopamine functioning = symptoms of schizophrenia

most common type of hallucination

Auditory, which is hearing voices that are not real

what triggers the genetic predisposition

Stress

What is a treatment for schizophrenia that is not medication?

Therapy It can help with stress and mental health

What does bad sleeping habits cause?

Schizophrenic symptoms

Adoption study on schizophrenia

Showing that the genetic predisposition plays a crucial role independent of environment

Tierari 2004

Shows that stressful environments can trigger the genetic predisposition for schizophrenia

Browns research on expressed emotions

Founded that 59% of schizophrenic patients that returned to families with high express emotions are more likely to relapse (symptoms come back) compared to a 10% chance of relapse for those returning to a low expressed emotion family.

Suggesting that environment and social factors can influence the management and course of schizophrenia

Urban areas impact on schizophrenia. Faris and Dunham (1939)

Discovered that people that live in urban areas are more likely to develop schizophrenia than people that live in rural areas

Links belief to increase risk of schizophrenia

Childhood trauma and abuse

Cannabis use

severe stress

Social disadvantages such as poverty

To hit hypothesis

Schizophrenia results from two separate factors at different developing stages:

1st hit (before birth/early childhood): genetic predisposition, birth complications, infection during pregnancy → creates hidden brain vulnerability, no symptoms yet.

2nd hit (adolescent/early adulthood): hormonal changes, stress, substance use (cannabis), synaptic pruning → triggers the vulnerable brain into psychosis

New medicine for schizophrenia

Atypical anti-psychosis brackets newer treatments positive and negative symptoms blocks dopamine receptors (can cause heart problems)

Older medicine for schizophrenia

Typical anti psychosis takes away positive symptoms and treats dopamine. Side-effects it makes you tired, dry mouth, twitching