Biological Explanations of Schizophrenia

• What does it mean to say schizophrenia has a biological cause?

  It suggests schizophrenia arises from physical processes
• What are the three main factors discussed regarding schizophrenia's biological cause?

  Genetics, neural structure, neurotransmitter activity
• What does polygenetic mean in the context of schizophrenia?

  Multiple genes increase the risk of schizophrenia
• How many gene loci were identified by Ripke et al. (2014) in schizophrenia research?

  108 gene loci
• What does etiologically heterogeneous mean?

  Different gene combinations cause schizophrenia
• What would we expect in family studies if schizophrenia has a genetic basis?

  Higher rates of schizophrenia in close relatives
• What is a concordance rate in schizophrenia research?

  Frequency of schizophrenia in both individuals
• Why would we expect a higher concordance rate in siblings than cousins?

  Siblings share more DNA than cousins
• What was the concordance rate found in identical twins according to Gottesman?

  48%
• What is the general population's concordance rate for schizophrenia?

  1%
• What issue arises from the concordance rate not being 100% in identical twins?

  It suggests environmental factors also play a role
• What did Tienari's research on adopted children suggest about schizophrenia?

  Biological risk exists even in healthy environments
• What percentage of children of schizophrenic mothers developed schizophrenia in healthy environments?

  1. 8%
• What is the dopamine hypothesis in relation to schizophrenia?

  Imbalance of dopamine causes schizophrenia symptoms
• What is hyperdopaminergia?


  Too much dopamine in the brain
• What is hypodopaminergia?

  Low dopamine levels in the frontal cortex
• What evidence supports the dopamine hypothesis?

  Success of antipsychotic drugs affecting dopamine
• What did the Shet's meta-analysis find regarding antipsychotic drugs?

  More effective than placebo at treating symptoms
• What are enlarged ventricles in the brain associated with?

  People with schizophrenia
• What is a limitation of the research on enlarged ventricles?

  It is correlational, not causal
• What does determinism imply in the context of schizophrenia?

  Schizophrenia is inevitable if you have the genes
• How does soft determinism differ from strict determinism?

  It suggests that individuals have some kind of control over their actions
• What is reductionism in the context of schizophrenia?

  Explaining schizophrenia through basic biological processes and ignoring the potential influences of environment
• What is a potential benefit of a reductionist approach?

  It simplifies the explanation of disorders
• What does holism suggest about schizophrenia?

  A better explanation includes multiple factors
• What does the diathesis-stress approach propose?


  Genetic vulnerability interacts with environmental stressors
• What is the C4 gene associated with in the function of the brain?


  Synaptic prunning