Biological explanations for schizophrenia

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

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

  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 in schizophrenia research?

  108 gene loci
• What does etiologically heterogeneous mean?

  Different gene combinations cause schizophrenia
• How do family studies support the genetic basis of schizophrenia?

  Higher rates in relatives of sufferers
• What is a concordance rate?

  Frequency of shared schizophrenia in relatives
• Why do we expect a higher concordance rate in siblings than cousins?

  Siblings share more DNA than cousins
• What was the concordance rate for identical twins found by Gatzman?

  48%
• What is the concordance rate for non-identical twins according to Gatzman?

  17%
• What is the concordance rate in the general population for schizophrenia?

  1%
• What issue arises from the 48% concordance rate in identical twins?

  It suggests genetics isn't the sole factor
• What do adoption studies suggest about schizophrenia?

  Biological risk influenced by environment
• What percentage of children of schizophrenic mothers developed schizophrenia in a healthy environment?

  5.8%
• What percentage of children of schizophrenic mothers developed schizophrenia in a dysfunctional family?

  36.8%
• What are neurocorrelates in the context of schizophrenia?

  Biological processes correlated with schizophrenia
• What is the dopamine hypothesis?

  Imbalance of dopamine causes schizophrenia symptoms
• What is hyperdopaminergia?

  Too much dopamine in the brain
• What symptoms may be caused by hyperdopaminergia?

  Auditory hallucinations and negative symptoms
• What is hypodopaminergia?

  Too little dopamine in the frontal cortex
• What evidence supports the dopamine hypothesis?

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

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

  They are larger in 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 biologically predetermined
• What is the difference between determinism and soft determinism?

  Soft determinism allows for individual control
• What is reductionism in the context of schizophrenia?

  Explaining schizophrenia through basic biological processes
• What is a benefit of the biological explanation's reductionism?

  It simplifies understanding of schizophrenia
• What does the diathesis-stress approach suggest?

  Genetic vulnerability triggered by environmental stress
• What should you avoid when discussing drug treatments in essays?

  Writing a full essay on drug treatments
• What is the main neurotransmitter implicated in schizophrenia?

  Dopamine
• What role does serotonin play in schizophrenia treatment?

  Clozapine acts on serotonin systems