Psychology: schizophrenia

• What is schizophrenia defined as?

  A psychotic disorder with impaired thinking
• What types of symptoms do sufferers of schizophrenia experience?

  Positive and negative symptoms
• What are positive symptoms in schizophrenia?

  Symptoms that enhance normal experiences
• What are negative symptoms in schizophrenia?

  Symptoms that represent a loss of experience
• What characterizes hallucinations in schizophrenia?

  Distorted perceptions of real or unreal stimuli
• What may cause auditory hallucinations?

  Excess of dopamine receptors in Broca’s area
• What are delusions in schizophrenia?

  Beliefs with no basis in reality
• What is a common type of delusion?

  Persecutory delusions
• What is speech poverty?

  Low frequency and quality of speech
• What is avolition?

  Reduction in interests and purposeful acts
• What are the two classification systems for mental disorders?

  DSM-V and ICD-10
• What is a key difference between DSM-V and ICD-10?

  Specificity of symptoms required for diagnosis
• What does the DSM-V require for schizophrenia diagnosis?

  At least 2 symptoms like delusions or hallucinations
• What does the ICD-10 state for schizophrenia diagnosis?

  Dominance of paranoid delusions and hallucinations
• What are the subtypes of schizophrenia?

  Positive and mixed schizophrenia
• What is co-morbidity in schizophrenia?

  High frequency of two disorders together
• What did Buckley et al (2009) find about schizophrenia?

  29% had PTSD, 50% had depression
• What is gender bias in schizophrenia diagnosis?

  Differences in diagnosis rates between genders
• What did Cotton et al (2009) suggest about gender bias?

  No genetic differences in susceptibility
• What is cultural bias in schizophrenia diagnosis?

  Differences in diagnosis based on cultural norms
• What did Escobar et al (2012) suggest about cultural bias?

  African Americans more likely to be diagnosed
• What did Gottesman (1991) find about schizophrenia?

  Genetic basis with family correlation
• What are the concordance rates for schizophrenia?

  Monozygotic twins 48%, dizygotic twins 17%
• What do candidate genes represent in schizophrenia?

  Genetic variations increasing risk of developing SZ
• What does the dopamine hypothesis suggest?

  Both high and low dopamine levels contribute to SZ
• What is hyperdopaminergia?

  Abnormally high dopamine levels in the subcortex
• What is hypodopaminergia?

  Abnormally low dopamine levels in the cortex
• What did Goldman Rakic et al (2004) suggest about hypodopaminergia?

  It may cause negative symptoms like speech poverty
• What are neural correlates?

  Patterns of activity linked to psychological symptoms
• What did Juckel et al (2006) find about avolition?

  Low activation in the ventral striatum linked to avolition
• What did Allen et al (2007) conclude about auditory verbal hallucinations?

  Linked to functional abnormalities in specific brain areas
• What did Brown et al (2002) find about paternal age and schizophrenia risk?

  Increased risk if father is over 50
• What is the evidence for the dopamine hypothesis described as?

  Mixed evidence supporting and criticizing it
• What did Tauscher et al (2014) find about antipsychotics?

  They alleviate symptoms by reducing dopamine activity
• What do Moghaddam and Javitt (2012) criticize about the dopamine hypothesis?

  It emphasizes dopamine's role too much
• Which neurotransmitters are mentioned as potentially important besides dopamine?

  Glutamate and serotonin
• What neurotransmitter is suggested to play a key role in schizophrenia development?

  Dopamine
• What is the criticism of the dopamine hypothesis in schizophrenia?

  It emphasizes dopamine's role too much
• Which antipsychotic is noted for acting on glutamate?

  Clozapine
• What is a limitation of correlational research in schizophrenia?

  It cannot establish cause and effect