AO1

• Candidate genes are what we call genes that we can't pinpoint a specific gene responsible to schizophrenia
• Schizophrenia also appears to be polygenetic meaning it needs to have a number of genes working together to produce the disorder
• Neutral correlates - the dopamine hypothesis

  • Neutral correlates are changes in neural events and mechanisms that result in specific symptoms of behaviour ot mental disorder
• The dopamine hypothesis states that an excess of the neurotransmitters dopamine in certain areas the brain causes positive symptoms of schizophrenia
• Grey matter loss can also be seen in individuals with schizophrenia. Especially in the temporal and frontal lobe. The greater t tissue loss the worse the symptoms as grey matter served to process information I the brain
• Family Studies

  • Gottesman's study shows that child with 2 schizophrenic parent's had a concordance rate of 46% and a child with 1 schizophrenic parent 13%
  • Also a child with a schizophrenic sibling had a concordance rate of 9%
• Ripke (2014) found 108 variations of genetic combinations associated with an increased risk of schizophrenia in 37,000 patients.
• Twin studies

  • Gottesman (1991) reviewed cases of schizophrenia and found concordance rates of 48% for identical twins and 17% for non-identical twins. This compares to a 1% chance of developing schizophrenia for the general population, suggesting a strong genetic basis for schizophrenia.