Schizophrenia and

PhysiologyBy Bridgette Craig (u3096690)

Physiological Psychology

2014

What is Schizophrenia?

Classified as a Mental illness

Effects one in every hundred

Commonly starts in early adulthood

Quick review of Schizophrenia

• Types of schizophrenia (Kirkpatrick,

2013):

• Disorganized schizophrenia

• Catatonic Schizophrenia

• Paranoid Schizophrenia

• Treatment (Bentall, 2013):

• Medication; Antipsychotics typically

• Counselling/therapy

Symptoms (Kirkpatrick, 2013)

Delusions Hallucinations Confused thinking

Disorganised thought, speech and behaviour Diminished emotional expressionDecreased motivation

How Schizophrenia and Physiology Relate:

Psychodynamic Explanation

Freud

Unfalsifiable Ethics

Debates

Determinism vs Free Will

Nomothetic vs Idiographic

A lot more to our subconscious than

consciousness minds

There is no empirical evidence and the

concept cannot scientifically be proven

Repressed memories

Trauma

Conflict between the ID (Selfish desires),

super ego and ego that has been repressed

into the unconscious mind.

How Schizophrenia and Physiology Relate:

Behavioural Explanation

Studies

Positives

Debates

Determinism vs Free Will

Nature vs Nurture

Easy to observe

Paul and Lentz (1977) –

Attrition because

longitudinal experiment

Paul and Lentz (1977)

Comer (2005)

Observation the most commonly used technique

To read more on this topic: http://bjp.rcpsych.org/content/153/4/532.short

How Schizophrenia and Physiology Relate:

Cognitive Explanation

Majority of the changes of a Schizophrenic

sufferer are in the brain.

• Less grey matter (As shown in the

picture)

• Swollen ventricles

• Less metabolic activity

Studies:

• Glenn, Gorden, Helmut, Hof (2002)

To read more on this topic: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364661302018922

How Schizophrenia and Physiology Relate

• The physiology of schizophrenia plays a very important part of creating new treatments for suffers as well as understanding the disease better as a whole to help guide the research to better aid suffers.

• Many people suffering from schizophrenia fail to experience significant recovery, even if they are receiving medical treatment (Kirkpatrick, 2013). This has been shown in the past because of the focus on the more prominent symptoms (Positive symptoms) instead of all of the symptoms that are effecting the individual. Finding help for the sufferers will have to combine treatments to stop all symptoms occurring within the individual.

Research:

Understanding the Physiology of SchizophreniaBy Brian Kirkpatrick

Treatments of Schizophrenia should be multilayered

Dopamine SystemMost antipsychotic drugs only

inhibit the dopaminergic function

and nothing else.

Acetylcholine SystemPreliminary evidence suggests that

the agonists can improve cognitive

and negative symptoms in

schizophrenia.

Physiologic AbnormalitiesIncreased mortality rates are related

not only to suicide but also to other

contributors like diabetes and

inflammation

The parts of the brain that are effected by schizophrenia

The Aim and Objective of Research

• The aim of research relating to schizophrenia and physiology is solely to help

the people suffering from schizophrenia live a relatively content and

functional life.

• The objectives of the research include

• Researching more medication to help majority of the symptoms in every part of the

sufferer instead of focusing on the worst symptoms.

• Assessing the counselling and psychological regimes given to suffers to better aid their

progress.

Conclusion

• Genes are not the sole problem in relation to the develop of Schizophrenia

but are influenced by environment. Therefore, the relationship between the

environment and the genetic makeup is shown to explain higher degree of

heritability among relatives.

More fluid was found in the ventricles of the twin with Schizophrenia The different parts of the brain activity

References

• Bentall, R. P. (Ed.). (2013). Reconstructing schizophrenia. Routledge.

• Comer, R. J. (2005). Fundamentals of abnormal psychology (4th ed.). New York: Worth.

• Kirkpatrick, B. (2013). Understanding the Physiology of Schizophrenia [CME]. The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, E05-E05. Retrieved October 15, 2014, from http://depressiontribunegrel.wordpress.com/2013/06/16/understanding-the-physiology-of-schizophrenia/

• Meyer-Lindenberg, A. (2010). From maps to mechanisms through neuroimaging of schizophrenia. Nature,468(7321), 194-202. Retrieved October 2, 2014, from http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v468/n7321/full/nature09569.html

• Paul, G.L., & Lentz, R.J. (1977). Psychosocial Treatment of Chronic Mental Patients: Milieu versus social-learning programs. Behavior Therapy, 607-610.

• Sanders, G., Gallup, G., Heinsen, H., Hof, P., & Schmitz, C. (2002). Cognitive deficits, schizophrenia, and the anterior cingulate cortex. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 6(5), 190-192.

• Tarrier, N., Barrowclough, C., Vaughn, C., Bamrah, J., Porceddu, K., Watts, S., & Freeman, H. (1988). The community management of schizophrenia. A controlled trial of a behavioural intervention with families to reduce relapse. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 2(4), 532-542.