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biochemical explanation of mental illness - Coggle Diagram
biochemical explanation of mental illness
what are the three monoamines involved in major depression
noradrenaline
what symptoms of depression would it cause?
lack of energy and disturbed sleep patterns
what is this responsible for?
heart rate, concentration, alertness and energy
where is this found?
hypothalamus and hippocampus
dopamine
what symptoms of depression would it cause?
lack of motivation and being less interested in pleasure and reward
what is this responsible for?
motivation, pleasure and reward
serotonin
what is this responsible for?
mood, appetite, memory
what symptoms of depression would it cause?
low mood and loss of appetite
who did the research to support this?
Jeffery Meyer et al
what was his study?
he studied 17 people who had been off their antidepressant for 5 months, and 17 "neurotypical" people. they were put in a PET scanner and they found significant differences in the brain activity of a person with depression compared to the control group.
what are the principles of the biochemical explanation?
the biochemical explanation focuses on the cause being because of abnormal levels of neurotransmitters
neurons
neurotransmitters
the biochemical explanation of schizophrenia
what is the original hypothesis of it?
this hypothesis suggested that there was a excessive amount of dopamine in people, especially in the limbic system
what is the revised hypothesis of it?
this hypothesis suggested that there isn't too much dopamine but instead an excessive amount of dopamine receptors, and these receptors are more sensitive in a neurotypical brain. this would then lead to more dopamine being absorbed into various pathways in the brain
what are the two different types of symptoms?
positive and negative
what are positive symptoms?
this is linked with hyperfunction in the mesolimbic system, and is responsible for motivation and emotions and cause symptoms such as unusual behaviours and perceptions
what are negative symptoms?
this is linked with erratic dopamine function in the mesocortial pathway and is responsible or mental control and self-regulation. leads to symptoms such as cognitive deficits
who did the research to support this?
Phillip Seeman
what pieces of evidence did he find to support his dopamine hypothesis?
post mortems of schizo show a higher density of D2 receptors than neurotypical brains
antipsychotic drugs (dopamine blockers) would reduce the symptoms of schizo
drugs that increase levels of dopamine will also increase the number of positive symptoms someone will have, such as hallucinations
the biochemical explanation of specific phobia
what is the main neurotransmitter involved and what is its role?
GABA and it is an inhibitory neurotransmitter, which "switches off" the next neuron to reduce the activity in the pathway
what pathway does it slow down the activity of?
the glutamate pathway as it counterbalances the excitatory action