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Schizophrenia - Coggle Diagram

- - - - Biology is influential, not causal
      - Support - Schizophrenia runs in families and is highly heritable, suggesting a biological basis for the disorder.
        
        Schizophrenia working group of the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (2014) reported 108 genetic loci linked to schizophrenia, highlighting polygenic nature. Findings support as inherited genetic variations may contribute to dopamingeric dysfunction and potentially some underlying symptoms.
      - Refute - Schizophrenia is influenced by many genes, not all of which are related to dopamine. Doesn't consider environmental factors such as stress, birth complications and drug use - interact with genetic vulnerability to trigger disorder. Indicates that dopamine imbalance alone cannot fully explain schizophrenia, particularly the negative symptoms.
      - Pharmacological evidence - Conventional antipsychotics like chloropromazine reduce symptoms by blocking D2 dopamine receptors, supporting the idea that excessive dopamingeric activity contributes to positive symptoms.
      - Cause and effect - Remains unclear whether dopamine dysregulation causes schizophrenia or is a consequence of the disorder. Ethical and methodological constraints limit research in this area.
    - - MESOLIMBIC pathway
        
        Overactivity = positive symptoms.
        
        Transmits dopamine signals from the ventral tegmental area (VTA) in the midbrain to the nucleus accumbens (NAc), involved in motivation, emotion and reward.
        
        When dopamine neurons in this pathway fire too rapidly or too frequently, excessive dopamine release causes overstimulation of D2 receptors in the nucleus accumbens.
        
        Over time, the heightened activity can cause the brain to misinterpret neutral or irrelevant stimuli as highly significant, leading to distorted perceptions and false beliefs - hallucinations and delusions.
      - MESOCORTICAL pathway
        
        Underactivity = negative and cognitive symptoms
        
        Transmits signals from the VTA to the frontal lobe. Plays important role in cognition, motivation, and emotional regulation. Patway plays a critical role in regulating emotional responses, motivation, and higher-order cognitive functions.
        
        Davis et al (1991) - individuals with schizophrenia often show reduced dopamine levels at D1 receptors in the frontal cortex. This deficit contributes to cognitive impairments - attention, working memory, focusine
      - The dopamine hypothesis suggests that schizophrenia arises from abnormal dopamine activity across several brain pathways, but the mesolimbic and mesocortical pathways are most strongly implicated in the disorder.
- - - - Proposed from Frieda Fromm-Reichmann in 1948 - Suggested that schizophrenia developed in children raised by mothers who were emotionally distant and rejecting, overprotective and controlling, and who often communicated in contradictory and confusing ways.
      - Based on psychoanalytical ideas, she argued that the mother-child relationship is crucial for shaping both normal and abnormal behaviour, so a damaging early environment could lead to serious psychological problems later in life.
      - Fromm-Reichmann based her theory on clinical case studies and observations from therapy sessions, interpreting these parental behaviours as creating chronic anxiety, confusion, and mistrust in the child.