Outline and Evaluate Two or More Biological Explanations of Schizophrenia Essay Sample
Research by Mikaywa et Al has found that there must be a familial account of schizophrenic disorder due to the fact that harmony rates for environmental causes are non 100 % . Besides Mikaywa noticed that schizophrenic disorder tallies in the household. significance there must be something other than environmental causes. doing the upset. What Mikaywa studied was DNA from human households who were affected by schizophrenic disorder and found that those with the upset are more likely to hold the faulty cistron: PPP3CC. The PPP3CC cistron regulates the immune system. and hence is an of import cistron in footings of familial exposures which may be to the environment. The other biological account is The Dopamine Hypothesis.
Recent research has suggested that familial factors affect the difficult wiring of the encephalon. The research focused on the encephalon biochemistry ( neurotransmitters ) . Although there have been many neurotransmitters associated with schizophrenic disorder. Dopastat seems to be the most of import. In schizophrenics. Dopastat activity is infrequent. This leads to the characteristic symptom of schizophrenic disorder. such as anhedonia. level affect and asociality. However research has besides found that schizophrenics have abnormally high D2 receptors. Overall. the dopamine hypothesis suggests that schizophrenic disorder is a consequence of high activity or high D2 receptors.
Research into dopamine hypothesis comes from medicine given to schizophrenics and healthy persons. Amphetamines are drugs which produce a province closely linked to paranoid schizophrenic disorder. They can besides worsen the symptoms of those who presently have schizophrenia. They release three neurotransmitters. the majority of which is Dopastat. Research workers are certain of the fact that the psychosis induced consequence of pep pills is due to increase in Dopastat as major tranquilizers are an effectual intervention for amphetamine psychosis. However research has besides found that. every bit good as surplus of Dopastat. addition Numberss of dopamine receptors can be the cause of schizophrenic disorder. Some post-mortem surveies and PET scan looked at by Hietala et Al and Tune et Al show that dopamine receptor Numberss are higher or allergic in people with schizophrenic disorder. Supporting this account is the success of Clozaril ( up-to-date major tranquilizer ) in handling the schizophrenic disorder. Clozapine blocks dopamine receptors doing less dopamine available. this consequence has been proven by PET scans. therefore supplying greater biological grounds that Dopastat receptors are responsible for some of the symptoms. However a greater figure of dopamine receptors are non responsible for all the symptoms ; they merely account for the positive symptoms.
Although the Dopastat hypothesis has good scientific support based on PET scans and station mortems. it has ignored the complexness of the biochemistry of the encephalon. Evidence from neuro imaging research has allowed research workers to analyze neurotransmitters and other chemicals associated with Dopastat activity. such as metabolites. An illustration is the major metabolite of Dopastat. homovanillic acid. was non found in greater sums in patients with schizophrenic disorder ( Bowers ) . Wise and Stein besides found that encephalon fluid in patients with schizophrenic disorder who died in accidents had abnormally low degrees of DBH. an enzyme that breaks down Dopastat. likewise a US survey found high degrees of choline which is a chemical needed to do dopamine receptors work. What these surveies show is that. high concentrations of Dopastat non broken down and excessively much choline doing D2 receptors over sensitive are of import factors in explicating the complexness of encephalon biochemistry. It is besides hard to set up cause and consequence ; is increase Dopastat activity caused by schizophrenic disorder or does it do schizophrenic disorder.
In familial accounts of schizophrenic disorder. acceptance. household and twin surveies are used. In footings of household surveies the chief determination is that relations of schizophrenics are at a hazard of developing the upset. This hazard increases with the addition familial relationship ( 50 % first grade and 25 % 2nd grade ) . In support of this Kendler et Al found that first degree relations of those with schizophrenic disorders are at 18 times more hazard than the general population. Research has besides found that schizophrenic disorder symptoms may hold a familial constituent. This was suggested by Malaspina. who found that patients who have schizophrenia in their household histories are more likely to develop negative symptoms than those households who are schizophrenia free. In rating of household surveies it may be concluded that they are non really dependable as they are retrospective. The surveies for household surveies where taken topographic point when diagnosing was under a more broad usage of the term schizophrenic disorder. Twin surveies have besides shown a familial pre-disposition.
Gottesman found 48 % hazard of schizophrenic disorder in MZ twins compared to merely 17 % in DZ twins. Similar to the Gottesman survey two other surveies showed higher harmony rates for MZ twins and lower in DZ twins nevertheless each had somewhat different consequences. McGuffin et al argues this is because of the usage of different diagnostic standards. which may impact the cogency of the consequences. On the other manus the research workers used blind techniques to obtain the consequences extinguishing any research worker prejudice. Both household and twin surveies face the job of disregarding environmental impacts. In household surveies. genetically similar members of the same household tend to pass more clip together. therefore the environment would be similar. In twins. there has ne’er been 100 % harmony. proposing familial accounts can non offer the full account. Adoption surveies nevertheless allow for the consideration of both familial factors and environmental factors. because they look at persons whose biological female parent has schizophrenia and brought up in an environment where schizophrenic disorder is non present. Heston ( 1966 ) . studied 47 people born between 1915 and 1945 to adult females with schizophrenic disorder in a province mental infirmary.
These babies were separated from birth and raised by adoptive parents. Equally good as the chief group there was a control group of 50 participants chosen from the same abandoned infant places that had placed the kids of the adult females with schizophrenic disorder. The consequences revealed that 31 of the 47 kids of female parents with schizophrenic disorder were given a DSM diagnosing. compared to merely 9 out of the 50 in the controlled group. None of the controlled group was diagnosed with schizophrenic disorder versus 5 of the 47 whose biological female parent had schizophrenic disorder. Another determination of the survey was that those whose biological female parent was schizophrenic were more likely to be diagnosed as mentally faulty. psychopathologic and neurotic. They had besides been found to be involved in condemnable activity and pass more clip in prison. Therefore this survey provides strong support for the importance of familial factors in the development of schizophrenic disorder. every bit good as other psychiatric upsets. Another survey in support is the prospective survey by Kety et Al. kety et Al took a national sample from across Denmark and found high rates for diagnosing for chronic schizophrenic disorder in adoptees whose biological parents had the same diagnosing. even though they had been adopted by healthy parents.
In rating of familial accounts overall. it can be said that it is biological reductionism in that schizophrenic disorder is a multi-factorial trait. distributing across a wide spectrum and a consequence of many cistrons ( much more than we presently know of ) . Besides we can non presume that schizophrenic disorder is a upset wholly determined by familial transmittal. as there is a cardinal differentiation between phenotype and genotype. Schizophrenia by behavior is a phenotype. and is therefore affected by the influence of cistrons and the environment. Therefore in footings of the diathesis emphasis theoretical account familial factors can merely supply a sensitivity to the upset. necessitating an environmental trigger. A job with this line of statement is that it is hard to happen out what the familial sensitivity or exposure is. A possible manner could be to analyze relations of schizophrenics. because although they may non hold the upset they are at increased hazard and may transport the sensitivity.
Something which links to the biological accounts is the evolutionary account. This is an of import account because there is a argument as to the ground why the cistron doing schizophrenic disorder ( if one exists ) has non evolved out. Evolutionary theoreticians argue that although schizophrenic disorder is maladaptive it is closely related to leading qualities such as artistic ability. and creativeness. These traits may be adaptative in the clip our evolutionary ascendants were in the procedure of development and hence persisted into our cistrons.
However the biological account is non the lone 1. Psychological ( psychodynamic and behavioral ) accounts have besides been developed to account for Schizophrenia. One such account is the psychological account. an illustration of which is: high denseness ( urban ) life. Basically it is assumed that the urban environment ( high pollution. noise and population ) has a higher prevalence rate- ( Tiennari et al ) .
