Schizophrenia: Developmental Issues with Biochemical Explaination

Question 1

What is developmental psychology?

Answer 1

The study of changes that occur and why as we age through the course of our lifespan, from infancy to adolescence and onwards.

Question 2

What are the two biological explanations for schizophrenia?

Answer 2

• Dopamine Hypothesis
• Brain structure

Question 3

How can brain structure affect development of schizophrenia through stages of childhood?

Answer 3

Exposing the fetus to drugs or illnesses can cause problems in later adolescence when the prefrontal cortex is at peak development, which is when SZ is most commonly diagnosed.

Question 4

What combination of the dopamine hypothesis and brain structure can explain the cause of SZ?

Answer 4

Super-sensitivity

Question 5

Describe how super-sensitivity is a developmental explanation for SZ, combining the dopamine hypothesis and brain structure.

Answer 5

• A pathway rich in glutamates runs from the prefrontal cortex to the areas that regulate dopamine in the mesolimbic pathway
• Brain structure explains that these areas of the brain for schizophrenics are smaller due to increased size of ventricles causing this part of the brain to be undeveloped, affecting neurotransmission
• Low levels of glutamate in frontal lobes leads to under-activity of dopamine release from the basal ganglia
• This increases sensitivity of dopamine receptors and so they would overreact to environmental stimuli, causing positive symptoms

Question 6

Using the acronym ‘EACH’, evaluate 2 ‘evidence’ points.

Answer 6

A strength of this explanation is the supporting evidence from Wright et al (1999) which supports developmental issues causing SZ. Wright found an elevated risk of children developing SZ who were born to mothers who had difficulty during pregnancy, especially the 4 month mark. Therefore showing that disruption to development, including during stages of brain development, can cause problems that lead to SZ.

Additionally, Susser et al (1996) supports issues during development in childhood causing SZ. Susser found that children conceived under conditions of nutrient deprivation had twice the normal risk of developing SZ. Therefore showing that disruption to healthy functioning during stages of development can cause SZ

Question 7

Using the acronym ‘EACH’, evaluate a high and low ‘how’ point.

Answer 7

A strength of this explanation is the use of brain scans. These are reliable, scientific techniques that can be analysed objectively and by multiple people. They are easy to replicate and therefore compare, increasing reliability.

A weakness of this explanation is that research evidence uses animal studies on drugs affecting SZ. They are useful for ethical reasons due to not wanting to test drugs on humans however their brains have qualitative differences to ours and is open to subjectivity when interpreting their behaviours as a response. Therefore they cannot be generalised to the brains of humans or how SZ would be affected by drugs in human brains.

Question 8

Are there any applications?

Answer 8

A strength is that there is positive applications. The developmental explanation for SZ states that the cause is biological due to problems in development of the brain. Discovering the cause of SZ is biological can help further research into specific field to gather more detail and potential find a cure for the disorder or improve medication to help with positive AND negative symptoms- improving the quality of life of sz patients by potentially asking their treatment method more personalised to them.

Question 9

Using the acronym ‘EACH’, evaluate 2 ‘criticisms’ points.

Answer 9

A weakness of this theory is that it is reductionist. It states that the cause of SZ is purely biological due to under-activity of dopamine causing over-sensitivity of the receptors to create positive symptoms through over-reaction. Therefore ignores the input of the environment such as traumatic brain injury causing dysfunction- so stress diathesis model a better explanation.
A weakness of this explanation is that supporting research is correlation and causation cannot be inferred. Therefore, we cannot establish if biological differences between healthy people and patients with SZ are due to the disorder or a result of the disorder. Therefore lacks credibility due to uncertainty