biological - structural abnormalities

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  • Created by: Elyseee
  • Created on: 18-01-21 13:59
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  • structural abnormalities
    • enlarged ventricles
      • Ventricles are cavities that produce and transport cerebrospinal fluid
      • Cerebrospinal fluid provides protection buoyancy and chemical stability to brain and spine
      • Four ventricles - Left and right lateral ventricles (front, occipital and temporal lobes in each hemisphere), Third ventricle between left and right thalamus, Fourth between pons and medulla oblongata
      • Some with schizophrenia have ventricles larger than those without
      • Weinberger et al 1979 - used CAT scans, reported larger ventricles in the 58 participants with chronic schizophrenia compared to the 56 participants with no symptoms
    • cortical atrophy
      • Loss of neurons in cerebral cortex
      • Can occur all over the brain or in a limited area
      • Atrophy affects the function of the areas in the cerebral cortex that have atrophied
      • Results in widening of grooves of the cerebral cortex
      • Occurs in 20-35% of those with schizophrenia
      • Vita et al 1988 - used CAT scans to assess 124 individuals with schizophrenia, and 45 control participants
      • 33% of those with schizophrenia showed moderate to severe atrophy
      • Atrophy not found to relate to factors such as age, age of onset or family history. Atrophy found to be related to sex and ventricular enlargements
    • reversed cerebral symmetry
      • Most individuals without schizophrenia have a larger left hemisphere
      • In some with schizophrenia the right hemisphere is notably larger
      • Relevant when considering language functions is found in left hemisphere
      • Damage or deterioration of left hemisphere could lead to alogia seen in those with schizophrenia
      • Luchins et al 1979 - CAT scans, compared 80 right handed people without schizophrenia to 57 right handed people with schizophrenia
      • Found there was increase of frequency of reversals in frontal and occipital lobes of those with schizophrenia, but only if they had no other form of atrophy
      • Those who had atrophy had no higher levels of reversal than control group

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