Outline and evaluate the Biological Explanations of Schizophrenia
According to the biological approach the mental disorder Schizophrenia will have an underlying physical cause such as imbalance of hormones, brain damage and infection. There is strong evidence that biological factors influence the presence of Schizophrenia.
There are certain chemical abnormalities that can be observed in people suffering from schizophrenia. Post-mortems on schizophrenics have shown unusually high levels of dopamine. Dopamine is a brain chemical that increases the sensitivity of the brain cells that promote the individual’s awareness of events around her or him when in danger or aroused and when under stress. If, however, the individual’s level of brain activity is already highly aroused, then the effects of additional dopamine activity may trigger the onset of a psychotic state, such as schizophrenia. Seeman (1987) reviewed a number of studies and found a 60-110 density increase in dopamine receptor cells in schizophrenics compared to controls. Wong (1986) found twice the increase in dopamine receptor cells in untreated schizophrenics compared to normal controls and untreated schizophrenics. These show that the much higher levels of dopamine activity in the brain of a schizophrenic may cause or trigger the disease. However where these biological changes do occur they could be the result of the schizophrenia rather than the cause, or linked in ways we have yet to discover.
The Dopamine Hypothesis suggests that schizophrenia is associated excess of dopamine or excess of dopamine receptor cells in the brain. Dopamine neurones play a key role in guiding attention so disturbances in this process may lead to the problems of attention and thought found in people with schizophrenia. Neurons are individual nerve fibres that carry electrical/chemical ‘messages’. Many millions are densely packed into brain structures. There are tiny gaps between their endings and messages are carried across them by a neurotransmitter substance. The dopamine hypothesis
There are certain chemical abnormalities that can be observed in people suffering from schizophrenia. Post-mortems on schizophrenics have shown unusually high levels of dopamine. Dopamine is a brain chemical that increases the sensitivity of the brain cells that promote the individual’s awareness of events around her or him when in danger or aroused and when under stress. If, however, the individual’s level of brain activity is already highly aroused, then the effects of additional dopamine activity may trigger the onset of a psychotic state, such as schizophrenia. Seeman (1987) reviewed a number of studies and found a 60-110 density increase in dopamine receptor cells in schizophrenics compared to controls. Wong (1986) found twice the increase in dopamine receptor cells in untreated schizophrenics compared to normal controls and untreated schizophrenics. These show that the much higher levels of dopamine activity in the brain of a schizophrenic may cause or trigger the disease. However where these biological changes do occur they could be the result of the schizophrenia rather than the cause, or linked in ways we have yet to discover.
The Dopamine Hypothesis suggests that schizophrenia is associated excess of dopamine or excess of dopamine receptor cells in the brain. Dopamine neurones play a key role in guiding attention so disturbances in this process may lead to the problems of attention and thought found in people with schizophrenia. Neurons are individual nerve fibres that carry electrical/chemical ‘messages’. Many millions are densely packed into brain structures. There are tiny gaps between their endings and messages are carried across them by a neurotransmitter substance. The dopamine hypothesis