NR 546
NR 546 Week 3 Antipsychotic
Assignment Updated Version (2025)
antipsychotic meds - Correct Ans-primarily used for schizophrenia & psychotic disorders
-also used as adjunctive meds for management of tx-resistant depression & other
conditions
-not curative
-decrease/control symptoms/improve quality of life
Schizophrenia - Correct Ans-a disturbance that must last for 6 months or longer,
including at least one month of positive symptoms or negative symptoms
-neurodevelopmental, brain disorder
-psychological condition involving chronic or repeated episodes of psychosis
cause: combination of genetics and environmental factors
DX: based on clinical interview
Schizophrenia increases the risk of: - Correct Ans-suicide
homeless
jail/prison
psychosis - Correct Ans-set of symptoms in which a person's mental capacity, affective
response, and capacity to recognize reality, communicate, and relate to others is
impaired
Hallmarks of psychosis - Correct Ans-Delusions and hallucinations
-often called the "positive symptoms" of psychosis
-Delusions are fixed beliefs - often bizarre - that have an inadequate rational basis and
can't be changed by rational arguments or evidence to the contrary
-Hallucinations are perceptual experiences of any sensory modality - especially auditory
- that occur without a real external stimulus, yet are vivid and clear, just like normal
perceptions, but not under voluntary control
Symptoms of psychosis: - Correct Ans--hallucinations
-delusions
-disorganized speech
-disorganized behavior
-distortions of reality
-inappropriate or very strong emotions or apathy
-negative symptoms: diminished emotional expression and decreased motivation
perceptual distortions and motor disturbances can be associated with _________ -
Correct Ans-any type of psychosis.
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,NR 546
-Perceptual distortions include being distressed by hallucinatory voices; seeing visions;
reporting hallucinations of touch, taste, or odor; or reporting that familiar things and
people seem changed.
-Motor disturbances are peculiar, rigid postures; overt signs of tension; inappropriate
grins or giggles; peculiar repetitive gestures; talking, muttering, or mumbling to oneself;
or glancing around as if hearing voices.
-paranoid psychosis, the patient has paranoid projections, hostile belligerence, and
grandiose expansiveness. often occurs in schizophrenia and in many drug-induced
psychoses
Grandiose expansiveness - Correct Ans-exhibiting an attitude of superiority; hearing
voices that praise and extol; believing one has unusual powers or is a well-known
personality, or that one has a divine mission, which is often seen in schizophrenia and
in manic psychosis
Psychosis can affect a person's: - Correct Ans--cognition
-affective response
-communication
-capacity to recognize reality
-ability to relate to others
_________ is a defining feature for some psychotic disorders while other disorders may
have a psychotic component - Correct Ans-psychosis
Diagnoses Requiring the Presence of Psychosis - Correct Ans--Schizophrenia
-Substance-induced psychotic disorders
-Schizophreniform disorder
-Shizoafffective disorder
-Delusional disorder
-Brief psychotic disorder
-Psychotic disorder d/t a medical condition
Diagnoses with Psychosis as a Feature - Correct Ans--Mania
-Depression
-Cognitive disorders
-Dementia
schizophrenia: positive symptoms - Correct Ans--hallucinations
-delusions
-thought disorder
-hostility
-excitability
schizophrenia: motor symptoms - Correct Ans--motor delay
-dyscoordination
-extrapyramidal symptoms (parkinsonism, dyskinesia)
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, NR 546
schizophrenia: affective symptoms - Correct Ans--depression
-anxiety
-suicidality
schizophrenia: affects on cognition - Correct Ans--attention
-working memory
-verbal memory
-visual memory
-executive funtioning
-processing speed
-social conditioning
schizophrenia: negative symptoms - Correct Ans--affective flattening
-alogia
-anhedonia
-amotivation
-asociality
area of the brain thought to be responsible for the positive symptoms of schizophrenia is
the ____________. one of the neuronal pathways known to be affected here is the
___________ from the _____________ and the _____________. - Correct Ans-limbic
system, mesolimbic pathway, ventral tegmental area (VTA), nucleus accumbens
schizophrenia: the dopamine theory - Correct Ans-suggests that in the mesolimbic
pathway, neurons from the VTA (ventral tegmental area) release higher than normal
levels of dopamine into the synaptic cleft at the NAC (nucleus accumbens).
-More dopamine binds to the D2 dopamine receptors in the NAC. This is thought to be
the cause of positive symptoms
Schizophrenia: dopamine and mesocortical system - Correct Ans-area of the brain
thought to be responsible for negative symptoms of schizophrenia, prefrontal cortex
-mesocortical pathway goes from the VTA (ventral tegmental area) to the PFC
(prefrontal cortex)
-dysregulation of dopamine between these two areas of the brain results in the negative
and cognitive symptoms
schizophrenia: dopamine release at PFC - Correct Ans-dopamine theory suggests that
in the mesocortical pathway, neurons from the VTA (ventral tegmental area) release
lower than normal levels of dopamine into the synaptic cleft in the PFC (prefrontal
cortex).
-Less dopamine binds to the D1 dopamine receptors in the PFC.
-cause of the negative and cognitive symptoms
Dopamine pathway: mesolimbic - Correct Ans-location: Ventral tegmental area (VTA)
within midbreain to the nucleus accumbens (NA) in the limbic system
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NR 546 Week 3 Antipsychotic
Assignment Updated Version (2025)
antipsychotic meds - Correct Ans-primarily used for schizophrenia & psychotic disorders
-also used as adjunctive meds for management of tx-resistant depression & other
conditions
-not curative
-decrease/control symptoms/improve quality of life
Schizophrenia - Correct Ans-a disturbance that must last for 6 months or longer,
including at least one month of positive symptoms or negative symptoms
-neurodevelopmental, brain disorder
-psychological condition involving chronic or repeated episodes of psychosis
cause: combination of genetics and environmental factors
DX: based on clinical interview
Schizophrenia increases the risk of: - Correct Ans-suicide
homeless
jail/prison
psychosis - Correct Ans-set of symptoms in which a person's mental capacity, affective
response, and capacity to recognize reality, communicate, and relate to others is
impaired
Hallmarks of psychosis - Correct Ans-Delusions and hallucinations
-often called the "positive symptoms" of psychosis
-Delusions are fixed beliefs - often bizarre - that have an inadequate rational basis and
can't be changed by rational arguments or evidence to the contrary
-Hallucinations are perceptual experiences of any sensory modality - especially auditory
- that occur without a real external stimulus, yet are vivid and clear, just like normal
perceptions, but not under voluntary control
Symptoms of psychosis: - Correct Ans--hallucinations
-delusions
-disorganized speech
-disorganized behavior
-distortions of reality
-inappropriate or very strong emotions or apathy
-negative symptoms: diminished emotional expression and decreased motivation
perceptual distortions and motor disturbances can be associated with _________ -
Correct Ans-any type of psychosis.
1|Page
,NR 546
-Perceptual distortions include being distressed by hallucinatory voices; seeing visions;
reporting hallucinations of touch, taste, or odor; or reporting that familiar things and
people seem changed.
-Motor disturbances are peculiar, rigid postures; overt signs of tension; inappropriate
grins or giggles; peculiar repetitive gestures; talking, muttering, or mumbling to oneself;
or glancing around as if hearing voices.
-paranoid psychosis, the patient has paranoid projections, hostile belligerence, and
grandiose expansiveness. often occurs in schizophrenia and in many drug-induced
psychoses
Grandiose expansiveness - Correct Ans-exhibiting an attitude of superiority; hearing
voices that praise and extol; believing one has unusual powers or is a well-known
personality, or that one has a divine mission, which is often seen in schizophrenia and
in manic psychosis
Psychosis can affect a person's: - Correct Ans--cognition
-affective response
-communication
-capacity to recognize reality
-ability to relate to others
_________ is a defining feature for some psychotic disorders while other disorders may
have a psychotic component - Correct Ans-psychosis
Diagnoses Requiring the Presence of Psychosis - Correct Ans--Schizophrenia
-Substance-induced psychotic disorders
-Schizophreniform disorder
-Shizoafffective disorder
-Delusional disorder
-Brief psychotic disorder
-Psychotic disorder d/t a medical condition
Diagnoses with Psychosis as a Feature - Correct Ans--Mania
-Depression
-Cognitive disorders
-Dementia
schizophrenia: positive symptoms - Correct Ans--hallucinations
-delusions
-thought disorder
-hostility
-excitability
schizophrenia: motor symptoms - Correct Ans--motor delay
-dyscoordination
-extrapyramidal symptoms (parkinsonism, dyskinesia)
2|Page
, NR 546
schizophrenia: affective symptoms - Correct Ans--depression
-anxiety
-suicidality
schizophrenia: affects on cognition - Correct Ans--attention
-working memory
-verbal memory
-visual memory
-executive funtioning
-processing speed
-social conditioning
schizophrenia: negative symptoms - Correct Ans--affective flattening
-alogia
-anhedonia
-amotivation
-asociality
area of the brain thought to be responsible for the positive symptoms of schizophrenia is
the ____________. one of the neuronal pathways known to be affected here is the
___________ from the _____________ and the _____________. - Correct Ans-limbic
system, mesolimbic pathway, ventral tegmental area (VTA), nucleus accumbens
schizophrenia: the dopamine theory - Correct Ans-suggests that in the mesolimbic
pathway, neurons from the VTA (ventral tegmental area) release higher than normal
levels of dopamine into the synaptic cleft at the NAC (nucleus accumbens).
-More dopamine binds to the D2 dopamine receptors in the NAC. This is thought to be
the cause of positive symptoms
Schizophrenia: dopamine and mesocortical system - Correct Ans-area of the brain
thought to be responsible for negative symptoms of schizophrenia, prefrontal cortex
-mesocortical pathway goes from the VTA (ventral tegmental area) to the PFC
(prefrontal cortex)
-dysregulation of dopamine between these two areas of the brain results in the negative
and cognitive symptoms
schizophrenia: dopamine release at PFC - Correct Ans-dopamine theory suggests that
in the mesocortical pathway, neurons from the VTA (ventral tegmental area) release
lower than normal levels of dopamine into the synaptic cleft in the PFC (prefrontal
cortex).
-Less dopamine binds to the D1 dopamine receptors in the PFC.
-cause of the negative and cognitive symptoms
Dopamine pathway: mesolimbic - Correct Ans-location: Ventral tegmental area (VTA)
within midbreain to the nucleus accumbens (NA) in the limbic system
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