PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY FINAL
EXAM – SCHIZOPHRENIA QUESTIONS
AND ANSWERS
what is the dopamine hypothesis of schizophrenia? - ANSWER-hypothesis that there
is excessive synaptic dopamine, or postsynaptic sensitivity to dopamine at the D2
receptor
what are 2 drugs that helped us to understand that there is an overactivity of
dopamine, how do they show us this? - ANSWER-(1) amphetamine because, if you
give a lot of amphetamine (which stimulates dopamine) the rat will present psychotic
like in schizophrina, (2) reserpine because it reduces signaling in dopamine system
at the vesicular transports and causes a reduction in symptoms
what are 2 shortcomings of early drugs to treat schizophrenia, like chlorpromazine
and reserpine? - ANSWER-they take a while to work (4-6 weeks), and they have
motor dysfunction side effects (both parkinsons like motor dysfunction, and
huntingtond's like motor dysfunction)
what are examples of parkinson's-like motor dysfunction? - ANSWER-tremors,
muscular rigidity, decrease in voluntary movement
what are examples of huntington's-like motor dysfunction? - ANSWER-tardive
dyskinesia (uncontrollable movements especially in the head)
in the 1960s, they discovered that parkinson's disease was due to a deficiency in
_______ from the _______ to the ________ - ANSWER-dopamine; substantia nigra;
striatum
reserpine is a dopamine (agonist/antagonist). what does it do? - ANSWER-
antagonist; it reduces dopamine/all monoamine release by blocking VMAT2 (vesicle
packaging)
chlorpromazine is a dopamine receptor (agonist/antagonist). what does it do? -
ANSWER-antagonist; it increases dopamine metabolites
in the 1970s, they developed binding affinity assays. what did this assay show? -
ANSWER-that there was a strong correlation between D2 binding, and how well a
schizophrenic drug works
what are 4 problems with the dopamine hypothesis that shows that maybe there is
something else also going on? - ANSWER-(1) DA antagonists don't work for
everyone's symptoms, (2) negative symptoms are unaffected by drug therapy, (3)
many people with schiz have normal levels of dopamine in the brain, and (4) many
atypical drugs for schiz are affective, but don't have a high D2 binding affinity
, there are some problems with the dopamine hypothesis of schizophrenia. what are
the 3 other more recent theories of schizophrenia to get around these problems? -
ANSWER-(1) hypoglutamate hypothesis, (2) dopamine imbalance hypothesis and
(3) weinberger's neurodevelopmental model
what is the hypoglutamate hypothesis of schizophrenia? what drug model tested this
hypothesis? - ANSWER-that schizophrenia results from decreased activation of
glutamate receptors (specifically NMDA); came from a drug model where give
people PCP to mimic psychosis, and saw that the PCP acts on NMDA glutamate
receptors
how might the hypoglutamate hypothesis of schizophrenia be related to the
dopamine theory? - ANSWER-cortical glutamate normally inhibits striatal dopamine.
so if don't have enough glutamate, will also lead to an increase of dopamine
PCP is a (competitive/noncompetitive) (antagonist/agonist) at the NMDA receptor -
ANSWER-noncompetitive antagonist
what happens when schizophrenic patients attempt the wisconsin card sorting task?
- ANSWER-they have trouble switching strategies during the card sorting task/have
problems adjusting when the directions change, probably because of the
hypofrontality that results from schizophrenia
can schizophrenic patients track moving objects? - ANSWER-no, they have trouble
because have eye-movement problems
immune system dysfunction resulting from schizophrenia may lead to: - ANSWER-
increase in amounts of inflammation
is schizophrenic development nature or nurture? - ANSWER-probably a bit of both:
there is a genetic predisposition, but environmental factors play a role in emergence
for gender differences in the onset of schizophrenia, the mode age is _____
(same/different) for both, while the median age is _______ (higher/lower) in women -
ANSWER-same; higher
what are the 2 situations where you would be at the highest risk of developing
schizophrenia? - ANSWER-if you are the child of 2 schizophrenic parents, or if you
are a monozygotic twin and one of the twins has schizophrenia
do you have a higher risk of developing schizophrenia if you are a monozygotic twin
or a dizygotic twin, with the other twin being diagnosed? - ANSWER-higher risk in
monozygotic twins
what is a model of the interaction between environmental stress and brain
abnormalities in developing schizophrenia? - ANSWER-if low stress and fewer brain
abnormalities, will have no disorder. if medium stress and medium brain
abnormalities, may develop schizotypy (mild type of schizophrenia). if low stress but
many more brain abnormalities, may develop spectrum disorders. if both stress and
brain abnormalities are high, will likely develop schizophrenia
EXAM – SCHIZOPHRENIA QUESTIONS
AND ANSWERS
what is the dopamine hypothesis of schizophrenia? - ANSWER-hypothesis that there
is excessive synaptic dopamine, or postsynaptic sensitivity to dopamine at the D2
receptor
what are 2 drugs that helped us to understand that there is an overactivity of
dopamine, how do they show us this? - ANSWER-(1) amphetamine because, if you
give a lot of amphetamine (which stimulates dopamine) the rat will present psychotic
like in schizophrina, (2) reserpine because it reduces signaling in dopamine system
at the vesicular transports and causes a reduction in symptoms
what are 2 shortcomings of early drugs to treat schizophrenia, like chlorpromazine
and reserpine? - ANSWER-they take a while to work (4-6 weeks), and they have
motor dysfunction side effects (both parkinsons like motor dysfunction, and
huntingtond's like motor dysfunction)
what are examples of parkinson's-like motor dysfunction? - ANSWER-tremors,
muscular rigidity, decrease in voluntary movement
what are examples of huntington's-like motor dysfunction? - ANSWER-tardive
dyskinesia (uncontrollable movements especially in the head)
in the 1960s, they discovered that parkinson's disease was due to a deficiency in
_______ from the _______ to the ________ - ANSWER-dopamine; substantia nigra;
striatum
reserpine is a dopamine (agonist/antagonist). what does it do? - ANSWER-
antagonist; it reduces dopamine/all monoamine release by blocking VMAT2 (vesicle
packaging)
chlorpromazine is a dopamine receptor (agonist/antagonist). what does it do? -
ANSWER-antagonist; it increases dopamine metabolites
in the 1970s, they developed binding affinity assays. what did this assay show? -
ANSWER-that there was a strong correlation between D2 binding, and how well a
schizophrenic drug works
what are 4 problems with the dopamine hypothesis that shows that maybe there is
something else also going on? - ANSWER-(1) DA antagonists don't work for
everyone's symptoms, (2) negative symptoms are unaffected by drug therapy, (3)
many people with schiz have normal levels of dopamine in the brain, and (4) many
atypical drugs for schiz are affective, but don't have a high D2 binding affinity
, there are some problems with the dopamine hypothesis of schizophrenia. what are
the 3 other more recent theories of schizophrenia to get around these problems? -
ANSWER-(1) hypoglutamate hypothesis, (2) dopamine imbalance hypothesis and
(3) weinberger's neurodevelopmental model
what is the hypoglutamate hypothesis of schizophrenia? what drug model tested this
hypothesis? - ANSWER-that schizophrenia results from decreased activation of
glutamate receptors (specifically NMDA); came from a drug model where give
people PCP to mimic psychosis, and saw that the PCP acts on NMDA glutamate
receptors
how might the hypoglutamate hypothesis of schizophrenia be related to the
dopamine theory? - ANSWER-cortical glutamate normally inhibits striatal dopamine.
so if don't have enough glutamate, will also lead to an increase of dopamine
PCP is a (competitive/noncompetitive) (antagonist/agonist) at the NMDA receptor -
ANSWER-noncompetitive antagonist
what happens when schizophrenic patients attempt the wisconsin card sorting task?
- ANSWER-they have trouble switching strategies during the card sorting task/have
problems adjusting when the directions change, probably because of the
hypofrontality that results from schizophrenia
can schizophrenic patients track moving objects? - ANSWER-no, they have trouble
because have eye-movement problems
immune system dysfunction resulting from schizophrenia may lead to: - ANSWER-
increase in amounts of inflammation
is schizophrenic development nature or nurture? - ANSWER-probably a bit of both:
there is a genetic predisposition, but environmental factors play a role in emergence
for gender differences in the onset of schizophrenia, the mode age is _____
(same/different) for both, while the median age is _______ (higher/lower) in women -
ANSWER-same; higher
what are the 2 situations where you would be at the highest risk of developing
schizophrenia? - ANSWER-if you are the child of 2 schizophrenic parents, or if you
are a monozygotic twin and one of the twins has schizophrenia
do you have a higher risk of developing schizophrenia if you are a monozygotic twin
or a dizygotic twin, with the other twin being diagnosed? - ANSWER-higher risk in
monozygotic twins
what is a model of the interaction between environmental stress and brain
abnormalities in developing schizophrenia? - ANSWER-if low stress and fewer brain
abnormalities, will have no disorder. if medium stress and medium brain
abnormalities, may develop schizotypy (mild type of schizophrenia). if low stress but
many more brain abnormalities, may develop spectrum disorders. if both stress and
brain abnormalities are high, will likely develop schizophrenia
