Essay On Childhood Onset Schizophrenia

A Comparison of Biological and Psychological Explanations of Schizophrenia Both the biological and the psychological explanations of schizophrenia are supported by empirical evidence which justify their explanations. However ,within the biological explanation there is the genetic explanation which is used largely based on scientific research such as that of Gottesman’s research using meta-analysis which looked at the family (including twin) relationships and concordance rates of schizophrenia. The studies used Gottesman’s research was scientifically based and because of the large number of studies and therefore the sample used, the biological research can be credited for being representative.

The prevalence of schizophrenia is thought to be about 1% of the population around the world. The disorder is considered to be one of the top ten causes of long-term disability worldwide. Late adolescence and early adulthood are periods for the onset of schizophrenia. In 40% of men and 23% of women diagnosed with schizophrenia, the condition manifested before the age of 19 (Addington, Cadenhead, Cannon, 2007).These are critical years in a young adult’s social and vocational development.

Expert’s reason that unevenness in the complicated interconnected chemical responses of the brain connecting the neurotransmitters dopamine and glutamate, and maybe others, performs a part in schizophrenia. Neurotransmitters are elements that permit brain cells to interconnect with each other. Experts are acquiring more about brain chemistry and its connection to schizophrenia. Similarly, in small methods the brains of people with schizophrenia appear diverse than those of healthful people. For instance, fluid-filled holes at the middle of the brain, called ventricles, are greater in certain people with schizophrenia. The brains of people with the disorder similarly manage to have less grey matter, and certain

Schizophrenia is a brain disease. Many studies have been conducted regarding the brain localization of schizophrenia. One study established that schizophrenia is characterized by significant loss in the grey matter of the brain. The loss was detected to be up to 25% in some areas and the damage was seen to begin at the parietal (outer) regions of the brain then spreading to the rest of the regions of the brain over a period of about five years ADDIN EN.CITE Rajagopalan1998923(Rajagopalan, MacBeth, & Varma, 1998)92392317Rajagopalan, MMacBeth, RVarma, SLXXY chromosome anomaly and schizophreniaAmerican Journal Medical GeneticsAmerican Journal Medical Genetics64-65811998( HYPERLINK l "_ENREF_9" o "Rajagopalan, 1998 #923" Rajagopalan, MacBeth, & Varma, 1998). Another study showed that patients who had the worst loss of brain tissue also exhibited the worst symptoms of schizophrenia such as hallucinations, psychotic and bizarre thoughts, hearing voices, depression and delusion ADDIN EN.CITE Conklin2002797(Conklin & Iacono, 2002)79779717Conklin, Heather M.Iacono, William G.Schizophrenia: A Neurodevelopmental PerspectiveCurrent Directions in Psychological ScienceCurrent Directions in Psychological Science33-371112002Sage Publications, Inc. on behalf of Association for Psychological Science09637214http://www.jstor.org/stable/20182759( HYPERLINK l "_ENREF_2" o "Conklin, 2002 #797" Conklin & Iacono, 2002).

The brain is composed of mostly grey and white matter. Grey matter contains most of the neuronal connections for the brain. It can be found on the outer surface of the cerebellum and around the spinal cord. “Observations have been made of reductions in the size and total neuron numbers, but not in neuronal density,” (Höistad, 2009, p. 3). This is an outstanding discovery when analyzing schizophrenia. White matter contains many neurons as well. Researchers pay close attention to these neurons and the myelination of the axons. “Interstitial white matter neurons have been found to be increased in prefrontal white matter and temporal white matter in subjects with schizophrenia, supporting further the presence of a neurodevelopmental abnormality in schizophrenia,” (Höistad, 2009, p. 3). This means that they white matter neurons never became myelinated and mature in parts of the brain. Problems like these can mess with the connections in the brain between neurons. Research like this highlight schizophrenia as being a developmental disorder of the brian, but more research is being done including other areas as well. “The pruning of axonal connections during brain development and maturation may be necessary for adequate formation of appropriate neuronal circuits,” (Höistad, 2009, p.

In childhood-onset schizophrenia, researchers do hypothesize that the cause might be slightly different from the cause of adult-onset schizophrenia, as there must be a reason why children develop such a severe mental disorder before the age of thirteen. The question in relation to childhood-onset schizophrenia is whether it develops more from environmental factors or genetic factors. The aim of this paper is to discover how the development of schizophrenia in affected children is more nature-based than nurture-based. Although there are valid points for both sides of this argument this paper serves to argue how in affected children the genetic factors that result in the disorder influence the development much more than any environmental

The two-hit model of schizophrenia proposes that disturbances to central nervous system development, leaves a person exposed to the onset of schizophrenia symptoms caused by various gene-environmental interactions. The disturbances to central nervous system development are the first hit in the two-hit model, and the gene-environmental interactions that are able to cause the onset of schizophrenia in conjunction with the disturbances to central nervous system development are the second hit in the two-hit model.

The baseline images of schizophrenic patients were used to classify schizophrenia. The images of schizophrenic patients were analyzed using the SVR and the resulting predicted brain age minus the actual age of the subject was used to determine the brain age gap. The brain age gap reflects whether the subject’s brain is younger or older than the expected chronological age. In addition to baseline measurements, approximately 378 subjects returned for at least one follow-up scan. A total of 1,197 follow up scans were collected in total and the time in-between baseline images and follow up images ranged from 1 year to 13 years. Both healthy and schizophrenic subjects returned for follow up MRI’s and these images were again run through the Support Vector Regression machine to determine approximate brain age and thus brain age gap values.

Biological theorists believe that individuals may have a genetic predisposition for the schizophrenia if a close family member has been diagnosed with the disorder. Stress during adolescent years seems to provoke the disorder among individuals who have a family history of the disorder. In addition, this theory suggests biochemical abnormalities related to the dopamine neurotransmitters may also contribute to the illness as the brains neurotransmission of the dopamine is too frequent in occurrence (Comer, 2005). CAT and MRI scans have also indicated that abnormal brain structuring may also play a role in the development of schizophrenia due to a common occurrence of enlarged ventricles within schizophrenia sufferers (Comer, 2005). Various parts of the brain may not develop for function properly which seems lead to Type II schizophrenia. Studies have also pointed towards the idea that exposure to certain viruses before birth may lead to the eventual development of schizophrenia (Comer, 2005).

Schizophrenia is a mental illness which affects millions of people throughout the world. Scientists have begun to understand more and more about the possible causes, predisposing factors, types, and possible treatments for schizophrenia. (Torrey, 1995) It is very rare for schizophrenic symptoms to appear before the age of 12 but it does occur. Recently, there has been a growing interest in childhood schizophrenia. It is less than one-sixtieth as common as the adult-onset type but the characteristics are very similar. Childhood schizophrenia also tends to be harder to treat and to have a worse prognosis than the adult-onset form. (Rapoport, 1997)

This research paper focuses on the issue of child onset schizophrenia, specifically looking at the prognosis, symptoms, stigma, and most effective treatment options for children. This topic has become a significant social issue as a result of the recent mass school shootings throughout the nation and the associated stigma. Severe mental illnesses, especially schizophrenia, are being severely impacted by stigma. Society today views schizophrenia as “dangerous”, furthering this stigma. Further, little research has been done of childhood onset schizophrenia (Hollis, 2003). However, research has shown that individuals with an earlier onset or diagnosis experience more persistent and debilitating symptoms than those with an older age of onset (Findling & Schulz, 2005). Along with a higher occurrence of more severe symptoms, child onset schizophrenia is a complicated issue because children are being prescribed psychotropic medications at an early age during a period of critical brain development (Butcher, Mineka, Hooley, 2014). This greatly affects development and exposes children to very severe side effects of the medication, resulting in a lot of patients refusing medication and the treatment they deserve.

Schizophrenia is a chronic and severe neurological brain disorder characterized by disruptions in perception and reality and disturbances in emotions and language. This disorder is extensively studied by researchers, however the specific mechanisms and factors behind its development are still not completely understood. Most cases of schizophrenia arise in men between the ages 16-30, though the disorder is not confined to this group. Additionally, studies have identified over 100 genes associated with schizophrenia, making the causes of the disorder difficult to elucidate.What is better understood about the disorder is that there are changes in brain structure and communication.

The factors that can help predict schizophrenia in adolescents who are at high risk of developing the disorder include isolation and withdrawal from others, unusual thoughts and suspicions, and a family history of psychosis. It is important for them to learn about these symptoms since according to a study conducted by Hans, Auerbach, Styr, & Marcus (2004), people who have a parent with schizophrenia are at risk for developing schizophrenia before even reaching adulthood. The study found that males are 11.2 times more likely to develop schizophrenia than females (Hans et al., 2004). Besides being at risk for schizophrenia, the children of schizophrenic parents have a higher risk for developing personality disorders. The study also found a relationship between a parent having schizophrenia and offspring having an anxiety disorder. It is important for offspring that do have an anxiety disorder to receive the support they

The goal of this case study is to provide a basis on children 's neurological development of schizophrenia including family history, genetics, environment and culture to determine the major biomedical aspects of the etiology of schizophrenia in young to middle adulthood. The study addresses the debilitating positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenics plus presenting problems, such as living life according to unacceptable social norms, and caring for one’s basic needs, while including assessment tools and diagnostic scales of childhood schizophrenia in Jack according to the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition. A comprehensive treatment plan assesses the outcomes of the most successful

Aim: The aim of this experiment was to explore the synergistic effects of heritability and environment in the cases of two brothers with schizophrenia.