Neururopsychiatric Disorders Case Study

ADHD classifies as a congenital disorder and directly modifies the brain’s functions, including impairments in concentration, emotional regulation, memory, organization and other mental abilities under cognitive function.

ADHD, a neurological disorder, can affect the normal functioning of the brain and the nervous system in a person (Dodson)(Kinman). In the brain, the frontal cortex, also known as the frontal lobe, and the motor cortex are specific parts that can be affected by ADHD (Kinman). Normally, the frontal cortex develops a person’s personality and performs higher cognitive tasks such as planning (Frontal). It is also responsible for attention, reason, memory, and inhibition as well (Kinman). In addition, the frontal lobe is important in being able to speak fluently to others (Frontal). Because of ADHD, the frontal cortex is involved in cortical thinning. This area of the brain also matures slower in children with ADHD. There is a chance that some children

Gray matter, an important constituent of central nervous system includes regions of the brain involved in sensory perception that includes vision, hearing, memory, emotions, speech, executive functions like decision making and self-control. Gray matter has been a focus of clinical attention and research as it has been consistently involved in studies to better understand brain pathology, pathophysiology and neurobiology in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Many meta-analytical reviews in structural neuroimaging studies have persistently shown abnormalities in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

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

It was found that frontal lobe gray matter volume peaks at around 9.5 years in girls and 10.5 years in boys. The caudate nucleus peaks at 10.5 in girls and at 14 years in boys. By adulthood, a number of areas of the brain are larger in women than in men. This includes the frontal lobes and hippocampus. Early neuroimaging studies of ADHD have identified extensive cortical and subcortical volumetric decreases, including hindered cortical maturation, among school-aged children with ADHD. A recent analysis of neuroimaging in ADHD found that only 20% of participants were female and only 50% of the ADHD samples included females. More recent brain mapping studies of ADHD suggest a more understated pattern of neuroanatomical differences among girls that appears to correspond the earlier reduction in externalizing

Fasmer et al. (2016) aimed to studied the characteristic of ADHD adults with mood, anxiety, and attentional problems using a neuropsychological test of

Today, scientists at the University of Iowa are studying abroad how people suffering from the mental disorder, schizophrenia, may have less brain tissue than those who do not have the disorder. Schizophrenia deeply affects the brain and causes individuals to lose touch with reality and have unorganized thoughts, troubled perceptions and unsuitable emotions and actions. “Schizo” means split and “phrenia” means mind, however this does not mean that this is a split mind or personality disorder, like most people commonly mistake this as. In order to understand this disorder, we need to take a look at the actual condition and how it is defined, apart from other disorders, speculated causes, such as genes from

Attention Defficite/ Hyperactivity Disorder is one of the most previlant behavioral disorders affecting American children, with 5% of school age children, and 2-4% of adults being diagnosed. ADHD is diagnosed by consistant dehibilitating behaviors of hyperactivity and inntatention, however it is often misdiagnosed in children who are younger than their class mates, for this reason Xiaolong Peng, Pan Lin, Tongsheng Zhang, and Jue Wang (2013) have been working with a large data set of MRI scans of children diagnosed with ADHD to create an efficiant biological diognostic tool. A diagnostic tool based on five different factors in the brain which are predominant in ADHD patients would also help improve the understanding, prevention and

Many may ask what the causes of attention-deficit/hyperactive disorders are but the cause of ADHD is not completely understood yet. People suggest that there may be biological abnormalities, hereditary factors, and environmental factors for those who suffer from ADHD. Individuals with attention-deficit/hyperactive disorders may have biological abnormalities such as brain structure abnormalities or abnormal biochemical levels (Comer, 2016). Brain structural abnormalities tend to occur in the frontostriatal network of the brain. The frontostriatal network “involves the lateral prefrontal cortex, the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, and the caudate nucleus and putamen” (Curatolo, 2010). It has been shown that patients with ADHD have

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).

Recent research aiming to define the physiological parameters of ADHD has succeeded in indicating ways in which aspects of brain activity, size and functioning differ from people without symptoms of the disorder. ADHD is now seen primarily as "A developmental failure of the brain circuitry that underlies inhibition and self-control" (2). The areas thought to be affected are the prefrontal cortex and at least two deeply embedded clusters of nerve cells called the basal ganglia. A 1996 study at the National Institute of Mental Health found that the two basal ganglia called the globus pallidus and the caudate nucleus, as well as the anterior frontal part of the brain, are smaller in size in ADHD children

In the article found on medical daily, most mental disorders are based on imbalances in the brain. Researchers have found a particular protein that alters long-term memory and is connected to the development of both bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. (Singh , A. (n.d.))

It was once thought that brain injury was the primary culprit for the disorder, but this theory has since been disproved by studies that illustrate only an insignificant number of ADHD sufferers have had brain trauma. Attention disorders often run in families, so there are likely to be genetic influences. Studies indicate that 25 percent of the close relatives in the families of ADHD children also have ADHD, whereas the rate is about 5 percent in the general population. Recent studies have also focused their attention on the part of the cerebrum known as the frontal lobes. This is the part of the brain responsible for solving problems, planning, understanding the behavior of others, and restraining our impulses. In 2002, Researchers at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Child Psychiatry Branch studied 139 children over a 10 year span and found, through MRI and other brain testing technologies, that the children had 3-4% smaller brain volumes than those of normal, healthy children. Although MRI brain scans show promise as a diagnostic tool, scientists stress they cannot be used effectively for that purpose (Surgeon Gen 5-8).

Dysfunction of neural networks has been demonstrated by chemical and physiologic imaging in the brains of schizophrenic patients (McClure et al., 1998). Myelin dysfunction produces abnormal connectivity of neural networks. The lipid-rich myelin possesses high electrical resistance and low capacitance, and thus acts as an insulator around axons. Damage to the myelin is accompanied by a decrease in conduction velocity and, when severe, cessation of conduction. Dysregulation of myelination-related genes in chronic schizophrenia has been revealed by genome wide expression analysis (Hakak et al., 2001), and deficits in myelin-associated mRNA and protein expression have been reported in brains of elderly schizophrenic patients (Dracheva et al., 2006). In addition, abnormalities of myelination neuro-imaging and ultrastructural pathology of myelinated fibers and oligodendrocytes have been observed in schizophrenic brains (Flynn et al., 2003; Orlovskaya and Uranova, 1997). Therefore, the pathological process underlying schizophrenia may involve an abnormality of brain myelin affecting white matter (Davis et al., 2003; Finelli, 1985; Hageman et al., 1995).

Kaitlyn earned her B.A. in Philosophy and History of Science and Mathematics at St. Johns College, during which time she became interested in the epigenetics and neurobiology of mental illness. To that end, she interned in a molecular genetics lab at University of Maryland and completed a pre-medical post-bacc after graduation. Throughout her coursework, her interests shifted to the neurobiology and treatment of mental illness and is now a second year MA student in the General Psychology program. Her research interests include suicide prevention and the neuropsychology of mood, memory and self-reference in mood and anxiety disorders.