Outline and Evaluate Two or More Biological Explanations of Schizophrenia.

Researchers also believe that genes are one of the causes of schizophrenia, however they are convinced that genes alone can’t be the main cause, they just make a person more likely to develop the mental disease. (Nimh.nih.gov,

Schizophrenia is a brain disorder revolves the way a person would think, act and the way they would see the world. They usually have a different view of the truth and this is frequently loss of contact with what going on. People that have the disorder could hear or see things that don’t exist and even speak strange, believe that others are trying to harm them, or sense they’re being watched. The biological explanation for schizophrenia, through biological faults, for instance viral infections and brain abnormalities Genetic Factors Certain psychologists predict schizophrenia can be passed down generations however this implies some people inherit the disorder from their parents. Identical twins have a higher risk of schizophrenia, meaning one of the twins can have the disorder and is a greater chance is they’re identical rather than non-identical. During my research I found that ‘Gottesman’ (1991) reviewed 40 studies and established ‘monozygotic twins have a concordance rate of 48%’, whereas dizygotic twins have a concordance rate of 17%. This demonstrates the correlation between genetics and the risk of developing schizophrenia. However if there was no genetic element there would be no difference of risk from first relatives. Yet there is 1% possibility of someone at random picked. Adopted studies is way more real way of splitting out the effects of environmental and genetic factors- adopted children later progress schizophrenia and care

This disorder runs in families so it is likely if one parent has it then the

The biological explanation of schizophrenia also claims that the disorder can be inherited. The more common the disorder is among the biological relatives and the closer the degree of genetic relatedness increases the risk of the child developing schizophrenia. Gottesman’s research (1991) found a genetic link with schizophrenia when looking at children and their relatives. The research discovered that children with two schizophrenic parents have a concordance rate of 46% compared to children who just have one schizophrenic parent to children who have a concordance rate of 13% and siblings just 9%. The genetic theory of schizophrenia also suggests that monozygotic twins (twins who a genetically identical) should have a higher concordance rate of schizophrenia than dizygotic twins (twins who are not genetically identical) because they have a closer degree of genetic relatedness.

These scientists identified 128 independent associations with schizophrenia encompassing 108 loci, 83 of which had not been previously reported. They found that among the loci that they identified, there was no evidence of non-additive or epistatic effects. 75% of the 108 loci identified in this study include genes that code for proteins and an additional 8% are located within 20kb of a gene. They found that there was an association with CACNA1C, CACNB2, and CACNA1I, which code for subunits of voltage gated calcium channels and have been suggested to play a role in other psychiatric disorders in addition to schizophrenia. Quantitative trait loci, those that regulate the expression of mRNA, were also implicated in conferring a risk for schizophrenia. There were also higher levels of expression of schizophrenia risk genes in tissues associated with immune function, which supports the hypothesis that immune dysregulation plays a role in schizophrenia. They also found that copy number variations that were linked to schizophrenia overlapped with those that are associated with autism spectrum disorder and other intellectual disabilities (Schizophrenia Working Group of the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium, 2014). However, some scientists hypothesize that genes alone are not sufficient for the development of schizophrenia

Genetics play a role in the development of schizophrenia. When looking closer at the brain chemistry between a person with schizophrenia and a person with out schizophrenia there are

Research by Johnstone in 1994, explained the biological approach of interventions, explanation and treating of schizophrenia patients (Hansell & Damour, 2005). In studies of Fisher in 2001, discoveries that the brain had more dopamine receptors know as B_2 receptors in a person suffering from schizophrenia, than a non-suffer (Hansell & Damour, 2005). Biological findings of schizophrenia suggest that a genetic factor was hereditary, but not conclusive because the element of environment does make a difference (Hansell & Damour, 2005).

Two Biological Explanations of Schizophrenia There are many biological explanations of schizophrenia. In this essay I will concentrate on the genetic explanation and biochemical explanation of the disorder. There are many studies that look in to genetics and the link to schizophrenia. This is dues to an original finding that schizophrenia runs in families and therefore suggests that genes are responsible for the disorder.

Two-Hit Model of Schizophrenia, Discussion, Criticism, and Application to The Onset and Progression of Schizophrenia

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).

This can also be accounted for distant relatives who are unlikely to share the same environment. We can therefore assume that to confirm a genetic base for schizophrenia, research must separate genetic influences from environmental influences. In order to do this, researchers must look at the evidence presented through twin studies. A set of MZ twins share the same genes, therefore if only one of the develops schizophrenia, it is more likely to be through environmental factors.

2. A strong family history of mental disorders is considered as a highly probable cause of schizophrenia, while those who are much less genetically vulnerable are believed to catch the disorder through environment stressors during their lives.

Schizophrenia can be passed down thru generations even though there is not a specific gene associated with the disorder. It is considered to be a combination of genes that make a person susceptible to becoming schizophrenic. This information is found mainly thought the study of twins. By having the same genes it can be viewed why genes contribute to the potential of schizophrenia. Even though genetics is a viable factor in the analysis of the cause of schizophrenia there are more supporting factors found in neurotransmitters.

There are many causes to Schizophrenia. Many causes are genetics, brain chemistry and structure, and the environment of a human being. Genetically Schizophrenia can run through a family and can be passed on generations at a time. “Individuals with a first degree relative (parent or sibling) who has schizophrenia have a 10 percent chance of developing the disorder, as opposed to the 1 percent chance of the general population.” (Helpguide.org) Identical twins are a good example of this. “If an identical twin is diagnosed with Schizophrenia the other twin is 50 percent more likely to also be diagnosed with the mental disorder (psychcentral.com).” Brain chemistry and structure is another big factor in the cause of Schizophrenia. Neurotransmitters-

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