Suggested Reading
Thought disorders are dysfunctions of thought which tend to manifest in language. This symptom tends to present itself in one or more of the following forms: language derailment, poverty of speech, strained speech, tangential association, illogical language patterns, and/or word substitutions. Continue reading “Symptom Breakdown: Thought Dysfunction in Schizophrenia”
Suggested Reading
Disorganised behavior is the production of inappropriate or bizarre behaviors, including gestures. These behaviors may be in response to environmental stimuli or may be entirely inappropriate for the situation. Continue reading “Symptom Breakdown: Disorganised Behaviour in Schizophrenia”
Recommended Reading
Mini-Review: Dendritic Spine Density
Background Information for Mini-Reviews
In the previous mini-review we explored the differences in dendritic spine density of pyramidal neurons in the brains of people with schizophrenia compared to those without schizophrenia. Due to the severity of this dendritic spine deficiency it seemed unlikely that these pyramidal neurons were otherwise unaffected. Having explored this area of research further, it has become clear that not only do the pyramidal neurons of people with schizophrenia present with fewer spines than those without the illness, but these neurons also show deficiencies in soma size, dendrite length, and dendritic branching. Continue reading “Mini-Review: Morphology of Pyramidal Neurons in Schizophrenia”
Relevant Pre-Reading:
Recently, theories have been circulating about genes related to schizophrenia potentially being selected for during human evolution. While this may explain the prevalence of schizophrenia, with 0.3-0.7% of people developing the illness at some point in their lives, it is probably too simple of a story. The article we discuss below, by Xu et al. (2015), aims to look much more closely at this phenomenon and determine whether or not it is true. Continue reading “Article: The Role of Human Evolution in the Development of Schizophrenia”
Delusions of grandeur manifest as the belief that the individual is of high social importance, or that they possess highly developed skills of some kind. The individual’s belief in their self-importance is similar to the presentation of narcissistic personality disorder, but occurs only during the psychotic period/acute stage of schizophrenia and is not as extreme in the prodromal or residual stages. Continue reading “Symptom Breakdown: Delusions of Grandeur in Schizophrenia”
There is a lot of research which indicates that specific layers of pyramidal neurons are different in the brains of people with schizophrenia. In this post we’re going to be looking specifically at dendritic spine density in these populations, what this tells us about the overall functioning of these neurons, and the knock-on effects this can have on the conscious functioning of individuals. Continue reading “Mini Review: Dendritic Spine Density in the Prefrontal Cortex in Relation to Schizophrenia”
In the next few weeks I’ll be posting some mini-reviews of research about neuronal differences in the brains of people with schizophrenia. Specifically, I’ll be writing about pyramidal neurons and how changes in their shape might affect specific functions in the brain. Before I do that I thought it might be helpful to have a little guide post to provide some background for the areas we’ll be covering. I’m likely to update this post as the reviews go on, and I’ll be sure to provide a link to it at the beginning of each review, but for now it should work as very brief background information which should make the reviews easier to read. Continue reading “Background Information for Mini-Reviews on Schizophrenia Cell Morphology”
As far as the testing and conclusions go; this is clean research. The scientist involved began with a broad hypothesis: “Are L1 retrotransposon numbers greater in people suffering from mental illness?”. Their testing led them to discovering a high number of L1 retrotransposons in the postmortem prefrontal cortexes of people who, in their lives, had suffered from schizophrenia. There was no significant increase in the number of L1 units in the brains of patients who had experienced depression, or bipolar disorder. By allowing the data reveal this trend they began with a strong theoretical base for further experiments. In their follow-up experiments they were able to narrow their scope, focusing on the relationships between the L1 retrotransposon and known genes for schizophrenia, such as 22q11, and then on similarly focused animal models.
If you’re not too intimidated by long academic reports it is well worth a read, but if you’d prefer a quick rundown keep reading.
Continue reading “Article: Increased L1 Retrotransposition in the Neuronal Genome in Schizophrenia”
Speculative Neuroscience 