Discussion 1 In PSY 108, you learned about old beliefs on left brain/right brain function, and current knowledge on how the two parts of the brain function separately and work together. After reading

For my topic, I have chosen to focus on the causes of schizophrenia. There have been many theories over the years about what causes this disorder, and modern technology is giving us more clues, but there are still no definitive answers. That means we treat the symptoms rather than the actual cause. By pinpointing the top causal factors, we could treat this disorder more effectively.

Silverstein, S. M. (2014). Jung's views on causes and treatments of schizophrenia in light of current trends in cognitive neuroscience and psychotherapy research I: Aetiology and phenomenology. The Journal of Analytical Psychology, 59(1), 98–129. doi: 10.1111/1468-5922.12057

This reference looks at Jung’s views on the causes and treatment of schizophrenia, as described in his writings in the early 1900s, and how they relate to what we know about the disorder today. It provides a historical context for early views of schizophrenia from an important figure in the history of psychology.

Jung presented anecdotal evidence, based on his work with patients, that psychotic symptoms revealed symbolic and unconscious processes in the patients’ minds. This was a shift away from the norm at the time, which focused on symptom groupings and nosological issues.

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Hagiwara, H., Iyo, M., & Hashimoto, K. (2013, April 22). Neonatal disruption of serine racemase causes schizophrenia-like behavioral abnormalities in adulthood: Clinical rescue by D-serine. Plos ONE, 8(4). doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0062438

This study covers the ways in which neonatal disruption of D-serine synthesis by SRR inhibition in mice would make the mice exhibit schizophrenia-like symptoms later in life. D-serine is already known to play a role in both neurodevelopment and in schizophrenia, so the study looked at its effects on the mice as juveniles and as adults, and whether it caused problems in their cognitive processes.

Not only did the study show that the neonatal disruption could cause schizophrenia-like symptoms in the mice, including effects on their perception of objects and other cognitive problems, but it also showed that giving them D-serine injections as adults could help reduce their symptoms. While this was an animal study, it provides an avenue of possible exploration for treating schizophrenia in humans.

The researchers tested the mice on various tasks that would reveal whether they showed signs of having symptoms related to schizophrenia. They analyzed the data using a t-test and a multivariate analysis of variance.

This study was done on animals rather than humans, so the researchers followed the recommendations in the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The researchers also received approval for the experiment from the Committee on the Ethics of Animal Experiments (CARE) of Chiba University, and they humanely euthanized the mice in order to perform certain chemical analyses. Their efforts were adequate under governmental and university guidelines.

Talaslahti, T., Alanen, H., Hakko, H., Isohanni, M., Häkkinen, U., & Leinonen, E. (2012, Jan. 17). Mortality and causes of death in older patients with schizophrenia. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 27(11), 1131–1137. doi: 10.1002/gps.2833

Schizophrenia causes problems in perception, including hallucinations and delusions. The researchers looked at causes and rates of death in people with schizophrenia as compared to those without the disorder.

The researchers found that older adults who were experiencing relapses had a higher risk for death than those in remission from schizophrenia. When compared to people without schizophrenia, their death rate was three times higher.

The researchers chose to use data from a larger study—the PERFormance, Effectiveness, and Cost of Treatment (PERFECT) project—because it gave them a large pool of data. Instead of finding their own participants, they were able to analyze data from the PERFECT project to come to their conclusions.

There were no ethical issues for the authors of this study, since they were using data from a larger project. However, the participants in that project were drawn from hospital discharge records, which could be a potential invasion of privacy if done in the United States. The study was done in Finland, which has maintained those records in a register dating back to 1969, so it does not appear to be an ethical concern in this country.

In the early 1900s, little was known about the physical factors involved in causing schizophrenia, as shown by the overview of Jung’s views in contrast with what we know today. As technology and our knowledge of the brain has evolved, we are able to study possible causes more accurately using imaging, isolation of genes, and other current technologies. We know schizophrenia has a physical basis and can be treated with medication, although we still do not know the exact cause and therefore do not have a treatment to pinpoint that cause.

Our knowledge of schizophrenia is expanding, and we are coming to more conclusions about potential physical causes, including genetics and prenatal factors, as well as finding more potential treatments based on this growing knowledge.

Existing studies look at a wide variety of causes. We need to narrow that down and pinpoint the top causal factors, so we can focus on treatments that directly address those causes, rather than just treating the symptoms.

What physical factor plays the greatest role in causing schizophrenia?