Community/Disease/Health/Hot topics/Uncategorized

Addicted and Trapped

Posted on by / 0 Comment

Just This Once

Think back to those college days of little responsibility and too much fun. Some of us were so caught up with our desire to “fit in” and be “cool,” that when offered a drink of alcohol or a “hit” of some drug, we simply could not refuse. Many of us probably thought to ourselves, “It’s not a big deal; after all, it is just this one time.” Or is it?
I have never personally connected addiction to neurochemistry, but rather I have always associated addiction with personal choice. It has also never occurred to me that one could become addicted to alcohol or drugs after one single, potentially innocent exposure. Through the study of current neurochemistry research, I have been awakened to the reality that addiction is neurological, NOT personal choice.  Addiction has implications in the neurological wiring of our brains that metaphorically TRAPS us in the never-ending cycle of cue exposure, craving, and relapse.
 

Dopamine: My “Feel Good”

Dopamine, a neurotransmitter involved in reward-motivated behavior, is released in the brain when we partake in something pleasurable, whether that be drugs, alcohol, food, or sex. The dopamine concentration within the brain needs to be regulated in order to ensure proper functioning, which is the main problem in addiction.
There are many types of dopamine receptors in the brain that undergo various biochemical reactions when dopamine binds, but D1 and D2 receptors are of particular importance in the brain’s reward pathway:
D1: Direct reward pathway activation; lower affinity for dopamine (activated by high concentrations of dopamine)
D2: Indirect punishment/aversion pathway inhibition; higher affinity for dopamine (activated by low concentrations of dopamine)
When taking drugs or alcohol, dopamine is released in central brain regions, specifically the nucleus accumbens (NAc) and the ventral tegmental area (VTA).  In response to a drug cue or drug itself, dopamine neurons in the VTA cause a rapid increase in dopamine release from the NAc.  This rapid type of dopamine release causes stimulation of both low-affinity D1 and high-affinity D2 receptors.  When both of these receptors are activated you receive maximal reward (“feel good” feeling), because the D1 receptors stimulate reward feelings and D2 receptors are inhibit/block feelings of aversion
Figure 1. Reward circuitry in the brain.

Trapped

Depending on various factors (genetics, age, type of drug, etc.), one could become addicted after their first substance exposure, or may never form an addiction even after numerous uses.  When you abuse substances and dopamine is released in significant quantities in the brain, the high-affinity D2 receptors become overstimulated. Over time your body tries to regulate this overstimulation by lessening the number of D2 receptors in the brain. This requires you to take more of a drug or drink more alcohol in order to achieve the same maximal reward and “feel good,” also known as tolerance.  This down-regulation of D2 receptors also leads to a lack of prefrontal cortex stimulation (responsible for decision-making), and thus a decrease in self-control and an increase in compulsive behavior.
During drug or alcohol use, the brain creates reward circuits and strengthens connections with the hippocampus (memory center) and amygdala (emotion center). Due to these connections, drug and alcohol use are associated with “cues,” such as a specific location, person, or time of day.  These cues remind you of using drugs or alcohol, and when exposed to these cues, dopamine is released within the VTA and NAc, giving you that CRAVING feeling we all know far too well.  The strong, built-up neural connections in the reward pathway associated with the abused drug(s) or alcohol TRAP you inside of a cycle of craving and impulsive behavior that ultimately lead to relapse.
Figure 2. Dopamine D2 receptor availability in healthy brain vs. substance abuse brain.
 

Addiction Relief?

Can one ever escape from this viscous cycle?  The neural connections in the reward pathway associated with abused substances are strong and do not disappear rapidly, even after the cessation of substance use.  Currently, there is minimal research on whether the brain is able to restore itself to normal circuity after one ceases from using the previously abused substance.  Brain stimulation is at the forefront of addiction treatment research, but has yet to be approved by the FDA due to many associated risks and side-effects.  If there is one thing that you take away from this blog, it would be that addiction is NOT a personal choice, it is a neurological disorder, one that is relentless and extremely difficult to treat.  So next time someone offers you a “hit” or a “pull,” think twice.
 
For more information on the neurochemistry of addiction, please visit:
http://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(15)00962-9
 
Featured Images from:
https://www.khanacademy.org/science/health-and-medicine/mental-health/drug-abuse-and-drug-addictions/v/reward-pathway-in-the-brain
http://www.edinformatics.com/news/drug_addiction_treatment.htm

Disease/Health/Uncategorized

Schizophrenia as a Neurodevelopmental Disorder?

Posted on by / 0 Comment

 
IDEA Schizophrenia for a large portion of the world population is thought to be a very dangerous psychological condition that occurs when people “lose their noodle” or “go crazy”. For the most part, they are not entirely wrong, however, schizophrenia develops a lot more from a biological point of view than what people know.
DIAGNOSIS according to the DSM-V (Diagnosis book used by mental illness diagnosticians), the diagnosis of schizophrenia must have at least two of the following symptoms: Hallucinations, Delusions, Disorganized speech, Disorganized behavior, Poverty of speech, Decrease emotional range, loss of interest and drive, or tremendous inertia (skeptical about change).
BRAIN Now that the psychological aspect has been laid out, lets delve deeper into the behind the brain scenes. Evidence of damaged or underdeveloped prefrontal cortex of the brain leads to the disorganized thinking, along with psychosis due to the excess release of dopamine. An fMRI study using 18 schizophrenic patients and 19 normal control individuals was done in order to compare the activation of the prefrontal cortex and the substantia nigra/ventral tegmental area (responsible for dopamine release). It was found that the activation in the schizophrenic’s prefrontal cortex was significantly less than normal, along with the increase of dopamine being confirmed from the substantia nigra/ventral tegmental area.
WHY?
The reason behind these brain changes is due to loss of neuron connectivity from the cerebellum to the amygdala, or the amygdala to the prefrontal cortex (not confirmed where along this line connections are not forming). with these connections not being formed, this slows neural plasticity in the brain, and keeps connections from strengthening during brain development stages (ages 0-25). with these connections that are missing, this allows neurons from other pathways to form and create connections in areas that they are not supposed to. This explains why a majority of schizophrenic patients that are diagnosed are before the age of 25. Since these connections are not being formed and strengthening by growth, the normal brain size for a schizophrenic is smaller than that of a normal human brain.Continue reading →

Community/Disease/Health

Supporting the Supporters

Posted on by / 0 Comment

Imagine this: someone close to you- a family member, friend, co-worker-has recently been diagnosed with schizophrenia. What do you do? How do you continue to love them and give them the support that they need? The most important thing that you can do is educate yourself about the disease.
Schizophrenia is a brain disease. It arises from problems with brain connectivity during fetal development. Disruptions in a signaling pathway termed the “Wnt pathway” cause the malformations in brain connectivity. Other risk factors can include infection during pregnancy, genetic dispositions, or even just random chance.
Early brain disturbances lead to cognitive impairments for the rest of an individuals life. Although there are cognitive impairments starting at a young age, symptoms are often not observed until later in life.
Symptoms of Schizophrenia include:

  • Hallucinations
  • Delusions
  • Agitated Movements
  • Reduced feelings of pleasure
  • Suicidal thoughts
  • Reduced expression of emotions
  • Hearing voices

Many of the symptoms of schizophrenia are also symptoms of other mental health diseases- depression, bipolar disease, anxiety- making it quite hard to diagnose schizophrenia. When schizophrenia is diagnosed, individuals are usually prescribed an anti-psychotic. These medications come with a long list of side effects that make patient compliance quite low.
Often, the burden of taking care of people with schizophrenia falls on the people who are close to the affected individual. In a study done in Ethiopia in 2003, 93.5% of caregivers of a schizophrenic patient reported caring for their individual for 7 or more hours a day. This is equivalent of a full time job. 90% of the caregivers also reported never being able to get their mind off of their individual.
This leads to the question, how can you take care of your loved one, while also taking care of yourself?

  1. Reach out to resources in your community.  It is important that caregivers of those with schizophrenia don’t isolate and continue to take care of themselves so that care of the schizophrenic individual is possible. An online support group or your local chapter of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill are good places to start.
  2. Educate friends and family. Mental illnesses can be hard for other people to understand, but some of the stigma can be erased if others understand what is happening with your loved one.
  3. Take breaks. You need to allow yourself to have a life. Self- care is as important as care for your loved one. To be able to care for others, you must care for yourself.

If you are a supporter, you are already doing your loved one the greatest gift by sticking with them and trying to understand the complicated process of their brain disease. Now, give yourself the greatest gift and practice self care. There is support for the supporter. 
More information on schizophrenia can be found here
For more resources for the supporter
 

Disease

Understanding the Voices

Posted on by / 0 Comment

What is the cause of schizophrenia?
Schizophrenia is a commonly known mental illness that is caused by improperly controlled signaling in the brain. There are many chemical pathways in the brain that need to function correctly in order for it to properly develop during the first twenty-five years of life. If these pathways do not signal and function as they should, mental illness can result.
One of the underlying causes of schizophrenia is an overabundance of the neurotransmitter dopamine in the brain. The excessive dopamine is produced in the basal ganglia of the brain and travels to the striatum in the brain where it binds to its D2 dopamine receptors.
When dopamine binds to its receptors, this causes the subsequent signaling pathways, the Wnt and GSK3 pathways, to be ineffective in signaling for neural development and growth. The development of neurons and neural circuitry is inhibited, and therefore smaller brain size can result, which is commonly seen in people with Schizophrenia.
The loss of gray matter occurs mostly in the hippocampus, the prefrontal cortex, and the basal ganglia regions of the brain. Brain loss in these areas can present as disordered thinking, agitation, memory loss, mental confusion, hallucinations, hearing voices and inappropriate emotional response, which are many of the symptoms of schizophrenia.

Diagnosing schizophrenia
The complications with neural development early on can cause schizophrenia, however it is difficult to recognize the disease until people are in their late teens or twenties. It can be very challenging to diagnose at a young age, because children are still changing and maturing, and the behaviors may be too indistinct to associate with schizophrenia until maturity is reached.
Another factor that makes diagnosis challenging is that symptoms might not present themselves until a certain traumatic event or environmental change triggers their onset. The factors that are involved with schizophrenia are not only genetic, but they are environmental as well, and certain events may cause damage to the neural circuitry that could lead to the manifestation of disease symptoms.
 
What can we do to help?
It is important for the public to be aware that schizophrenia is a very serious illness and that it can be highly debilitating for those who are unable to experience relief with medications. Some people with schizophrenia may have trouble keeping a job if they have to miss work too many days when they are having a hard time. It may also be difficult to maintain healthy relationships because the symptoms can include cognitive, mood, behavioral and psychological inconsistencies, which might make it hard for others to feel comfortable. It is necessary that we are understanding of people dealing with this difficult disease and that we dedicate the time to listen and recognize what they are going through.
It is useful to keep in mind that mental illness is a health problem like any other chronic disease someone may be dealing with, and that the patients need all of the support and care they can get from family, friends, coworkers and the public. We need to recognize schizophrenia as a legitimate disease and treat those affected as we would anyone else dealing with a chronic health problem.
 
For more information on the Wnt and GSK3 signaling pathways visit the attached link: https://moodle.cord.edu/pluginfile.php/625277/mod_resource/content/2/2013%20wnt%20GSK%20and%20schizophrenia.pdf
For more information on altered areas of the brain in people with schizophrenia, visit the attached links:
https://www.nimh.nih.gov/news/science-news/2013/mapping-brain-circuits-provides-clues-to-schizophrenia-earlier-detection-of-psychosis.shtml
http://www.schizophrenia.com/disease.html
 
 
 

Disease/Health

Expectation v. Reality: The Blurred Truth of Schizophrenia

Posted on by / 0 Comment

On your walk home today, you witness two feathers floating to the ground. You can imagine the crispness of their hollow shaft and the softness of their feathers running through your hand… but what if someone told you only one of them was real?
 
You experienced both feathers in the same capacity, so you would have no reason to believe one feather is not real without that outside perspective. This experience is one of the harshest realities schizophrenic individuals battle daily.
 
Schizophrenia can interfere with an individual’s life in many ways. This chronic brain disorder can be accompanied by hallucinations, decreased concentration, lack of motivation, and social withdrawal.
 
Many areas of the brain are negatively impacted by schizophrenia. This can range from memory deficits managed by the hippocampus to internally generated thoughts in the Wernicke’s area of the auditory system that are perceived as voices coming from the outside. Schizophrenic patients also exhibit smaller brains, less gray matter, and neuronal disconnectivity between brain regions than their control counterparts.
 
The scientific community has been investigating the inner-workings of schizophrenia in the brain. Right now, they know that the Wnt (a receptor) pathway has an important role, as the inhibition of beta-catenin (a molecule in this pathway) is correlated with schizophrenia. Overactive dopamine receptors have also been associated with schizophrenia, which cause decreased neural growth and connectivity.
 
These physical changes of the brain are what influence schizophrenic symptoms. Unfortunately, there is no cure for schizophrenia; only medication to assist with the management of their symptoms.  However, there is a caveat with treating mental illnesses that only cover up the symptoms of the disease.
 
If you’ve ever had to adhere to any medication schedule, you would understand the struggle of planning your life around your medication. That can be incredibly frustrating at times, but if you are hypertensive and you see that your medication is lowering your blood pressure, you are more likely to continue to take the medication because you see its benefit.
 
For individuals with schizophrenia who experience an altered state of mind, their medication regimen is often a balancing act that cannot manage all of their symptoms. Because they cannot always see the benefit of their medication in addition to the side effects of anti-psychotics, schizophrenic patients have very low adherence to their medication.
 
Reality is relative for schizophrenic individuals, as their blurred reality is much different than someone without schizophrenia. Their blurred truth is more manageable with anti-psychotic medications, but our reality should focus in the wider scope:  a cure.
 

Disease/Health/Uncategorized

Born Schizophrenic: Forever Schizophrenic?

Posted on by / 0 Comment

Born Schizophrenic

Picture yourself at 6 1/2 years old, no responsibilities or cares in the world.  Now, imagine for a moment that you spend almost every single day within the depths of your home, you get easily upset to the point of no self-control multiple times per day, and you see and hear things that are not physically present but will not leave you alone.  Can you fathom living this life forever?
Meet Briana, a 6 1/2 year old dark-haired beauty who spends her days actively fighting schizophrenia.  Briana often struggles through hallucinations and psychosis episodes throughout each day, some of which lead to violent actions, instead of enjoying beach days or playing dress up with her sister like I was doing at 6 1/2 years old.
 

 

How is Briana’s brain different from those without schizophrenia?

The key factor behind schizophrenic symptoms is the abnormal communication between the frontal and parietal lobes of the brain, which is due to neuronal disconnectivity between the two brain regions that likely occurs during development. Can you think back to a time when you have had to complete a group project with people who did not carry their own weight?  Was it frustrating completing that group project without effectively communicating with other group members?  Yeah, it is like that, except in the brain.
 

Cops and robbers in the brain

This neuronal disconnectivity occurs due to a disruption in what is referred to as the Wnt and GSK3 signaling pathway. Let us consider Wnt similar to a cop, B-catenin a town citizen, and the destruction complex a “robber.”  GSK3 is a kinase molecule that is part of the destruction complex, or a part of the “robber.”  Wnt, as a cop, likes to check up on the citizens of his town and when present, he stabilizes the safety of his citizens by “ridding” of the robbers. This allows the town citizens to carry on with their duties of helping their children develop.
When Wnt is present in the brain, it binds to a “Frizzled” receptor, which then causes the dissociation of a destruction complex that normally “robs” a molecule, B-catenin, of its normal function.  The inhibition of the destruction complex allows B-catenin levels to rise and B-catenin then diffuses into the nucleus of the cell where it increases gene transcription of proteins that are vital in neural development.
 

Wnt/GSK3 Signaling Pathway

 

Kidnapping neural development

In the schizophrenic brain, there is a dramatic increase in dopamine levels within the brain. This is a problem because dopamine will bind to its receptors, and when it binds specifically to its D2 receptors, the D2 receptors directly bind and inhibit the workings of B-catenin, and thus a lack of protein production for neural development results.  
The D2 receptor is similar to a kidnapper, in that it kidnaps B-catenin and keeps it from working. The activated D2 receptors also lead to the inhibition of another molecule, Akt. Akt normally functions as the helpful citizen, aiding citizens in need by keeping the bad guys at bay. However, when Akt is not able to keep the bad guys at bay, this leads to a functional destruction complex, or more specifically an increase in GSK3 activity, a large part of the destruction complex. This results in a lack of stabilized, functional B-catenin, and thus a decrease in protein production for neural development.
 

Forever Schizophrenic?

Currently, antipsychotic medications are prescribed to those suffering with schizophrenia in order to reduce both the positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia, but these drugs fail to cure the disease itself.  Antipsychotic drugs reduce symptoms of schizophrenia by acting as antagonists to the D2 receptors in the brain, similar to directly blockading the D2 receptors and ceasing their effects in the brain. The use of antipsychotic drugs is questionable when we consider all of their potential side effects, including tardive dyskinesia, acute dystonias, weight gain, nausea, drowsiness, restlessness, muscle spasms, among many others.
Is there hope in creating a drug or therapy that could potentially “fix” the neural disconnectivity in the schizophrenic brain? Will schizophrenics forever have to choose between suffering the symptoms of schizophrenia or the side effects of antipsychotics? If you are born schizophrenic, will you always live as a schizophrenic? Only time and research will tell.
 
For more information on the neuroscience behind schizophrenia and the Wnt/GSK3 Signaling Pathway, please visit:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23379509
 
Featured Image from:
https://i1.wp.com/cobbersonthebrain.areavoices.com/files/2017/10/wntfig1.jpg?ssl=1

Uncategorized

The Stigma of Schizophrenia: How Society Misrepresents Mental Illness

Posted on by / 0 Comment

By Cullen Knowles
When people hear the word schizophrenia, Hollywood movies about deranged serial killers and lunatics often come to mind. A recent example is the movie Split, a horror/thriller about a kidnapper with 24 different personalities contained within his mind, driven to do horrible things because of his mental illness (1). There are many other examples like Split in popular culture, in which an individual with schizophrenia is portrayed as being dangerous to other people, and these examples illustrate the stigma surrounding people with schizophrenia and other mental illnesses in our society.
Unfortunately, this perception of people suffering from Schizophrenia is really founded on a series of misunderstandings about the disorder, rather than scientific evidence. Most people think of schizophrenia as a disease in which a person’s mind contains multiple personalities, some benign and others malicious. This misperception likely arises from the word schizophrenia itself, which directly translates into ‘split mind.’ In reality, people who suffer from this disease do not have ‘multiple personalities’ inside their minds, but have a variety of symptoms categorized as either positive or negative.
Positive symptoms include hallucinations (primarily auditory hallucinations), disorganized speech or thought patterns, and inappropriate emotional responses, such as laughing during a funeral or crying during a comedy movie (2). Negative symptoms are characterized by the absence of emotion, or a lack of appropriate emotion, such as toneless voices, expressionless faces, and rigid bodies (2). Individuals who suffer from schizophrenia may either exhibit positive or negative symptoms, or a mixture of both, but at least three of these symptoms must be present in order to be diagnosed with the disorder. No ‘alternative personalities’ are present within the mind of someone who suffers from schizophrenia.
The physiological causes of these symptoms, and schizophrenia in general, are largely unknown, especially to the general public. Brain abnormalities, such as the smaller size of several regions of the brain, have been implicated with the onset of the disorder, and environmental factors such as stress are thought to be risk factors as well. The hippocampus of the brain, which is responsible for the coordination of memory formation, is one of the key areas affected by schizophrenia. Decreased neuronal connectivity and plasticity in the hippocampus is associated with schizophrenia, and this could explain the racing thoughts and memory problems that occur in patients with the disease (3). The disruption of signaling pathways responsible for the growth and differentiation of neurons in human embryos is also thought to play a role in the development of schizophrenia.
Understanding the real symptoms of schizophrenia, and understanding some of the science behind how the disorder develops, is crucial to understanding why people with schizophrenia behave the way they do. Without an understanding of what schizophrenia is, it’s impossible to overcome society’s misperceptions of schizophrenia and treat people suffering from the disorder with compassion.
Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Split_(2016_American_film)
2. http://schizophrenia.com/diag.php#
3.https://moodle.cord.edu/pluginfile.php/625277/mod_resource/content/2/2013%20wnt%20GSK%20and%20schizophrenia.pdf
Image: https://img.webmd.com/dtmcms/live/webmd/consumer_assets/site_images/articles/health_tools/schizophrenia_overview_slideshow/webmd_rf_photo_of_mri_brain_scans.jp
 

Uncategorized

What’s Wrong With the Current Medication for Schizophrenia?

Posted on by / 0 Comment

What Is Schizophrenia?

Schizophrenia is a psychotic disorder in which affected patients experience a wide range of symptoms, categorized into positive or negative symptoms and cognitive defects (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Symptoms of Schizophrenia

Although there is much more to be known about schizophrenia, it is believed that one of the causes of the disease is an interference in the development of neurons. This points to Wnt signaling as an important factor. The D2 receptor for dopamine is over activated, which will in turn inhibit Akt, a phosphokinase. This will cause excessive activation of GSK, resulting in a lack of β-catenin, so TCF/LEF transcription (gene transcription important in cell growth and differentiation) will be inhibited.
Figure 2: Wnt Pathway Implications in Neurological Disorders

Effects of Antipsychotic Drugs

Antipsychotic drugs are used to treat patients who are suffering from some type of psychosis. Psychosis is a condition affecting the mind and involves a loss of contact with reality, such as delusions or hallucinations. The general mechanism of antipsychotics is D2 receptor antagonism. These drugs work to reduce the positive and/or negative symptoms (see Figure 1) of schizophrenia, but do not work to cure the disease itself.
One key to effectively treating schizophrenia is finding the right balance between medications (as many patients are also taking anti-depressants and/or anti-anxiety drugs) and possibly also including some type of psychotherapy, such as cognitive therapy, group therapy, or social skills training.
There are two types of antipsychotics: typical (first-generation) and atypical (second-generation). Atypical drugs were introduced due to many of the typical drugs cause debilitating extrapyramidal side effects, such as tardive dyskinesia (TD), parkinsonism, akathisia, and acute dystonias.
As is expected from a drug working to soothe neural problems, the list of side effects given by the FDA is quite long. This list includes:

  • Drowsiness
  • Dizziness
  • Restlessness
  • Weight gain
  • Dry mouth
  • Constipation
  • Nausea
  • Vomiting
  • Blurred vision
  • Low blood pressure
  • Uncontrollable movements (ex. ticks and tremors)
  • Seizures
  • Low white blood cell count
  • Muscle rigidity
  • Persistent muscle spasms

Long-term use of antipsychotics can also result in many serious side effects, one of them being tardive dyskinesia. TD can range from mild to severe, and causes uncontrollable muscle movements, typically around the mouth. TD can be incurable, but some patients can have partial to full recovery after discontinuing their antipsychotic medication.

The Problem With Anti-Psychotic Drug Treatments

Many patients stop taking their anti-psychotic medication after only a short period of time due to these numerous and, in many cases, quite severe side effects. Another drawback to the current medications for schizophrenia is that these drugs do not work on curing the disease. This means that a person suffering from schizophrenia must weigh the many side effects against not a cure for their ailment, but only the hope of attempting to return to a ‘normal’ life.
Due to the many factors that can cause schizophrenia and the limited knowledge of the mechanisms of this disease, it is going to be difficult to move forward in the treatment of schizophrenia, but difficult does not mean impossible.
 
 

Uncategorized

Can Your Doctor Test You for Schizophrenia?

Posted on by / 0 Comment

Would you want to know if you have schizophrenia?
 
Schizophrenia is a neuropsychiatric disorder that affects about 1% of the general population as well as their family and friends.
 
Schizophrenia has many symptoms:

  • Depression
  • Withdrawal from friends and family.
  • Lack of motivation
  • Disorganization: this is more of an extreme disorganization, such as disorganization of words while speaking.
  • Delusions: believing things are real when they are not.
  • Hallucinations: visual or auditory stimulus that don’t exist. To a patient with Schizophrenia, it is real.
  • Catatonia: being fixed in one place for a very long time

Continue reading →

Disease

A Glimpse Into Schizophrenia

Posted on by / 0 Comment

Dear King Phillip Came Over For Good Soup. This is a common mnemonic for memorizing the order of taxonomy: Domain, Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species. It is also just one of the many examples of how we put things into boxes to try to organize the chaos that surrounds us.
 
We like it when things are black and white, with very minimal gray area. But what happens when we can’t contain something inside its box? This seems to be an issue when it comes to mental illness, i.e. how we define certain disorders and how do they differ from one another, etc. Mental illness is a rather broad topic, spanning across countless disorders and so I would like to shed some light on one in particular: schizophrenia.
 
What is Schizophrenia?
Schizophrenia is considered to be a mental illness as mentioned previously, however it is also a neurological developmental disorder. Meaning that it begins sometime during our development, often during childhood.
 
What Causes It?
The cause of Schizophrenia is not exactly known and it appears that multiple factors can come into play, such as environment and genetics. That being said, there is one pathway in the brain that may be a key player in this disorder, known as the Wnt signaling pathway. The Wnt pathway consists of three different “routes” so to speak. The one implicated in schizophrenia involves an important protein known as β-catenin. When the pathway is shut off, β-catenin is trapped in a destruction complex, which is just structure made up of many other proteins (GSK3β, Axin, Apc, and CK1a). This leads to an inhibition of transcription factors, which means that some genes are not expressed.
For more info on this pathway check out this video! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oweNT288BXo
 
What Does β-catenin Have To Do With Schizophrenia?
Individuals with schizophrenia tend to have an increase in GSK3β activation, which results in β-catenin being trapped in the destruction complex and is unable to express certain genes. This is caused by an over-activation of D2 receptors in the brain due to the release of dopamine (DA). When these receptors are activated, they shut off a protein known as AKT. AKT’s job is to keep GSK3β in check, but if it’s turned off then GSK3β is over-activated and β-catenin remains trapped.
 
Now that I have given a little background on schizophrenia, I would like to go back to the idea that need everything needs a “box”. Symptoms of schizophrenia often overlap with other disorders such as bipolar disorder and schizoaffective disorder. Also, people express symptoms in different ways and at various degrees, creating a kind of spectrum. This causes a lot of gray areas and so often times people are misdiagnosed. This is true for many other mental illnesses as well and so it begs the question of can we really be so cut and dry when diagnosing or do we need to allow for some fluidity? Do we need to spend more time helping people with their symptoms and less on putting them in a box?
 
Featured Photo Credit: Abhijit Bhaduri (flickr.com)

Spam prevention powered by Akismet