Description: Perhaps you have heard about Toxoplasmosis? It is a condition caused by a parasite that is carried by cats who catch wild birds and that can be picked up by humans when they clean the cats’ litter boxes and inhale some of the T. gondii parasite while doing so. Exposure among pregnant women can… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Schizophrenia
Two Types of Schizophrenia: A Matter of Grey Matter
Description: Think about this statement. We have drugs that can treat the symptoms of schizophrenia for many who struggle with it and that means that we have figured out what causes schizophrenia or at least how it works on the brain. Is this true? Is it a little bit true? What do you think? The… Read more »
Just How ARE ACE’s Related to Mental Illnesses?
Description: You have likely heard about the data that is piling up regarding the relationship between Adverse Childhood Experiences and beyond childhood incidences of mental and physical illness (if not there are a couple of links in the Reference section below that will provide you with an overview of that work). An obvious question to… Read more »
Psychosis: Early Identification and Intervention Opportunities are Important
Description: You are no doubt aware of the standard medical observation that the earlier an emerging health challenge is identified the more effectively it can be treated or even prevented from fully emerging. There is also a lot of talk about the sorts of things one can do to contribute positively to one’s mental health… Read more »
Seeking the Causes of Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder with Epigenesis
Description: What causes schizophrenia? If you said something like “a chemical imbalance in the brain” you are not alone and that fits with what else you likely know which is that there are a wide array of drugs available that are used as parts of efforts to address that “imbalance.” However, you know those drugs… Read more »
Biology and Mental Illness: Why No Cures Yet?
Description: We have drugs that treat mental disorders like schizophrenia and depression so do we have cures for those disorders? One of the reasons given for the focus shift taken by Martin Seligman, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and others to Positive Psychology (optimizing things for everyone) is that we have addressed mental illness and can move on…. Read more »
Searching for the Origins of Schizophrenia
Description: Schizophrenia affects about 1% of the population and while there are treatments that can be partially effective there is no real cure. An understanding of the origins of schizophrenia, of how it emerges, could move us towards earlier identification and could suggest new treatment avenues. As it has been discussed in our textbooks, schizophrenia… Read more »
What if We Could Turn Executive Function On and Off?
Description: Executive function or the process by which parts of your brain essentially tell other parts of your brain what to do, is a topic of intense interest as executive functioning, or [problems in executive functioning, may be related to a very broad range of issues from ADHD, to anxiety to OCD to name a… Read more »
Cerebellum, Brain Timing and Schizophrenia?
Description: Quick pop-quiz! What does the cerebellum do? It is involved in producing smooth motor movement right (balance, equilibrium etc.)? Yes, right, but what else is it involved in? Well, how about schizophrenia? As our understanding of the neurological factors involved in psychological functions and dysfunctions expands we are increasingly realizing more clearly something neuroscientists… Read more »
Are Incidental Memories Lost or Just Unattended?
Description: Before you read any further look around the room that you are in and then focus your attention on a particular feature (look out the window, look at the television set). Your visual impression while focusing on one feature in the room is probably that you’re still able to “see” most of the other… Read more »
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