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schizophrenia
a serious mental disorder characterized by disordered thoughts, delusions, hallucinations, and often bizarre behaviors
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positive symptoms
a symptom of schizophrenia evident by its presence: delusions, hallucinations, or thought disorders
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thought disorder
disorganized, irrational thinking
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delusion
a belief that is clearly in contradiction to reality
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hallucination
perception of a nonexistent object or event
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negative symptom
a symptom of schisophrenia characterized by the absence of behaviors that are normally present: social withdrawl, lack of affect, and reduced motivation
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cognitive symptom
a symptom of schizophrenia characterized by deficits in sustained attention, psychomotor speed, learning and memory, abstract thinking, and problem solving
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tardive dyskinesia
a movement disorder that can occur after prolonged treatment with antipsychotic medication, characterized by involuntary movements of the face and neck
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supersensitivity
the increased sensitivity of neurotransmitter receptors; caused by damage to the afferent axons or long-term blockage of neurotransmitter release
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epidemiology
the study of the distribution and causes of diseases in populations
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seasonality effect
the increased incident of schizpohrenia in people born during late winter and early spring
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hypofrontality
decreased activity of the prefrontal cortex; believed to be responsible for the negative symptoms of schizophrenia
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partial agonist
a drug that has a very high affinity for a particular receptor but activates that receptor less than the normal ligand does; serves as an agonist in regions of low concentration of the normal ligand and as an antagonist in reigions of high concentrations
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major affective disorder
a serious mood disorder, includes unipolar depression and bipolar disorder
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bipolar disorder
a serious mood disorder characterized by cyclical periods of mania and depression
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unipolar depression
a serious mood disorder that consists of unremitting depression or periods of depression that do not laternate with periods of mania
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tricyclic antidepressant
a call of drugs used to treat depression; inhibits the reuptake of norepinephrine and serotonin but also affects other neurotransmitters; named for the molecular structure
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specific serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI)
an antidepressant drug that specifically inhibits the reuptake of serotonin without affecting the ruptake of other neurotransmitters
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norepinephrine and serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SNRI)
an antidepressant drug that specifically inhibit the reuptake of norepinephrine and serotonin without affecting the ruptake of other nuerotransmitters
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electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)
a brief electrical shock, applied to the head, that results in an electrical seizure; used therapeutically to alleviate severe depression
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lithium
a chemical element; lithium carbonate is used to treat bipolar disorder
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monoamine hypothesis
a hypothesis that sates that depression is caused by a low level of activity in one or more monoaminergic synapses
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tryptophan depletion procedure
a procedure involving a low-tryptophan diet and a tryptophan-free amino acid "cocktail" that lowers brain tryptophan an dconsequently decreses the synthesis of 5-HT thus lowering levels of serotonin in the brain
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silent cerebral infarction (SCI)
a small cerebrovascular accident (stroke) that causes minor brain damage without producing obvious neurological symptoms
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seasonal affective disorder
a mood disorder characterized by depression, lethargy, sleep disturbances, and craving for carbohydrates during the winter season when days are short
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summer depression
a mood disorder that occurs specifically in the summer; characterized by depression, sleep disturbances, and loss of appetite
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phototherapy
teratment of seasonal affective disorder by daily exposure to bright light
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