Biological Explanations of Schizophrenia:

Genetic explanation:
Genetic explanations use family studies, adoption studies and twin studies to gather information.
Family studies: Gottesman found that if both parents with schizophrenia there was a concordance rate
of 46%., if one parent had schizophrenia there was a 16% concordance rate, and having a sibling with
schizophrenia there was an 8% concordance rate, and for the general population with no background of
schizophrenia it is a 1% concordance rate. A study by Marcus, the Israeli high risk study, had two groups;
group 1 was 50 high risk children (one/both parents with schizophrenia) and group 2 was a group of 50
children of similar age with no history of schizophrenia. Within each group, half were raised in a
kibbutz and the other half were raised in a traditional family setting. 13 years later: in group 1, 22
diagnosed with schizophrenia (16 from the kibbutz and 6 from a family setting), group 2, 4 were
diagnosed with schizophrenia therefore this suggests that schizophrenia is inherited despite there being
an environmental factor.
Adoption studies: adoption studies mainly compare adoptees with biological and adoptive parents as
similarities with biological parents would indicate genetic influences. Ketys Danish adoption study
found higher rates of schizophrenia in adoptees whose biological parent/parents had schizophrenia
even though they had been adopted by someone who doesnt have schizophrenia. However there is a
major problem with diagnostic criteria as it is changing all the time.
Twin studies: mainly look at MZ twins with the theory that if one twin has schizophrenia then the other
twin should too as there is a higher concordance rate as they share the same genes. Furthermore they
would look at twins who were reared apart. Gottesman-Shields looked at the Maudsley twin register
and found 7 out of 12 MZ twins who were reared apart had concordance for schizophrenia. Gottesman
later found that the concordance rate was 48% if one MZ twin had schizophrenia and for a DZ twin this
dropped to 17%.

AO2 Evaluative Points:

Different types, different causes? Maybe genes are responsible for some types of schizophrenia. Some
people with schizophrenia dont have a close relative with it (Stirling & Hallewell). There are many
questions to ask: should we look at different types separately? Does the environment play a bigger part
on one type more than the other? Is it one gene or lots of genes we inherit to develop it? Therefore it is
an incomplete explanation.
Methodology: these studies are retrospective and prospective. The diagnostic criteria is ever changing
therefore it is hard to compare parents with children. Furthermore, the self-report techniques used
may not always produce reliable results and small sample sizes mean that you cannot generalise to the
greater population.
Twin studies provide evidence for a strong genetic link: however it is difficult to try and totally isolate
nature factors. A higher concordance rate in MZ twins could be due to them being treated more
similarly. DZ twins concordance rates should also be treated with caution.
Nature v Nurture: this question lacks validity as in the real would we know there is an interaction
between the both. We should take an eclectic approach- diathesis stress model states that we need the

genes and then have a stressful life event. Individuals have a genetic predisposition to schizophrenia
but will only develop it if they are exposed to stressful situations.

The dopamine hypothesis:

Neurons that transmit dopamine fire too easily or too often, leading to the symptoms of schizophrenia.
Schizophrenics have abnormally high numbers of D receptors resulting in more dopamine neurons
firing. Dopamine neurons play a key role in guiding attention, so disturbances in this process might lead
to the problems of perception and thought found in schizophrenia. Jung claimed that too much
dopamine could lead to you developing schizophrenia. Amphetamines increase dopamine levels and
when these were given to schizophrenics their symptoms worsened and when given to nonschizophrenics they began to develop schizophrenic symptoms. Phenothiazines were used to treat
schizophrenics and it works by blocking dopamine receptors which lead symptoms to decrease. Wong
found that from a PET scan he could see that schizophrenics had a greater density of dopamine
receiving neurons in various parts of their brain. However these findings have not been replicated
therefore the results need to be treated with caution.

Ao2 Evaluative Points:

Supporting/refuting comment: excess of dopamine receptors in certain parts of the brain and low
levels in others. Davis found abnormally low levels of dopamine in pre-frontal system and excessive
dopamine in the limbic system which resulted in increased brain arousal leading to disordered thinking.
This adds to the dopamine hypothesis therefore this explanation is far too simplistic for such a complex
disorder as schizophrenia.
Research methods: cause or effect? It is very difficult to establish whether the excessive dopamine
causes schizophrenia or is it an effect of schizophrenia drug treatment. This is a huge obstacle to
overcome. Psychologists have come up with a solution in terms of regularly scanning brains of
schizophrenics continuously. However this is extremely expensive and unethical as it does not offer
them help and just uses them as test subjects.
Individual differences: drugs dont work for everyone. Original drugs such as anti-psychotics did not
work for reducing type 1 (positive) symptoms. Drugs are often fast acting but symptoms can take weeks
or months to decrease. Clozapine is an atypical (newer) drug and blocks fewer dopamine receptors but
blocks more serotonin receptors which is very effective in reducing type 2 symptoms. Therefore it
could be argued that serotonin works alongside it.
Reductionistic explanation: schizophrenia is a very complex disorder with lots of types and symptoms.
This disorder is reduced to simplistic explanations such as the influence of the brain chemicals such as
dopamine. Furthermore it is indisputable that they have a role to play and whether they are the cause
of schizophrenia. Neglecting all other potential influences such as stress or irrational thought
processes. Therefore this could be preventing the advancement of knowledge and understanding
needed in order to produce effective treatments.