Influences on Behavior and Psychological Disorders Presentations Outline
Jessica Byas-Lurgio
October 14, 2014
PSY/103
Carol Tripp

1. Introduction
a) Variable results of positive-negative research with schizophrenics underscore the importance of well-characterized, standardized measurement techniques.
b) A new neuropsychological theory is proposed that accounts for many of these effects by assuming that positive affect is associated with increased brain dopamine levels.
c) The theory predicts or accounts for influences of positive effect on olfaction, the consolidation of long-term (i.e., episodic) memories, working memory, and creative problem solving (Ashby, F. Gregory; Isen, Alice M.; Turken, 1999). 2. Positive and negative syndrome scale of schizophrenia (PANSS)
a) The variable results of positive-negative research with schizophrenics underscore the importance of well-characterized, standardized measurement techniques.
b) The development and initial standardization of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) for typological and dimensional assessment.
c) Based on two established psychiatric rating systems, the 30-item PANSS was conceived as an operationalized, drug-sensitive instrument that provides balanced representation of positive and negative symptoms and gauges their relationship to one another and to global psychopathology. 3. Neuropsychological theory for Schizophrenia
a) Dopamine underpins many neural functions, especially processes that relate to motivation, reward, activity, sleep, attention, and learning
b) A diminution in the concentration of dopamine in the prefrontal cortex can impede the distribution of information from other neural regions, ultimately disrupting attention and perhaps underpinning attention deficit disorder.
c) Dopamine might also enhance the capacity of individuals to reject negative thoughts. Specifically, when dopamine levels are limited, activation of brain regions tends to be more diffuse than concentrated (e.g., Bush, 2010). 4. Theory and Predictions
a) The first hypothesis is called the activation sensorimotor hypothesis
b) The second hypothesis is the hedonic argument.
c) The next hypothesis revolves more around learning. 5. Conclusion
a) In carriers of the Met allele, levels of dopamine in the prefrontal cortex tend to be moderate, and these moderate levels of dopamine have been shown to increase activation of D1 receptors and thus enhance fluid intelligence but not flexibility. In carriers of the Val allele, levels of dopamine tend to be low: very low or very high levels increase activation of the D2 receptions and thus enhance flexibility but impair fluid intelligence. 6. References
a) Berridge, K. C. (2007). The debate over dopamine's role in reward: the case for incentive salience. Psychopharmacology, 191, 391-431.
b) Bush, G. (2010). Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and attention networks. Neuropsychopharmacology, 35, 278-300.
c) Durstewitz, D., & Seamans, J. K. (2008). The dual-state theory of prefrontal cortex dopamine function with relevance to catechol-O-methyltransferase genotypes and schizophrenia. Biological Psychiatry, 64, 739-749. doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2008.05.015