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Obsessive Compulsive Disorder or OCD is a psychiatric disorder marked by decreased serotonin neurotransmitter and issues at the level of the basal ganglia, which leads to repetitive behaviors and ruminations. OCD can affect your mood, memory and more. It is characterized by obsessions and compulsions, which are the defining features of this disorder. It is technically an anxiety disorder, with the compulsions acting as a means to lessen obsessions. It tends to have a bimodal distribution with an early peak during young adult hood (23 years) and another at the level of childhood (11 years):

1. Obsessions: Unwanted, intrusive, and recurring thoughts, urges, or images that cause intense distress.

2. Anxiety: The obsession triggers extreme fear, doubt, or unease.

3. Compulsion: Repetitive behaviors or mental acts the person feels driven to perform to reduce the anxiety or prevent a feared event.

4. Temporary Relief: The compulsion temporarily relieves the anxiety, but the obsession eventually returns, restarting the cycle.

Treatment: High dose Serotonin Re-uptake inhibitors and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Video 1. Human brain anatomy; Lateral; Sulci and Gyri

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General:
Schizophrenia is a serious mental illness characterized by at least 6 months of psychosis (break from reality). It is a very interesting disorder that is thought to arise from excess dopamine (DA) in key brain regions. Schizophrenia is also characterized by decreases in grey matter, the area of your cerebrum where there are cortical neurons. Schizophrenia is a complex disorder that has a multifactorial etiology; this just means that there are many different things are thought to contribute to the disease progression. These “things” include neurotransmitter imbalance, such as the abhorrently increased dopamine, decreased cortical thickness, and other neurological differences in the brain of a person with schizophrenia.

Clinical signs and symptoms:
These can be divided into positive and negative symptoms. Positive symptoms include symptoms that are “added,” such as hallucinations, delusions while negative symptoms are “removed.” Individual must experience at least 2 of these 5 symptoms":

Positive symptoms:
Delusions: Fixed, false beliefs that are not rooted in reality (e.g., believing you are being persecuted).

Hallucinations: Sensing things that are not there, most commonly auditory hallucinations like hearing voices.

Disorganized speech: Incoherent or disjointed speech patterns, such as frequent derailment or “word salad”.

Grossly disorganized or catatonic behavior: Unpredictable, bizarre, or completely unresponsive physical movements and actions.

Negative symptoms: Diminished emotional expression (flat affect) or a severe lack of motivation (avolition)

Schizophrenia affects about 1% of people world-wide. It is a common cause of disability in the US. People who have schizophrenic relatives have been found to be of higher intelligence, creativity and divergent thinking [1]. There is much that is still unknown.

Treatment:
Anti-psychotics - first generation (haldol) vs. atypical anti-psychotics (second generation: olanzapine)

1. Kaufman SB, Paul ES. Creativity and schizophrenia spectrum disorders across the arts and sciences. Front Psychol. 2014 Nov 3;5:1145. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01145. PMID: 25404921; PMCID: PMC4217346.

Figure 1: The Neuron

A neuron is a type of cell that is predominate in our central nervous system or CNS. This cell is mostly found in our brains. This is the smallest living unit of life in other words. Neurons work together to form a plastic network in our brains and spinal cords. These cells “fire” action potentials and are able to communicate very well with other neurons as well as several other cell types.

As you can see from the figure 1, the basic components of a neuron are the cell body, which is where most of the organelles, or tiny organs, inhabit, the axon, which is the long part of the neuron and is useful in propagating the action potential wave, as well as getting information across from the cell soma (or cell body) to the axon terminal, where it can then “release” this information onto the next neuron. The information is received by the dendrites of the cell, which are the tiny projections that are able to interpret the chemical neurotransmitters which bind to tiny receptors on the dendrites.

This is all the most basic information regarding neurons.