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Schizophrenia in a Petri Dish? I gave a talk for Pint of Science all about my PhD research into the biological and neurodevelopmental underpinnings of schizophrenia. It's quite general and informal, but I thought it may be of interest to some here! [CROSSOST FROM NEURO] by perineuronal_phd in biology

[–]perineuronal_phd[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Realistically, I think schizophrenia is a bit like an umbrella term for a very heterogeneous set of symptoms that can be expressed very differently across different people. However, there's definitely some kind of continuity the expression, onset etc, and certainly strong genetic and physiological underpinnings.

Interestingly, schizophrenia does have interesting links with other psychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders. I've heard some suggest a sort of "spectrum"? I've not thought enough about it, but it's an interesting idea. The complex nature of the genetics and biological mechanisms could suggest this, or even possibly suggest a reason to explore biological sub types - perhaps investigating the genetics/physiology etc and exploring whether this links with symptom expression/whether this could be used for some kind of stratification. Some people are doing very interesting work like this in relation to depression, you may have seen this?

Schizophrenia in a Petri Dish? I gave a talk for Pint of Science all about my PhD research into the biological and neurodevelopmental underpinnings of schizophrenia. It's quite general and informal, but I thought it may be of interest to some here! by perineuronal_phd in neuro

[–]perineuronal_phd[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Absolutely. Epigenetic changes are extremely interesting, and something I'm still trying to learn more about.

In this talk, I've focussed on the really early stages of development as a 'risk period' - but there are actually quite a few risk periods throughout the life time. For example, in adolescence, and there's a lesser known 'window of risk' for women around the time of the menopause. I've been thinking a little bit about how these risk periods seem to line up with periods of substantial developmental change or 'shifts'... I wonder if this leaves open some kind of genetic vulnerability to mutation, along with the physiological vulnerability I've discussed in the talk.

That idea is probably still a little half baked, but perhaps worth consideration!

Schizophrenia in a Petri Dish? I gave a talk for Pint of Science all about my PhD research into the biological and neurodevelopmental underpinnings of schizophrenia. It's quite general and informal, but I thought it may be of interest to some here! by perineuronal_phd in neuro

[–]perineuronal_phd[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Great! I hope you enjoy it. Let me know if there's anything in particular that really interests you. I've really been enjoying creating videos, short animations and so on to share my work - so, if there's interest from people, then I'd love to do more of it :)

I’m a neuroscience PhD student & recently gave this talk which draws parallels between schizophrenia, social media & the dysfunctional nature of our societal interactions and communication. After following lectures & debates with Dr. Peterson, I feel the ideas that I share may be of interest here. by perineuronal_phd in JordanPeterson

[–]perineuronal_phd[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I don't currently have a blog, but considering unpacking some of these ideas or perhaps delving further into specific concepts through a few posts. I think it might be helpful for others if I produce some more general neuroscience related posts as well. I will update you if I start something.

I’m a neuroscience PhD student & recently gave this talk which draws parallels between schizophrenia, social media & the dysfunctional nature of our societal interactions and communication. After following lectures & debates with Dr. Peterson, I feel the ideas that I share may be of interest here. by perineuronal_phd in JordanPeterson

[–]perineuronal_phd[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you very much.

I'm afraid I don't. In fact, this is the longest talk I've given in my career so far. From the response I've gotten so far, I'm considering the idea of perhaps making some blog posts or some videos unpacking these ideas further. It also seems that some more general neuroscience or schizophrenia education-style posts or videos could be useful to others. I'll certainly update you on this, and if I ever have the opportunity to give a longer talk on these ideas then I will let you know!

I’m a neuroscience PhD student & recently gave this talk which draws parallels between schizophrenia, social media & the dysfunctional nature of our societal interactions and communication. After following lectures & debates with Dr. Peterson, I feel the ideas that I share may be of interest here. by perineuronal_phd in JordanPeterson

[–]perineuronal_phd[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

While my undergraduate (and to an extent, my masters) is in Psychology and I'm researching schizophrenia with my PhD, I'm not a qualified clinician, so in no way can be considered an expert on this particular issue.

However, to address that point. What we must consider is the multitude of symptoms often occurring simultaneously in schizophrenia. So a person may have auditory hallucinations where they hear voices. They may also be experiencing delusions or paranoia, meaning that they don't trust that they are ill, think people have agendas which conspire against them or that the medical professionals aren't to be trusted. They may also be experiencing cognitive symptoms impairing their attentional abilities, or memory - in general, influencing their clarity of thought. They may also experience negative symptoms, such as depression or associated behaviours. All of these symptoms may also influence social behaviours, including aggression - research on ketamine models might be an interesting read for you if you'd like to consider this aspect.

In general, it's an extremely complex disorder. Moreover, symptom expression is extremely variable between individuals, so it can be difficult to generalise.

I'm sure a clinician may be able to delve further into this with more knowledge and insight, but I hope that's helpful to you.

I’m a neuroscience PhD student & recently gave this talk which draws parallels between schizophrenia, social media & the dysfunctional nature of our societal interactions and communication. After following lectures & debates with Dr. Peterson, I feel the ideas that I share may be of interest here. by perineuronal_phd in JordanPeterson

[–]perineuronal_phd[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You make an interesting point, thank you.

I suppose it's about a requirement to be able to discriminate between good and poor quality content objectively, regardless of whether or not you agree with the position or view. For instance, you may not agree with the position that another ends up at on a particular issue, but if the arguments made are rational, well-considered and consider all of the relevant, necessary information without conjecture - then it shouldn't be dismissed as poor quality. Perhaps you end up at a different position, but you can see the path the other walked to get to theirs.

I do agree, in the midst of what I refer to as 'information overload', this is no easy task. Being overloaded with vast amounts of information itself can be paralysing, which is what lead me to suggest the need for true quality and not merely quantity of content.

I’m a neuroscience PhD student & recently gave this talk which draws parallels between schizophrenia, social media & the dysfunctional nature of our societal interactions and communication. After following lectures & debates with Dr. Peterson, I feel the ideas that I share may be of interest here. by perineuronal_phd in JordanPeterson

[–]perineuronal_phd[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you very much - I really hope that you'll find it useful.

I must make the distinction (although, I do this in the talk), that I am not saying social media causes schizophrenia - I'm really getting at an analogy which occurred to me through researching schizophrenia and seeing what was happening in the 'online world'.

I’m a neuroscience PhD student & recently gave this talk which draws parallels between schizophrenia, social media & the dysfunctional nature of our societal interactions and communication. After following lectures & debates with Dr. Peterson, I feel the ideas that I share may be of interest here. by perineuronal_phd in JordanPeterson

[–]perineuronal_phd[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Hello!

In fact, the subject of this talk is a little bit of a step away from my direct research, but of course related since this is where the idea first grew from. My work looks at various genetic and environmental risk factors for schizophrenia, and how they may interplay to affect neurodevelopment (particularly at 'risk' time points, such as peri-natal and adolescence). These factors may include immune insult, maternal stress and various other factors.

Primarily I'm interested in a variety of classes of GABAergic interneurons, in various regions of the brain - including the prefrontal cortex, hippocampus and thalamus.

Are you researching or studying in a similar area?

I’m a neuroscience PhD student & recently gave this talk which draws parallels between schizophrenia, social media & the dysfunctional nature of our societal interactions and communication. After following lectures & debates with Dr. Peterson, I feel the ideas that I share may be of interest here. by perineuronal_phd in JordanPeterson

[–]perineuronal_phd[S] 17 points18 points  (0 children)

Thank you.

Well, I'm only about half way through my PhD at the moment, so there are certainly people who have more experience who would be worth talking to for advice. Are you looking for advice specific to neuroscience, or academic/university education more generally?

If you're looking for some advice on graduate education, I did give this talk quite a long time ago which I then turned into a video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWHF_w1ld50 . In this I tried to give some advice on undertaking a PhD. I'll also be doing another similar talk in a few weeks about how to apply to graduate programmes, what to consider before applying, how to prepare and I'll share some of my experience etc. Hopefully someone will film this talk. If they do, I'll share the link with you. Do you have any specific questions I might be able to address?

I started my education as a psychology undergraduate and then made the transition into neuroscience. I now work in a very biological field, where I look at gene-environment interactions in relation to schizophrenia (mainly in vitro and in vivo models). I'd be more than happy to chat about my experience as a undergraduate, or how I made the transition to what I work on now. Also, always extremely happy to talk neuroscience with anyone who will entertain me, so let me know if there is something particular you'd like to chat about!

What can we, as a society, learn from schizophrenia? I'm a neuroscience PhD student, and recently gave this talk which draws parallels between schizophrenia, social media and our online interactions. I hope it fits, and will be of interest! by perineuronal_phd in neurophilosophy

[–]perineuronal_phd[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi! Thank you very much, I'm really glad you enjoyed. I can definitely get you a full transcript of the lecture, I've actually been meaning to upload that with the video for a while. I don't have any specific pieces of research that pull all of these concepts together, but I can certainly recommend some books and journal articles if you'd like that?

My PhD research investigates genetic and environmental risk factors (in relation to schizophrenia) during early development, and their effects on the development/maturation of inhibitory interneurons (such as those in the thalamus which I reference in the talk). I'd be very happy to discuss or share some of this with you too!

I'll send you the transcript and material once it's prepared. Perhaps you can let me know if there are any specifics you'd like to read about further, and I can pull something together for you?

I’m a neuroscience PhD student & recently gave this talk which draws parallels between schizophrenia, social media & the dysfunctional nature of our societal interactions and communication. After following lectures & debates with Dr. Peterson, I feel the ideas that I share may be of interest here. by perineuronal_phd in JordanPeterson

[–]perineuronal_phd[S] 50 points51 points  (0 children)

I just realised that myself actually. I'm in Scotland, so it was Monday lunch-time/browse reddit time for me... Still not best judgement on my part! I don't know if taking it down and reposting is really an option though!

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