Schizophrenia News and Research

Latest Schizophrenia News and Research

Reviva announces successful completion of End-of-Phase 2 meeting for RP5063 drug

Reviva Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a privately held pharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of new, safer and highly effective therapies for chronic indications, announced today the successful completion of an End-of-Phase 2 meeting with the Food and Drug Administration for its lead, new investigational antipsychotic drug, RP5063.

5 Nov 2013

Offspring born to stressed mothers show stress-induced changes

Children of survivors of extremely stressful life events face adjustment challenges of their own, as has been most carefully studied among the children of Nazi Death Camp survivors. This "intergenerational" transmission of stress response has been studied predominately from the psychological perspective. However, recent research points to biological contributions as well.

5 Nov 2013

Janssen Pharmaceuticals to pay over $1.6 billion in drug misbranding case

On behalf of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the U.S. Department of Justice today announced a guilty plea agreement with Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc., of Titusville, N.J., and a $400 million criminal fine for introducing a misbranded drug, Risperdal (risperidone), into interstate commerce.

5 Nov 2013

GeNeuro's GNbAC1 antibody demonstrates safety profile in Phase 2a study for MS

GeNeuro announced today that its GNbAC1 humanized monoclonal antibody was found to have a very good safety profile when administered to patients with relapsing and progressive forms of Multiple Sclerosis as part of a Phase 2a study.

4 Nov 2013

Scientists find surprising degree of variation among genomes of individual neurons

It was once thought that each cell in a person's body possesses the same DNA code and that the particular way the genome is read imparts cell function and defines the individual. For many cell types in our bodies, however, that is an oversimplification.

4 Nov 2013

Self-harm warns of repeated suicide attempt risk in schizophrenia

Individuals who have attempted suicide and also have a history of self-harm should be thoroughly assessed for psychotic symptoms in order to prevent delayed treatment and the risk for repeated suicide attempts, say researchers.

31 Oct 2013

Large, rare CNV burden reduced in bipolar disorder

Large and rare chromosomal copy number variants are uncommon in patients with bipolar disorder, even those with early-onset disease, study findings confirm.

31 Oct 2013

Alkermes reports 38% of year-over-year revenue growth from key products

Alkermes plc today reported financial results for the quarter ended Sept. 30, 2013. This is the second quarter of the nine-month period ending Dec. 31, 2013, as the company transitions to reporting on a calendar year basis.

31 Oct 2013

Left-handers more likely to suffer from psychotic disorders

Researchers have long studied the connections between hand dominance and different aspects of the human brain. A new study out today in SAGE Open finds that among those with mental illnesses, left-handers are more likely to suffer from psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia than mood disorders.

31 Oct 2013

Rat study shows compulsive gambling behaviours can be reduced in humans

With the help of a rat casino, University of British Columbia brain researchers have successfully reduced behaviours in rats that are commonly associated with compulsive gambling in humans.

31 Oct 2013

Mood instability shapes psychotic experiences

Mood instability is a prominent feature of psychosis, say researchers who found it was associated with and predicted the presence of psychotic experiences such as paranoid ideation and auditory hallucinations.

30 Oct 2013

Brain aging extends beyond schizophrenia

Accelerated brain aging may be a common feature of psychiatric disorders, say researchers.

30 Oct 2013

Video gaming increases spatial orientation, memory formation and motor skills

Video gaming causes increases in the brain regions responsible for spatial orientation, memory formation and strategic planning as well as fine motor skills.

30 Oct 2013

Psychosis prediction model could facilitate early intervention

A integrated model has shown “outstanding” ability to predict the transition to psychosis in clinically high-risk patients, report investigators in Schizophrenia Bulletin.

25 Oct 2013

Viewpoints: Republicans new-found interest in the workings of the health website; fixing the problem crucial to Obama's presidency

Republicans are apoplectic about Healthcare.gov, the official Web site for the Affordable Care Act. They are trying desperately to change the subject from their disastrous government shutdown by ranting about the failures of a government Web site that cost a tiny fraction of what was lost as a result of the shutdown. Republicans are pretending that they care about the problems encountered in signing up for a system that many of them are bent on destroying (Charles M. Blow, 10/23).

25 Oct 2013

Research unlocks secrets of mouse behavior to help identify promising psychiatric drugs

Developing psychiatric medications is a long and complex process. Candidate drugs are evaluated and assessed based on their effects on the behavior of animals, usually rats or mice. Each class of drugs, from antidepressants to antipsychotics, is tested differently - often in a labor-intensive process that leaves plenty of room for human error. And there is a growing consensus that current procedures fail to effectively produce new medications.

25 Oct 2013

Autoimmune link to schizophrenia

Patients with schizophrenia have an increased risk for developing autoimmune diseases, especially if they contract an infection, shows a registry-based study.

24 Oct 2013

Specific antibody patterns predict schizophrenia risk

The presence of antibodies to multiple foods and infectious agents is a risk marker for new-onset schizophrenia, a case-control study suggests.

23 Oct 2013

Scientists to converge at nation's first conference on computational psychiatry

More than 70 scientists from around the world and from a range of intellectual traditions will convene in Miami this week for what is believed to be the nation's first conference on computational psychiatry, an emerging field in neuroscience.

23 Oct 2013

Study identifies new genes involved in autism

A scientific study published on the journal Molecular Psychiatry identifies new genes involved in autism, a polygenic disorder that is difficult to diagnose and treat. Autism spectrum disorders represent a group of neurodevelopmental disorders which affect one out of 80-100 children.

23 Oct 2013