Schizophrenia News and Research

Latest Schizophrenia News and Research

Resistant schizophrenia associated with low IQ and family history

According to a new study published on November 12, 2019, in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, individuals with schizophrenia resistant to treatment are more likely to have a family history and a lower IQ compared to other schizophrenic patients. This finding could help design more effective therapies for this subgroup of patients, as for instance, drugs that improve mental processes.

12 Nov 2019

Chronic psychosocial adversity impairs dopamine production

People exposed to a lifetime of psychosocial adversity may have an impaired ability to produce the dopamine levels needed for coping with acutely stressful situations.

12 Nov 2019

Collaborative study shows sex-specific processes in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder

Recent studies have found a high genetic similarity of the psychiatric diseases schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, whose disease-specific changes in brain cells show an overlap of more than 70 percent.

12 Nov 2019

Polygenic risk score improves psychosis risk prediction, study finds

A new study led by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has found that that using a polygenic risk score based on data from genome-wide association studies improves psychosis risk prediction in persons meeting clinical high-risk criteria.

12 Nov 2019

Smoking causes… schizophrenia?

Yes, we all know smoking is the cause of lung cancer, throat cancer and many other deadly conditions, but it turns out that smoking also puts a person at risk of depression and schizophrenia as well, according to a new study published in the journal Psychological Medicine on November 6, 2019.

7 Nov 2019

For young people with psychosis, early intervention is crucial

Andrew Echeguren, 26, had his first psychotic episode when he was 15. He was working as an assistant coach at a summer soccer camp for kids when the lyrics coming out of his iPod suddenly morphed into racist and homophobic slurs, telling him to harm others — and himself.

6 Nov 2019

Continuity of care can improve health outcomes for patients with severe mental illness

The chances of a patient with a serious mental illness ending up in hospital because of their condition are reduced by almost 40 per cent if they have a care plan, according to the research.

4 Nov 2019

Study uncovers cause for spatial-memory deficits in people with Down syndrome

Professor Juan Lerma's group, from the UMH-CSIC Institute of Neurosciences, in Alicante, has identified the gene called GRIK1, fundamental in the balance between excitation and inhibition in the brain, as one of the causes for people with Down syndrome having spatial orientation problems.

1 Nov 2019

Study shows how infections during pregnancy are linked to psychiatric disorders

The mother's health is very important for the fetus's brain development during pregnancy. Many factors play key roles for healthy brain development, including nutrition, stress, hormonal balance and the mother's immune system.

30 Oct 2019

Discovery of causal link between hydrogen sulfide and schizophrenia

Researchers from the RIKEN Center for Brain Science in Japan have found certain chemical markers that are associated with schizophrenia. They worked with lab mice with models of schizophrenia as well as post mortem brain specimens of persons with schizophrenia. The study titled, “Excess hydrogen sulfide and polysulfides production underlies a schizophrenia pathophysiology,” was published in the latest issue of the journal EMBO Molecular Medicine.

28 Oct 2019

MPST enzyme levels in hair could be a good biomarker for schizophrenia

Working with model mice, post-mortem human brains, and people with schizophrenia, researchers at the RIKEN Center for Brain Science in Japan have discovered that a subtype of schizophrenia is related to abnormally high levels hydrogen sulfide in the brain.

28 Oct 2019

How the SETD1A gene produces schizophrenia in mice

A new study published in the journal Neuron on October 9, 2019 reports that scientists have unlocked part of the secrets of the SETD1A gene – how mutations in the gene put the individual at risk for the condition.

26 Oct 2019

Socially housed and isolated mice may be poor research models for humans

Animal models can serve as gateways for understanding many human communication disorders. Insights into the genetic paths possibly responsible for conditions such as autism and schizophrenia often begin by studying acoustic behavior in mice.

25 Oct 2019

Unhealthy gut microbiome reduces brain synaptic pruning, impairs learning

A new study by Weill Cornell Medicine and Cornell University has come up with more explanations of how gut microbes communicate with the brain neurons. The study, published in the journal Nature on October 23, 2019, examined the brains of mouse models and found that when the gut microbiome is significantly reduced, there are changes in gene expression in the brain’s microglial cells.

24 Oct 2019

Gene linked to schizophrenia likely confers risk for illness

Researchers have discovered in mice how one of the few genes definitively linked to schizophrenia, called SETD1A, likely confers risk for the illness. Mice genetically engineered to lack a functioning version of the enzyme-coding gene showed abnormalities in working memory, mimicking those commonly seen in schizophrenia patients.

24 Oct 2019

Study seeks participants with VCFS-related psychosis to help create biobank of cerebral organoids

A landmark study is calling for at least 50 people in the U.S. with Velo-Cardio-Facial Syndrome (VCFS)-related psychosis to provide blood samples to create the world’s largest VCFS biobank to date of tiny spheres of neural tissue called "cerebral organoids."

24 Oct 2019

Young mothers more likely to have children with ADHD

Young mothers have a greater chance of having a child with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder according to new research from the University of South Australia.

24 Oct 2019

Molecular processes underlying communication between gut microbes and brain cells revealed

New cellular and molecular processes underlying communication between gut microbes and brain cells have been described for the first time by scientists at Weill Cornell Medicine and Cornell's Ithaca campus.

23 Oct 2019

New NPO formed to accelerate development of therapies for Shankopathies

Parents of children affected by Phelan-McDermid syndrome (PMS) announce the formation of CureSHANK, a nonprofit organization on a mission to accelerate drug development in PMS and other diseases related to the SHANK genes for which there are currently no FDA approved treatments.

23 Oct 2019

MIT neuroscientists find a way to reverse noise hypersensitivity in mice

People with autism often experience hypersensitivity to noise and other sensory input. MIT neuroscientists have now identified two brain circuits that help tune out distracting sensory information, and they have found a way to reverse noise hypersensitivity in mice by boosting the activity of those circuits.

23 Oct 2019