schizophrenia
NIH scientists have shown that a common gene variant influences memory for events in humans by altering a growth factor in the brain's memory hub. On average, people with a particular version of the gene that codes for brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) performed worse on tests of episodic memory ? tasks like recalling what happened yesterday. They also showed differences in activation of the hippocampus, a brain area known to mediate memory, and signs of decreased neuronal health and interconnections. These effects are likely traceable to limited movement and secretion of BDNF within cells, according to the study, which reveals how a gene affects the normal range of human memory, and confirms that BDNF affects human hippocampal function much as it does animals'.
Smokers diagnosed with schizophrenia had higher smoking cessation rates when treated with bupropion than with a placebo, according to a study led by Dr. Tony George at Yale University. Bupropion is a medication used to help people quit smoking and to treat depression. Researchers randomly assigned 32 schizophrenic cigarette smokers, who were clinically stable on antipsychotic medications and with a strong desire to quit smoking, to receive bupropion or placebo for 10 weeks. During the study, participants were periodically evaluated for smoking urges, depression, and symptoms of schizophrenia. They also attended weekly smoking cessation group therapy that included motivational enhancement therapy, social skills training, and relapse-prevention strategies.
UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute researchers have identified 10 key factors to recovery from schizophrenia. The findings open opportunities to develop new treatment and rehabilitation programs and to reshape the negative expectations of many doctors, patients and their families. Based on analyses of the professional literature and the cases of 23 schizophrenia patients who successfully returned to work or school with their symptoms under control, the findings appear in the November 2002 edition of the International Review of Psychiatry.
Scientists have discovered that infants possessing a cell protein called Rhesus (Rh) factor that their mothers lack are twice as likely to develop schizophrenia in young adulthood. Reported in the December issue of the peer-reviewed American Journal of Human Genetics, the study suggests that the gene that codes for Rh factor is to blame for the higher risk. "Previous studies reported a link between mothers and infants who are Rh-incompatible and a higher rate of schizophrenia in the children later in life," said Dr. Christina Palmer, a research scientist at the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute. "Our research is the first to take a genetic approach to examining this increased risk."
Scientists have discovered the first "risk gene" for schizophrenia found in the general population. An uncommon variation of a gene called Nogo, when inherited from both parents, increases the risk of developing schizophrenia, says a study to be published in Molecular Brain Research. Previous findings about other risk genes for the disease were restricted to specific ethnic groups. "Finding a risk gene in the general population - the first finding of this type internationally - opens the door to discovering new and related risk genes," says one of the study's authors. "Now scientists will know where to look for related genes.... This will help in diagnosis and potentially in the design of new medications for treatment of this terrible disease."
As is people with schizophrenia didn't have enough to worry about a new study finds that schizophrenic patients who take antipsychotic drugs are more likely to have experienced cardiac arrest or ventricular arrhythmia than non-schizophrenic patients. While previous research has linked several of these drugs to irregular electrocardiogram results, the researchers used billing data to uncover a link between the drugs and cardiac arrest.
Brain images from hundreds of people with schizophrenia at 10 research sites nationwide will be shared in a first-of-its-kind research project funded by the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR), a branch of the National Institutes of Health. The project will create an extensive database of brain information that it is hoped will expand understanding of disabling brain illnesses such as schizophrenia and speed the development of new treatments.
Researchers have discovered a communication link between proteins in the brain that could lead to improved treatments for psychiatric disorders and stroke. The discovery could create the possibility that new antipsychotic medication could be designed to modify the interaction related to cell-to-cell communication to prevent abnormal activity and cell death.
