Schizophrenia and Recent Research - Essay Example

05 June 2006 Schizophrenia and Recent Research Schizophrenia is a severe and chronically disabling brain disease and effects approximately one percent of the world's population. The actual definition of schizophrenia means "split mind", but should not be confused with such indistinct terms as "split" (multiple) personalities. Schizophrenia is being slowly attributed to combinations of both genetic and environmental factors that can cause what is commonly defined as a psychosis that disrupts and causes severe mental interruptions such as normal thoughts, speech and behaviour.

SymptomsThere are three main categories, according to the NARSAD organisation, that "schizophrenic symptoms fall under:Positive symptoms: which are unusual thoughts or perceptions that include hallucinations (disturbances of sensory perception), delusions (false beliefs) and thought disorderNegative symptoms: which represent a loss or a decrease in the ability to initiate plans, speak, express emotion, or find pleasure in everyday life. These symptoms are harder to recognise as part of the disorder and can be mistaken for laziness or depressionCognitive symptoms (or cognitive deficits): which are problems with attention, certain types of memory, and the executive functions that allow us to plan and organise.

Cognitive deficits can also be difficult to recognise as part of the disorder but are the most disabling in terms of leading a normal life" (NARSAD, 2006)Recent Research FindingsIt has been reported that "psychiatric researchers at The Zucker Hillside Hospital campus of The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, including NARSAD-supported and affiliated scientists, have uncovered evidence of a gene that appears to influence intelligence" (NARSAD, 2006). This discovery means that the genes that are associated with the cognitive impairment caused by schizophrenic sufferers, has been mapped to the "dysbindin-1 gene (DTNBP1)" (NARSAD, 2006). Dr. Katherine Burdick will be reporting in the May 15 print issue of Human Molecular Genetics, that "a robust body of evidence suggests that cognitive abilities, particularly intelligence, are significantly influenced by genetic factors.

Existing data already suggests that dysbindin may influence cognition" (Burdick, 2006).There is also evidence found by Lipska, Law, Weinberger, Kleinman, (2006) in two papers published showing that "previous genetic studies have identified two genes as schizophrenia risk genes-Disrupted-in-Schizophrenia 1 (DISC1) and neuregulin 1-but the way in which they work has been unclear. DISC1 is important for brain development, particularly, the development of the limbic system, the brain's memory and emotion hub.

Neuregulin 1 controls the construction and wiring of the brain during development, communication between nerve cells, and adaptations to new situations" (NARSAD, 2006). This research means that those patients with an increase in neuregulin 1 would find an altered affect on the brain's signalling, which affects the brain's development and plasticity.Works CitedBurdick KE, Lencz T, Funke B, Finn CT, Szeszko PR, Kane JM, Kucherlapati R, Malhotra AK. Genetic variation in DTNBP1 influences general cognitive ability.

Hum Mol Genet. 2006 May 15;15(10):1563-68. Epub 2006 Jan 13Law AJ, Lipska BK, Weickert CS, Hyde TM, Straub RE, Hashimoto R, Harrison PJ, Kleinman, JE, Weinberger DR. Neuregulin 1 (NRG1) transcripts are differentially expressed in schizophrenia and regulated by 5' SNPs associated with the disease. PNAS. 2006 Apr 25;103(17):6747-6752Lipska BK, Peters Tricia, Hyde TM, Halim N, Horowitz C, Mitkus S, Weickert CS, Matsumoto M, Sawa A, Straub R, Vakkalanka R, Herman MM, Weinberger DR, Kleinman JE. Expression of DISC1 binding partners is reduced in schizophrenia and associated with DISC1 SNPs.

Hum Mol Genet. 2006 Apr 15;15(8):1245-58NARSAD. http://www.narsad.org/dc/schizophrenia/index.html