Current Topics in Medicinal Chemistry - Volume 12, Issue 21, 2012

Theory of Mind, the ability to understand the potential mental states and intentions of others, represents a relevant aspect of social cognition, with high impact on the capacity to interact within the social world. This very human ability has been one of the focuses of neuroscience research in the past decades and data from neuroimaging studies allowed to identify a Theory of Mind network and to formulate a neurobiological mod Read More

22q11.2 Deletion syndrome (22q11DS) is the most common known recurrent copy-number variant disorder. It is also the most common known genetic risk factor for schizophrenia. The greater homogeneity of subjects with schizophrenia in 22q11DS compared with schizophrenia in the wider non-deleted population may help to identify much needed information on neuroanatomical substrates, and neurochemical and neurofun Read More

Physiological enzymatic cleavage of membrane phospholipids by phospholipase A2 (PLA2) results in normal levels of phosphomonoester and phosphodiester, by which a normal dopamine neurotransmission is maintained. Data from postmortem tissue and in vivo imaging studies suggest that increased activity of intracellular calcium-independent PLA2 (iPLA2) in the brain of schizophrenic patients might accelerate the brea Read More

A large body of neuroimaging literature suggests that distributed regions in the brain form coordinated largescale networks that show reliable patterns of connectivity when observed using either functional or structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) methods. Functional activation within these networks provides a robust and reliable representation of dynamic brain states observed during information processing. On Read More

Schizophrenia is a complex epigenetic puzzle, the antecedents of which are presumed to lie in neurodevelopmental dysmaturation. This dysmaturation has an impact on children and adolescents at genetic risk for schizophrenia. In this framework, normative mechanisms of brain development that are highly dynamic in adolescence are likely to be disrupted in the at-risk adolescent brain. It is likely that what is affec Read More

Aim: In this paper, we provide an update on the conceptual issues of psychiatric neuroimaging, especially in the light of the current reductive claims of the eliminative physicalism. Argument: our argument is developed on three stages. The first is to highlight the crucial importance of phenomenological psychopathology and person-centered approach, which remains underestimated; the second is to bring forward the Read More

Schizophrenia has been historically characterized by the presence of positive symptomatology, however, decades of research highlight the importance of cognitive deficits in this disorder. At present, cognitive impairments remain one of the most important unmet therapeutic needs in schizophrenia. The prefrontal cortex (PFC) controls a large number of higher brain functions altered in a variety of psychiatric disorders, Read More

The advent of molecular neuroimaging has greatly impacted on understanding the neurochemical changes occurring in the CNS from subjects with psychiatric disorders, especially schizophrenia. This review focuses on the outcomes from studies using positron emission tomography and single photon emission computer tomography that have measure levels of neurotransmitter receptors and transporters in the CNS from subje Read More

The tremendous heterogeneity in the clinical symptoms and cognitive/emotional deficits seen in patients with schizophrenia has made it challenging to determine the underlying pathogenesis of the illness. One leading hypothesis that has come to the forefront over the past several decades is that schizophrenia is caused by aberrant connectivity between brain regions. In fact, a new field of connectomics has emerged to study Read More

Schizophrenia has been conceptualized as a disorder of altered brain connectivity (i.e. dysconnectivity). Until relatively recently, it was not feasible to test dysconnectivity hypotheses of schizophrenia in vivo. Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is a powerful tool for mapping functional networks of the brain, such as the default mode network (DMN), and investigating the systems-level pathology of ne Read More

Schizophrenia (SZ) is a severe neuropsychiatric disorder. A leading hypothesis is that SZ is a brain dysconnection syndrome, involving abnormal interactions between widespread brain networks. Resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (R-fMRI) is a powerful tool to explore the dysconnectivity of brain networks in SZ and other disorders. Seed-based functional connectivity analysis, spatial independent componen Read More

Schizophrenia is a major mental illness that is characterized by psychosis, social withdrawal, and cognitive impairment. High comorbidity rates with substance use disorders have consistently been found – especially with abuse of cannabis and psychostimulants. While the role of these drugs in the onset of psychosis and schizophrenia has received much attention, relatively few studies have been conducted on the impact of psy Read More

The hemispheres of the human brain are anatomically and functionally asymmetric. Many cognitive and motor functions such as language and handedness are lateralized. In this review, we discuss the principles of laterality and brain asymmetry in relation to schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is one of the most disabling forms of mental illness. One important challenge is to develop and set up biological markers, which can accur Read More

At the most basic level, the Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation(TMS) is a neuro-scientific tool that exerts its action by influencing the neo-cortical functions. However, in-spite of so many well-evidenced roles of TMS in neuropsychiatric conditions, its exact mechanism of action remains to be known. More intriguing are its therapeutic effects in Schizophrenia at the Cerebral-level. In this review, we adopt a neuro-imaging appro Read More