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Are we studying and treating schizophrenia correctly?
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  21645998     Owner:  NLM     Status:  Publisher    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
New findings are rapidly revealing an increasingly detailed image of neural- and molecular-level dysfunction in schizophrenia, distributed throughout interconnected cortico-striato-pallido-thalamic circuitry. Some disturbances appear to reflect failures of early brain maturation, that become codified into dysfunctional circuit properties, resulting in a substantial loss of, or failure to develop, both cells and/or appropriate connectivity across widely dispersed brain regions. These circuit disturbances are variable across individuals with schizophrenia, perhaps reflecting the interaction of multiple different risk genes and epigenetic events. Given these complex and variable hard-wired circuit disturbances, it is worth considering how new and emerging findings can be integrated into actionable treatment models. This paper suggests that future efforts towards developing more effective therapeutic approaches for the schizophrenias should diverge from prevailing models in genetics and molecular neuroscience, and focus instead on a more practical three-part treatment strategy: 1) systematic rehabilitative psychotherapies designed to engage healthy neural systems to compensate for and replace dysfunctional higher circuit elements, used in concert with 2) medications that specifically target cognitive mechanisms engaged by these rehabilitative psychotherapies, and 3) antipsychotic medications that target nodal or convergent circuit points within the limbic-motor interface, to constrain the scope and severity of psychotic exacerbations and thereby facilitate engagement in cognitive rehabilitation. The use of targeted cognitive rehabilitative psychotherapy plus synergistic medication has both common sense and time-tested efficacy with numerous other neuropsychiatric disorders.
Authors:
Neal R Swerdlow
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Publication Detail:
Type:  JOURNAL ARTICLE     Date:  2011-6-4
Journal Detail:
Title:  Schizophrenia research     Volume:  -     ISSN:  1573-2509     ISO Abbreviation:  -     Publication Date:  2011 Jun 
Date Detail:
Created Date:  2011-6-7     Completed Date:  -     Revised Date:  -    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  8804207     Medline TA:  Schizophr Res     Country:  -    
Other Details:
Languages:  ENG     Pagination:  -     Citation Subset:  -    
Copyright Information:
Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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