Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder causing individuals to lose touch with reality. It is often diagnosed in men and women in their 20s (Schizophrenia, 2020). There are three main categories of symptoms: psychotic, negative, and cognitive. Psychotic symptoms are often changes in the way individuals think and experience reality, negative symptoms are associated with loss of motivation, and cognitive symptoms are problems in concentration and attention. Current treatments include antipsychotic medications which make psychotic symptoms occur less frequently, psychosocial treatments such as cognitive behavioral therapy and training, and coordinated specialty care which are recovery focused programs for those in the early stages of schizophrenia (Causes-Schizophrenia, 2023).
The exact cause of schizophrenia is not fully known but genetics and differences in brain development are often considered factors to developing schizophrenia. Studies have shown that those who have schizophrenia often have an abnormally active prefrontal cortex and interneurons (connectors of neuron circuits) stop functioning properly; they stop inhibiting the neural groups and circuits that they control, leading to disregulated neural activity. In addition, scans have shown that those diagnosed with schizophrenia often have differences in structures in their brains that affect the language processing system (DeLisi, 2006).
Although there are many treatments, there is no exact cure of schizophrenia. Oftentimes, treatments allow individuals to completely recover from schizophrenia but they may also relapse, showing that these treatments are not cures. Researchers believe that the best course of action here is just to advance treatments. A new potential treatment approach has been discovered by the Warren Center for Neuroscience Drug Discovery. This new research has identified a protein in the central nervous system, mGlu1, that increases activities of certain interneurons, promoting the inhibition of those neural circuits, and therefore restoration and regulation of neural activity (Bindeman, 2021).
Another approach that is being explored is a new combination drug, KarXT. This drug has been developed by a biotechnology company, Karuna Therapeutics. It combines the drugs xanomeline and trospium chloride in order to reduce psychosis. Through testing, xanomeline has been proved to reduce hallucinations and delusions. However, xanomeline can cause excessive muscarinic receptor activation which can cause increased blood pressure and heartrate. To combat these negative side effects, researchers added trospium chloride to this drug (A New Approach for Treating Schizophrenia, 2022).
Researching treatments and cures for schizophrenia matters because schizophrenia is a really important societal concern. Researchers hope to create treatments that will allow diagnosed patients to recontribute to society and eventually experience reality the way those with neurotypical brains can (Bindeman, 2021).
By Devangi Rathi