NEUROMODULATION, TOPOGRAPHY &SYMPTOMS IN SCHIZOPHRENIA

University Of Pittsburgh At Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh PA

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Linked publications & trials

Abstract

DESCRIPTION (Adapted from applicant's abstract): The focus of this Mentored Clinical Scientist Development Award is training in the use of the tools and constructs of Cognitive Neuroscience to investigate the pathophysiological processes underlying schizophrenia. The candidate is a psychiatrist who has had limited training in cognitive neuroscience and in positron emission tomography (PET). The educational goals of this application are to consolidate the candidates' expertise in cognitive science through formal graduate level course work, and to develop skills in functional neuroimaging through a mentored program of research. The research plan proposes a series of (15-O)-H2O PET studies of normals schizophrenia patients using tasks designed to produce focal activation in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), the medial frontal cortex and anterior cingulate gyrus (ACG), and the superior temporal gyrus (STG). These studies test the hypothesis that there is physiological dysfunction in each of these three cortical regions in schizophrenia. All patients will undergo careful clinical assessment in order to test a secondary hypothesis which addresses the clinical significance of this finding. Specifically, it is hypothesized that cortical dysfunction is related to many of the behavioral abnormalities seen in schizophrenia and that differences in the relative involvement of the above three cortical regions may account for a significant degree of the clinical variability which characterized this illness.