Schizophrenia

Interested in learning about Schizophrenia?

Schizophrenia is characterized by distortions in thinking, perception, emotions, language, sense of self and behavior. Worldwide, schizophrenia is associated with considerable disability and may affect educational and occupational performance.

Schizophrenia is treatable. Treatment with medicines and psychosocial support is effective. When selecting treatments for schizophrenia, physicians have to consider many variables, including the patient’s health and lifestyle, co-prescribed medications and previously experienced adverse events. 

Get an introduction to schizophrenia or dive into details on the subject by going through our slide decks. In each slide deck, you will encounter an introductory overview of the subject and gain insights into fundamental concepts of schizophrenia. Our slide decks encompass a range of topics, including the broad range of symptoms in schizophrenia, the emotional and practical burdens of schizophrenia on families, and the adherence to antipsychotic therapy in schizophrenia.

Neurobiology and Aetiology

This slide deck presents an introduction to neuroanatomy, the key components of neurosynaptic transmission, neurotransmitters and the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. Go to the slide deck.

Definitions and Diagnosis

People with schizophrenia commonly experience hallucinations and delusions. In this slide deck, basic concepts and definitions related to schizophrenia are explored. Go to the slide deck.

Treatment Principles

This slide deck covers the progression of schizophrenia and functional decline. You will gain insight into treatment principles, the impact of adverse events on patients and the importance of early intervention for patients with schizophrenia. Go to the slide deck.

Epidemiology and Burden

This slide deck explores the epidemiology and burden of schizophrenia and includes illustrations of the economic burden of the illness. Go to the slide deck.

Course, Natural History and Prognosis

Schizophrenia is a progressive and recurring disease characterized by multiple psychotic relapses. This slide deck covers the course, natural history and prognosis of schizophrenia. Go to the slide deck.

Comorbidity

Psychiatric and somatic comorbidities, elevated mortality and patient quality of life are discussed in this slide deck, which also includes slides discussing the key features of the illness. Go to the slide deck.

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A working knowledge of the normal structure and function of the nervous system is key to understanding psychiatric disorders like schizophrenia. This slide deck presents an introduction to neuroanatomy, the key components of neurosynaptic transmission, neurotransmitters and the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. Last, it includes a discussion of some underlying causes of schizophrenia, such as genetic and environmental factors.

This slide deck has been developed in collaboration with the former Lundbeck International Neuroscience Foundation.

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Selected articles on Schizophrenia

Explore articles on schizophrenia, a global concern affecting over 20 million individuals, leading to substantial psychosocial impairments. Discover insights on biomarkers for prevention and treatment, the hypothesis of pathological aging in schizophrenia, and the enhanced quality of life for first episode psychosis patients through evidence-based psychosocial and pharmacological interventions.

A roadmap to bring neuroimaging biomarkers for schizophrenia to the clinic

Clinicians need reliable and valid biomarkers to prevent and treat illnesses effectively. This has been challenging within psychiatry. However, today’s neuroimaging tools have significantly progressed the development of clinically applicable biomarkers. Based on a body of literature on striatal function and treatment response, multiple neuroimaging prognostic biomarkers have been developed, of which two seem to have the most data for internal and external validation. This is a promising development towards the goal of developing biomarkers that inform individual treatment choices in schizophrenia.

Novel and Emerging Pharmacologic Treatments for Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia has been treated for more than 70 years with dopamine receptor antagonists or partial agonists, whose efficacy is thought to be related to a reduction of postsynaptic dopamine transmission. These so-called first- and second-generation ”antipsychotics” have been foundational for the management of schizophrenia and psychosis in general, but treatment gaps remain. These include insufficient efficacy for residual/resistant positive symptoms, negative symptoms and cognitive dysfunction, tolerability issues, and low rates of functional recovery. Several new treatments not targeting dopamine receptors directly have been superior to placebo for total, negative, and cognitive symptoms of schizophrenia. This article reviews these novel pharmacologic agents, summarizing their proposed mechanism of action (MOA) and currently available clinical data, putting these developments into the context of treatment gaps, clinical trial methodology, and required further real-world evaluation.

Inflammation, Accelerated Aging and Structural Brain Changes in Schizophrenia

Growing evidence supports the hypothesis that people with schizophrenia experience pathological aging. This may be reflected in reduced telomere length, perhaps as a result of chronic inflammatory processes. The features of schizophrenia differ, and research into brain structure suggests that abnormal neurodevelopment and degeneration are reflected in diverse patterns of intellectual and cognitive deficit. Premature aging might also contribute to the increased prevalence of comorbidities and shorter life expectancy associated with the disorder.

Images to download and use

Access images for use on Schizophrenia, including illustrations encompassing various aspects such as an overview of the global impact of schizophrenia, stages of biomarker discovery from target identification to clinical benefit verification, and exemplars of clinically valuable biomarkers in medical practice.

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The global impact of schizophrenia

This infographic provides a visual, at-a-glance overview of the global impact of schizophrenia.

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Gain an understanding of the pathology of schizophrenia with one of our videos

3D brain atlas

Some areas of the brain seem to be related to the positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia.^{[Owen et al. (2016),Stahl, S. M. (2013)]}

• The positive symptoms of schizophrenia are thought to be caused by an excess of dopamine within the pathway of the brain that projects from the ventral tegmental area in the brain stem to the nucleus accumbens in the ventral striatum.^{[Owen et al. (2016),Stahl, S. M. (2013)]}
• Schizophrenia’s cognitive and certain negative symptoms may result from reduced dopamine activity in mesocortical projections to the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, while affective and other negative symptoms may stem from deficits in projections to the ventromedial prefrontal cortex.^{[Stahl, S. M. (2013)]}

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