Overview of neurobiology

Abstract

Schizophrenia is a brain disease. Indeed, at all levels (i.e., genes, molecules, cells, brain structures, circuits, physiology, and behavior), there is ample evidence of alterations in persons with schizophrenia. Yet virtually none of this information is of proven value to clinicians or researchers. Whereas a broad spectrum of neurobiological differences between individuals with and without schizophrenia has been demonstrated, two factors prevent their translation into clinically useful tools. First, neurobiological findings in schizophrenia are replicated with variable consistency, in part because of the significant heterogeneity of the disease and in part because of considerable differences in the methods employed. Thus, it is very likely that there are many schizophrenias with very different neurobiological underpinnings. Second, it is currently not known which of these neurobiological differences reflect a risk for developing the disease, which reflect active pathology, which reflect compensatory processes, and which reflect epiphenomena. This section focuses on neurobiological findings in schizophrenia, including those related to pathophysiology, genetics, and neuroimaging.