Brain networks differ among those with severe schizophrenia, CAMH study shows

People with a severe form of schizophrenia have major differences in their brain networks compared to others with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and healthy individuals, a new study from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) shows.

The study, which used a novel approach to map brain networks, was led by researchers at the Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute at CAMH and published in this week's JAMA Psychiatry.

"Finding ways to help this particular group of people with schizophrenia is a priority as recovery is unlikely, even up to 20 years after the initial diagnosis. Social isolation, lack of work and relationships, and chronic disability are very common," says Dr. Aristotle Voineskos, senior author on the paper and Director of the Slaight Family Centre for Youth in Transition at CAMH.

Schizophrenia, which affects one in 100 people, is generally known for symptoms of delusions and hallucinations, which can be treated with antipsychotic medications. However, lack of motivation and social withdrawal are also characteristic symptoms of the illness. These are known as negative symptoms.

Approximately one in five people with schizophrenia experience these negative symptoms in a pronounced way, says lead author Dr. Anne Wheeler, CAMH post-doctoral fellow. At this point, there is no treatment for negative symptoms, yet they have the greatest impact on a person's daily functioning once the psychosis is managed.

The value of having a biological, brain-based indicator is that it may help identify this group of patients when they initially present for treatment of psychosis. Otherwise it can take years to determine social disability through clinical observation, says Dr. Voineskos.

What is schizophrenia? Schizophrenia is a severe and debilitating brain and behavior disorder affecting how one thinks, feels and acts. People with schizophrenia can have trouble distinguishing reality from fantasy, expressing and managing normal emotions and making decisions. Thought processes may also be disorganized and the motivation to engage in life’s activities may be blunted. Those with the condition may hear imaginary voices and believe others are reading their minds, controlling their thoughts or plotting to harm them.

Most people with schizophrenia suffer from symptoms either continuously or intermittently throughout life and are often severely stigmatized by people who do not understand the disease. Contrary to popular perception, people with schizophrenia do not have “split” or multiple personalities and most pose no danger to others. However, the symptoms are terrifying to those afflicted and can make them unresponsive, agitated or withdrawn. People with schizophrenia attempt suicide more often than people in the general population, and estimates are that up to 10 percent of people with schizophrenia will complete a suicide in the first 10 years of the illness - particularly young men with schizophrenia.