From maps to mechanisms through neuroimaging of schizophrenia

• Published in: Nature (London) Vol. 468; no. 7321; pp. 194 - 202
• Main Author: Meyer-Lindenberg, Andreas
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 11-11-2010; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 631/378/1689/1761; 692/308/575; 692/699/476/1799; 692/700/1421/65; Brain; Brain diseases; Brain Mapping - methods; Cardiovascular disease; Care and treatment; Dopamine; Environment; Environmental risk; Genetic aspects; Genetic Predisposition to Disease; Genetics; Genotype-environment interactions; Health risk assessment; Health risks; Heart attacks; Human subjects; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Illnesses; Medical imaging; Mental disorders; Molecular Imaging; multidisciplinary; Neuroimaging; Neurology; Neurons; Neurosciences; perspective; Prevention; Psychotic Disorders - etiology; Psychotic Disorders - physiopathology; Research methods; Risk factors; Schizophrenia; Schizophrenia - diagnosis; Schizophrenia - genetics; Schizophrenia - physiopathology; Schizophrenia - therapy; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); United States
• ISSN: 0028-0836; 1476-4687
• DOI: 10.1038/nature09569

Functional and structural brain imaging has identified neural and neurotransmitter systems involved in schizophrenia and their link to cognitive and behavioural disturbances such as psychosis. Mapping such abnormalities in patients, however, cannot fully capture the strong neurodevelopmental component of schizophrenia that pre-dates manifest illness. A recent strategy to address this issue has been to focus on mechanisms of disease risk. Imaging genetics techniques have made it possible to define neural systems that mediate heritable risk linked to candidate and genome-wide-supported common variants, and mechanisms for environmental risk and gene-environment interactions are emerging. Characterizing the neural risk architecture of schizophrenia provides a translational research strategy for future treatments.