Visual Dysfunction in Schizophrenia: A View into the Mechanisms of Madness?

Visual Dysfunction in Schizophrenia: A View into the Mechanisms of Madness? PDF Author: Randolph Blake
Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
ISBN: 2889195155
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 320

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Book Description
Research on visual perception in schizophrenia has a long history. However, it is only recently that it has been included in mainstream efforts to understand the cognitive neuroscience of the disorder and to assist with biomarker and treatment development (e.g., the NIMH CNTRICS and RDoC initiatives). Advances in our understanding of visual disturbances in schizophrenia can tell us about both specific computational and neurobiological abnormalities, and about the widespread computational and neurobiological abnormalities in the illness, of which visual disturbances constitute well-studied, replicable, low-level examples. Importantly, far from being a passive sensory registration process, visual perception is active, inferential, and hypothesis-generating, and therefore can provide excellent examples of breakdowns in general brain functions in schizophrenia. Despite progress made in understanding visual processing disturbances in schizophrenia, many challenges exist and many unexplored areas are in need of examination. For example, the directional relationships between perceptual and cognitive disturbances (e.g., in attention, memory, executive function, predictive coding) remain unclear in many cases, as do links with symptoms, including visual hallucinations. The effect of specific visual disturbances on multisensory integration in schizophrenia has also not been explored. In addition, few studies of vision in schizophrenia have used naturalistic stimuli, including real-world objects, and almost no studies have examined processing during interaction with objects or visual exploration, which can provide important data on functioning of the perception for action pathway. Relatedly, studies of visual processing in schizophrenia have also not been conducted within contexts that include emotional stimulation and the presence of reinforcers – characteristics of many real-world situations - and the consequences of this are likely to be an incomplete view of how and when perception is abnormal in the condition. An additional important area involves treatment of visual disturbances in schizophrenia. Two major questions regarding this are: 1) can visual processing be improved in cases where it is impaired (and by what types of interventions affecting which cognitive and neurobiological mechanisms)? and 2) what are the clinical and functional benefits of improving specific visual functions in people with schizophrenia? Other important and understudied questions concern: 1) the extent to which indices of visual functioning can serve as biomarkers such as predictors of relapse, treatment response, and/or recovery; 2) the potential role of visual functioning in diagnosing and predicting illness; 3) the extent to which some visual perception disturbances are diagnostically specific to schizophrenia; and 4) the extent to which visual disturbances are truly manifestations of disease, as opposed to aspects of normal variation that, in combination with disease, serves to modify the clinical presentation. This Frontiers Research Topic explores some of these, and other issues facing this exciting interface between vision science and schizophrenia research. We include papers that span the entire range of different Frontiers paper types, including those that are data driven (using psychophysics, electroencephalography, neuroimaging, computational and animal models, and other methods), reviews, hypotheses, theories, opinion, methods, areas of impact, and historical perspectives.

The Neuropsychopathology of Schizophrenia

The Neuropsychopathology of Schizophrenia PDF Author: Ming Li
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319305964
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 257

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Book Description
One of the first major theoretical reviews of schizophrenia since the publication of the 5th edition of the APA’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, the DSM-5, this volume is a landmark in the history of schizophrenia research. It assembles recent groundbreaking developments in research on schizophrenia and reaffirms its central place in the mental health research agenda. Significantly, this volume reflects the paradigmatic shift in schizophrenia research applied in parallel to new approaches in psychiatric diagnosis. New models and findings from across disciplines in recent years reflect a new and greater understanding of the workings of the brain, which, in turn, helps develop our knowledge of the neuro and psychological processes in schizophrenia. Consequently, this volume illustrates a historical convergence of psychology, psychopathology and the neurosciences in schizophrenia. World-renowned leaders of the schizophrenia research community in fields such as neuroscience, p sychiatry, neuropsychology, and clinical psychology offer clear suggestions for further advances in psychological and medical interventions, assessment, prevention strategies, and research. And in keeping with other titles in the Nebraska Symposium on Motivation series, these papers are noteworthy for their depth of detail, scientific rigor, and clinical relevance. Included among the topics: Cognitive organization as a dimension of individual differences and psychopathology. Neurodevelopmental genomic strategies in the study of the psychosis spectrum. Multimodal brain and behavior indices of psychosis risk. The NIMH Research Domain Criteria Project: new approaches to classifying psychotic spectrum disorders. The Neuropsychopathology of Schizophrenia is one of the most forward-thinking and engaging treatments of the field in recent years, and is an i ndispensable text for all researchers, academics, and clinicians who treat or study mental illness, especially psychiatrists, psychologists, mental health practitioners, and neuroscientists specializing in schizophrenia.

Cognitive Impairment in Schizophrenia

Cognitive Impairment in Schizophrenia PDF Author: Philip D. Harvey
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107013208
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 341

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Book Description
Provides state-of-the-art information about cognition in schizophrenia with a wide ranging focus on measuring and treating cognitive deficits.

The Neuropharmacology of Nicotine Dependence

The Neuropharmacology of Nicotine Dependence PDF Author: David J.K. Balfour
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319134825
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 172

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Book Description
The primary purpose of this book and its companion volume The Behavioral Genetics of Nicotine and Tobacco is to explore the ways in which recent studies on nicotine and its role in tobacco addiction have opened our eyes to the psychopharmacological properties of this unique and fascinating drug. While The Behavioral Genetics of Nicotine and Tobacco considers the molecular and genetic factors which influence behavioral responses to nicotine and how these may impact on the role of nicotine in tobacco dependence, the present book focuses on the complex neural and psychological mechanisms that mediate nicotine dependence in experimental animal models and their relationship to tobacco addiction in humans. These volumes will provide readers a contemporary overview of current research on nicotine psychopharmacology and its role in tobacco dependence from leaders in this field of researchand will hopefully prove valuable to those who are developing their own research programmes in this important topic.

The Neurobiology of Schizophrenia

The Neurobiology of Schizophrenia PDF Author: Ted Abel
Publisher: Academic Press
ISBN: 0128018771
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 468

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Book Description
The Neurobiology of Schizophrenia begins with an overview of the various facets and levels of schizophrenia pathophysiology, ranging systematically from its genetic basis over changes in neurochemistry and electrophysiology to a systemic neural circuits level. When possible, the editors point out connections between the various systems. The editors also depict methods and research strategies used in the respective field. The individual backgrounds of the two editors promote a synthesis between basic neuroscience and clinical relevance. Provides a comprehensive overview of neurobiological aspects of schizophrenia Discusses schizophrenia at behavioral, cognitive, clinical, electrophysiological, molecular, and genetic levels Edited by a translational researcher and a psychiatrist to promote synthesis between basic neuroscience and clinical relevance Elucidates connections between the various systems depicted, when possible

Madness

Madness PDF Author: Justin Garson
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0197613837
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 305

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Book Description
Since the time of Hippocrates, madness has typically been viewed through the lens of disease, dysfunction, and defect. In Madness, philosopher of science Justin Garson presents a radically different paradigm for conceiving of madness and the forms that it takes. In this paradigm, which he calls madness-as-strategy, madness is neither a disease nor a defect, but a designed feature, like the heart or lungs. The book will be essential reading for philosophers of medicine and psychiatry, historians and sociologists of medicine, and mental health service users, survivors, and activists, for its alternative and liberating vision of what it means to be mad.

Reconceiving Schizophrenia

Reconceiving Schizophrenia PDF Author: Man Cheung Chung
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 019852613X
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 352

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Book Description
Schizophrenia has been investigated predominantly from psychological, psychiatric and neurobiological perspectives. This text examines it from a philosophical point of view.

Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia PDF Author: Steven M. Silverstein
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262019620
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 403

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Book Description
Leading researchers address conceptual and technical issues in schizophrenia and suggest novel strategies for advancing research and treatment. Despite major advances in methodology and thousands of published studies every year, treatment outcomes in schizophrenia have not improved over the last fifty years. Moreover, we still lack strategies for prevention and we do not yet understand how the interaction of genetic, developmental, and environmental factors contribute to the disorder. In this book, leading researchers consider conceptual and technical obstacles to progress in understanding schizophrenia and suggest novel strategies for advancing research and treatment. The contributors address a wide range of critical issues: the construct of schizophrenia itself; etiology, risk, prediction, and prevention; different methods of modeling the disorder; and treatment development and delivery. They identify crucial gaps in our knowledge and offer creative but feasible suggestions. These strategies include viewing schizophrenia as a heterogeneous group of conditions; adopting specific new approaches to prediction and early intervention; developing better integration of data across genetics, imaging, perception, cognition, phenomenology, and other fields; and moving toward an evidence-based, personalized approach to treatment requiring rational clinical decision-making to reduce functional disability. Contributors Robert Bittner, Robert W. Buchanan, Kristin S. Cadenhead, William T. Carpenter, Jr., Aiden Corvin, Daniel Durstewitz, André A. Fenton, Camilo de la Fuente-Sandoval, Jay A. Gingrich, Joshua A. Gordon, Chloe Gott, Peter B. Jones, René S. Kahn, Richard Keefe, Wolfgang Kelsch, James L. Kennedy, Matcheri S. Keshavan, Angus W. MacDonald III, Anil K. Malhotra, John McGrath, Andreas Meyer-Lindenberg, Kevin J. Mitchell, Bita Moghaddam, Vera A. Morgan, Craig Morgan, Kim T. Mueser, Karoly Nikolich, Patricio O'Donnell, Michael O'Donovan, William A. Phillips, Wulf Rössler, Louis Sass, Akira Sawa, Jeremy K. Seamans, Steven M. Silverstein, William Spaulding, Sharmili Sritharan, Heike Tost, Peter Uhlhaas, Aristotle Voineskos, Michèle Wessa, Leanne M. Williams, Ashley Wilson, Til Wykes

Infectious Madness

Infectious Madness PDF Author: Harriet A. Washington
Publisher: Little, Brown Spark
ISBN: 0316277797
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 262

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Book Description
A groundbreaking look at the connection between germs and mental illness, and how we can protect ourselves. Is it possible to catch autism or OCD the same way we catch the flu? Can a child's contact with cat litter lead to schizophrenia? In her eye-opening new book, National Book Critics Circle Award-winning author Harriet Washington reveals that we can in fact "catch" mental illness. In Infectious Madness, Washington presents the new germ theory, which posits not only that many instances of Alzheimer's, OCD, and schizophrenia are caused by viruses, prions, and bacteria, but also that with antibiotics, vaccinations, and other strategies, these cases can be easily prevented or treated. Packed with cutting-edge research and tantalizing mysteries, Infectious Madness is rich in science, characters, and practical advice on how to protect yourself and your children from exposure to infectious threats that could sabotage your mental and physical health.

The Sublime Object of Psychiatry

The Sublime Object of Psychiatry PDF Author: Angela Woods
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199583951
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 271

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Book Description
Schizophrenia has been one of psychiatry's most contested diagnostic categories. The Sublime object of Psychiatry studies representations of schizophrenia across a wide range of disciplines and discourses: biological and phenomenological psychiatry, psychoanalysis, critical psychology, antipsychiatry, and postmodern philosophy.