Biology of Schizophrenia and Affective Disease

by Association for Research in Nervous and Mental Disease, Stanley J. Watson MD PhD (Editor)

Overview

The Decade of the Brain has brought with it many advances in our understanding of the biology of major mental disorders. Biology of Schizophrenia and Affective Disease provides a state-of-the-art look at the biological bases of severe mental illness from the perspective of the researchers making these exceptional discoveries. In 17 chapters, some of the best investigators in the field furnish overviews of their ground-breaking findings and set course for future research efforts.

From the biology of stress to excitotoxicity in the development of corticolimbic alterations in the schizophrenic brain, this outstanding reference tool explores the explosive progress in the fields of biochemistry, molecular genetics, neuroscience, and brain circuit anatomy and the resultant advances in nearly every aspect of the biology of the brain and mental illness. Dissolution of cerebral cortical mechanisms in patients with schizophrenia, linkage and molecular genetics in infantile autism, and postmortem studies of suicide victims and schizophrenic patients are among the topics covered. The book also discusses treatment issues, including the mechanisms of action of antidepressants and atypical antipsychotic drugs.

Practitioners and students will find this volume an invaluable reference tool for understanding the mechanisms of normal and pathological brain function and potential areas for further insight into the biological bases of mental illness.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780880487467
Publisher:	American Psychiatric Association Publishing
Publication date:	12/01/1995
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	560
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.05(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Stanley J. Watson, Ph.D., M.D., is Associate Director, Research Scientist, and a member of the Executive Committee of the Mental Health Research Institute at the University of Michigan. He is Associate Chair for Research in the Department of Psychiatry and Theophile Raphael Professor of Neurosciences also at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

Table of Contents

Introduction to the 73rd meeting of the Association for Research in Nervous and Mental Disease. The biology of stress: from periphery to brain. Norepinephrine and serotonin transporters: progress on molecular targets of antidepressants. Excitotoxicity in the development of corticolimbic alterations in schizophrenic brain. Dissolution of cerebral cortical mechanisms in patients with schizophrenia. Linkage and molecular genetics of infantile autism. Epidemiology and behavioral genetics of schizophrenia. Postmortem studies of suicide victims. Schizophrenia: postmortem studies. Brain circuits and brain function: implications for psychiatric diseases. Peptides and affective disorders. Mechanism of action of antidepressants: monoamine hypotheses and beyond. Dopamine and schizophrenia revisited. Pathophysiology of schizophrenia: insights from neuroimaging. Abnormal frontotemporal interactions in patients with schizophrenia. Mechanism of action of atypical antipsychotic drugs: an update. Overview and discussion. Index.

What People are Saying About This

Henry A. Nasrallah

The quality of the science is superb and that is to be expected given that the contributors include such recognized neuroscientists as Akil, Benes, Charney, Ciaranello, Davis, Goldman-Rakic, Kleinman, Mann, Matthysse, Meltzer, Nemeroff, Tsuang, and Weinberger.... The book is loaded with state-of-the-art advances and new knowledge in several key areas of neuropsychobiology of mood and psychotic disorders. I strongly recommend it to psychiatrists and other neuroscientists as well as to trainees in psychiatry, neurology, and psychology.

William T. Carpenter Jr.

The editor and chapter authors provide the reader with clearly written resource material on the biology of schizophrenia and affective disorders, a view of cutting-edge research, and a glimpse of the potential for integrated data interpretation at the level of functioning neural circuits. The latter is the key to the successful application of the biopsychosocial medical model to the study and care of patients suffering from these diseases.

Editorial Reviews

This excellent book is warmly recommended to anyone who wants an up-to-date cross-section of biological psychiatry in the 1990s, and especially to those who have enough enthusiasm and stamina to roll up their sleeves and get on with it themselves.

British Journal of Psychiatry

For the researcher or clinician interested in a deeper understanding of developments in the biologic study of major mental illnesses, this volume is highly recommended.

Psychiatric Times

The 17 papers survey the recent major advances in understanding the biochemistry, molecular genetics, neuroscience, and brain circuit anatomy as they relate to mental disorders; and such treatment issues as the mechanisms of anti-depressants and atypical anti-psychotic drugs. The topics include cerebral cortical alterations in patients with schizophrenia, linkage and molecular genetics in infantile autism, and postmortem studies of suicide victims. For professionals and students in mental health. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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