Schizophrenia

HEALTH INFORMATION

Home ❯ Schizophrenia
Understanding causes, improving treatments

WHAT WE KNOW

Schizophrenia is a mental illness that emerges in adolescence or young adulthood and affects approximately 1 in 100 people in Australia and worldwide. It causes difficulties in thinking and unusual experiences such as hearing unpleasant voices or having false and sometimes bizarre beliefs. People with schizophrenia often avoid family and friends, lack motivation and are often unable to work.

While the exact causes are not known, we believe that genetic and environmental influences combine to create abnormal changes in brain development that cause the symptoms of schizophrenia.

Current treatments are designed to suppress these symptoms and do not target the cause of the disorder. These drugs only partially relieve symptoms and can produce unwanted side effects.

We are currently investigating several new treatments, including the use of an immune treatment, with the aim of improving symptoms and cognitive functioning.

More information

OUR LATEST RESEARCH

Identification and characterisation of ST8SIA2: a generalised mental illness susceptibility gene


DR JAN FULLERTON, PROF CYNDI SHANNON WEICKERT, PROF PETER SCHOFIELD, PROF RHOSHEL LENROOT

Together with Professor Peter Schofield (NeuRA) and Professor Philip Mitchell (Black Dog Institute), our group is investigating the genetic contributors to bipolar disorder using Australian families with multiple individuals who have been diagnosed with the disorder.

The group previously identified a bipolar susceptibility locus located on chromosome 15 in a pooled analysis of 35 families. More detailed analysis of this region has identified a single gene, which confers an increased susceptibility to both bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, and has also been implicated as a risk factor for autism.

The group is now aiming to understand how alterations in ST8SIA2 translate into an increased genetic susceptibility by characterising alterations in the DNA, RNA and protein product of this gene and its interaction partners in patients with either bipolar disorder or schizophrenia.

Neuregulin Dependent Neuronal Migration and Schizophrenia


PROF CYNDI SHANNON WEICKERT

The path to developing therapies to prevent schizophrenia involves research on how risk genes influence brain development and structure.

Enhancing Neurogenesis in Adult Primate Brain


PROF CYNDI SHANNON WEICKERT

Since brain disease often involves neuronal death, research into strategies to restore neuronal numbers could lead to improved function and recovery in patients.

CATS Study


ASSOC PROF TOM WEICKERT

Canakinumab adjunctive treatment to reduce symptoms and improve cognition in people with schizophrenia displaying elevated blood inflammatory markers

NeuroSleep: A NHMRC Centre for Research Excellence


DR JASON AMATOURY, PROF DANNY ECKERT

This project aims to understand the bidirectional relationship between sleep and the brain to test and develop new approaches to treatment for sleep disruption across a range of medical disorders.  

Schizotypal personality traits and striatal function


 

This study tests the relationship among probabilistic association learning , schizotypal personality traits, striatal function and genes important to striatal function.

Canakinumab Add-on Treatment for Schizophrenia (CATS) Study


 

You are invited to participate in a research study using a human immune cell-line antibody to improve language, memory, and reduce symptoms of schizophrenia.

tDCS treatment for auditory hallucinations and thinking problems in schizophrenia


 

We are recruiting people with schizophrenia to take part in a study of the effects of transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) upon thinking problems and some of the symptoms that occur with schizophrenia.

TEAM LEADERS IN SCHIZOPHRENIA

ASSOC PROF MELISSA GREEN Conjoint Principle Research Scientist, NeuRA

PROF CYNDI SHANNON WEICKERT Macquarie Group Foundation Chair of Schizophrenia Research, based at NeuRA and UNSW Professor, School of Psychiatry, UNSW

ASSOC PROF TOM WEICKERT Research Fellow, NeuRA Associate Professor, School of Psychiatry, UNSW

What else is happening in Schizophrenia research at NeuRA?

FEEL THE BUZZ IN THE AIR? US TOO.

EP 31: Prof Cyndi Shannon Weickert - What is Schizophrenia?

Epigenetics is the study of how our environment influences the expression of our genes. My group has found a link between early life experiences and attention. Exposure to traumatic experiences in the early stages of life, including abuse or neglect, parental divorce or mental illness, and poverty, are known to influence the development of some mental illnesses. These early experiences also […]

Melissa Green
NeuRA BLOG: Is there a link between early life trauma and mental illness?

The cold case of schizophrenia - broken wide open!

‘It is like they were miraculously healed!’’ Schizophrenia is diagnosed by clinical observation of behaviour and speech. This is why NeuRA researchers are working hard to understand the biological basis of the illness. Through hours of work and in collaboration with doctors and scientists here and around the world, NeuRA has made an amazing breakthrough. For the first time, researchers have discovered the presence of antibodies in the brains of people who lived with schizophrenia. Having found these antibodies, it has led NeuRA researchers to ask two questions. What are they doing there? What should we do about the antibodies– help or remove them? This is a key breakthrough. Imagine if we are treating schizophrenia all wrong! It is early days, but can you imagine the treatment implications if we’ve identified a new biological basis for the disease? It could completely change the way schizophrenia is managed, creating new treatments that will protect the brain. More than this, could we be on the verge of discovering a ‘curable’ form of schizophrenia? How you can help We are so grateful for your loyal support of schizophrenia research in Australia, and today I ask if you will consider a gift today. Or, to provide greater confidence, consider becoming a Discovery Partner by making a monthly commitment. We believe there is great potential to explore these findings. Will you help move today’s breakthrough into tomorrow’s cure? To read more about this breakthrough, click ‘read the full story’ below. You are also invited to read ‘Beth’s story’, whose sweet son Marcus lived with schizophrenia, by clicking here.
APPEAL
PhD Completion Seminars 2017
NeuRA hosts Mental Health Week breakfast at Parliament House

Identification and characterisation of ST8SIA2: a generalised mental illness susceptibility gene

Together with Professor Peter Schofield (NeuRA) and Professor Philip Mitchell (Black Dog Institute), our group is investigating the genetic contributors to bipolar disorder using Australian families with multiple individuals who have been diagnosed with the disorder. The group previously identified a bipolar susceptibility locus located on chromosome 15 in a pooled analysis of 35 families. More detailed analysis of this region has identified a single gene, which confers an increased susceptibility to both bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, and has also been implicated as a risk factor for autism. The group is now aiming to understand how alterations in ST8SIA2 translate into an increased genetic susceptibility by characterising alterations in the DNA, RNA and protein product of this gene and its interaction partners in patients with either bipolar disorder or schizophrenia.
PROJECT
VOLUNTEER
SUPPORT OUR RESEARCH
STUDENTS
CAREERS