Biology of Schizophrenia and Affective Disease

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.