Schizophrenia is a devastating mental illness that not only dramatically alters the life of the affected individual, but also has major consequences for their families and carers and thus the community in general.
There is no known cure for schizophrenia and the treatments are mostly inadequate.
At HMRI a team of researchers is dedicated to understanding psychosis - in particular schizophrenia, at the molecular, cellular, system and behavioural levels. The current themes of research in this area include functional and structural magnetic resonance brain imaging, molecular genetics and face processing.
Utilising modern brain imaging techniques, HMRI researchers recently discovered alterations in brain structure and function associated with schizophrenia.
This has led to an ongoing program which explores the biological basis of schizophrenia with the aim of identifying early diagnostic markers of the condition so that more effective intervention strategies can be developed.
Other projects currently underway are investigating first episode schizophrenia and long-term cannabis use and auditory processing dysfunction in schizophrenia.
A full listing of projects can be viewed at HMRI's affiliated centre, the Centre for Mental Health Studies where many of the HMRI Brain and Mental Health Program researchers are based.
HMRI researchers have also established the Schizophrenia Register in collaboration with NISAD Schizophrenia Research to assist in researching this area.
The register is a database of people interested in being involved in a wide range of schizophrenia-related research projects. It includes the Hunter DNA Bank for Schizophrenia and Allied Disorders and the Virtual Brain Bank.
The Hunter DNA Bank is a resource that collects DNA samples from people with schizophrenia, their families and from the general community. It now has over 100 samples stored for genetic research into schizophrenia.
The Virtual Brain Bank, established in collaboration with NISAD, UCLA and The University of Essen, Germany, is a collection of digital brain scans of people with schizophrenia, their families and the general community. The Schizophrenia Register has become an invaluable resource to assist researchers in their studies.
