What is a key of the restoration success of schizophrenia.

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 24791246
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Psychiatric science
• Research Institution: University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Japan
• Principal Investigator: HORI Hikaru 産業医科大学, 医学部, 助教 (50421334)
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: 統合失調症 / 認知機能 / 復職 / 社会機能 / BDNF

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The employment rate and the income of patients with schizophrenia are very low. Cognitive dysfunction is considered a core feature of the disease because it significantly affects patients’ social and occupational functioning. We divided the subjects into a successful return to work group (SRWG) and failure return to work group (FRWG). Patients in the FRGW had lower cognitive function and higher negative symptoms scores than those in the SRWG. The role of BDNF in schizophrenia of symptoms and cognitive function was investigated. This study showed that schizophrenia patients had significantly lower levels of BDNF than healthy subjects, and positive correlated with BDNF levels and cognitive scores in schizophrenia.
Our study investigating the effectiveness of switching from antipsychotic polypharmacy to monotherapy showed that the patients who switched to monotherapy showed greater improvement on measure of attention and processing speed compared with who continued with polypharmacy.

Free Research Field

臨床精神薬理