Project Summary

Brian Kirkpatrick, M.D. (Distinguished Investigator 2000) of Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, is investigating the neurobiological underpinnings of the deficit syndrome of schizophrenia.  The deficit syndrome is characterized by persistent, prominent negative symptoms, such as lack of affect, social withdrawal, and decreased motivation, that are not explained by depression or medication.  Dr. Kirkpatrick hypothesizes that these patients have a specific brain abnormality, as compared to schizophrenic patients who do not have the deficit syndrome.  In his study, he will examine a brain region called the medial pulvinar (MP), a nucleus in the thalamus that has important anatomical connections to the inferior parietal cortex, abnormalities of which were shown in a previous study of deficit schizophrenic patients.  It is hypothesized that deficit schizoprenic patients will have decreased cell number in the MP, and reduced brain cells that project to the cortex.  This work may result in identification of a brain region-and a neural circuit-responsible for the deficit syndrome of schizophrenia.

Program Area: SCHIZOPHRENIA/PSYCHOTIC DISORDERS

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