Project Summary

Andreas Meyer-Lindenberg, M.D. (Young Investigator 2000) of National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH/NIH), is employing several new technologies to examine the excitability of neurons in the cerebral cortex of patients with schizophrenia.  These methods include: transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), which allows specific measurements of excitation and inhibition of nerve cells; positron emission tomography (PET), which measures activation of nerve cells during mental tasks; and magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), which quantifies levels of neutransmitters such as glutamate.  It is hypothesized that there will be a decrease in glutamate-mediated excitation of neurons in patients, that this effect will be diminished by antipsychotic medications, and that it will be linked to the brain activation patterns during mental tasks.  This work may help to elaborate the abnormal physiologic mechanisms that give rise to schizophrenia.

Program Area: SCHIZOPHRENIA/PSYCHOTIC DISORDERS\Schizophrenia

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