Cognitive Deficits In Schizophrenia And Other Neuropsychiatric Disorders Convergence Of Preclinical And Clinical Evidence

Neuropsychiatric diseases, such as schizophrenia, Alzheimer's disease, and etc., represent a serious medical and socioeconomic problems. These diseases are often accompanied by impairments of cognitive function, e.g., abstract thinking, decision-making, attention, and several types of memory. Such deficits significantly disrupt quality of life and daily functioning of patients. Cognitive deficits in neuropsychiatric diseases are associated with alterations of brain morphology and function, and are often resistant to therapeutic interventions. In schizophrenia and related disorders, cognitive deficits are also defined as endophenotypes, i.e. measurable phenotypes linking these disaeses with discrete heritable and reproducible traits. This points to the importance of elucidating these endophenotypes in translational studies. Animal models may not mimic the full spectrum of clinical symptoms, but may act as analogies of particular behaviors or other pathological outcomes. They are useful to search for the etiology of particular psychiatric illnesses and novel therapeutics. Moreover, several behavioral tests to measure cognitive performance in rodents and other species have been implemented. The primary focus of the present topic is to provide up-to-date information on cognitive deficits of neuropsychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia. This Research Topic also delineates future directions for translational studies aimed at developing novel treatments/interventions of cognitive disturbances.

Over the years, there has been increasing interest into the public health impact of cannabis use, especially by young adults. This follows the evidence of a growing prevalence of regular cannabis use worldwide, with approximately 200 million users. Recreational cannabis use, especially a frequent use of products with high levels of its main psychoactive ingredient delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ 9-THC), can cause dependence and have transient and long-lasting detrimental mental health effects, also negatively impacting cognitive processing and brain function and metabolism. In regular users, the development of tolerance to some of the effects of cannabis, especially the pleasurable ones, may lead to progressively heavier use in order to obtain the same effects in terms of their intensity, with higher health risks. However, the Cannabis Sativa plant contains different chemicals with different potential effects. In this regard, cannabidiol has gained interest because of its potential therapeutic properties, in line with evidence that CBD and Δ9-THC may exhibit opposite effects at the cannabinoid receptor type 1 (CB1), Δ9-THC being a partial agonist and CBD an antagonist/inverse agonist. Different cannabinoids may modulate human brain function and behavior in different ways, with different risk–benefit profiles.

This book traces the history of adenosine receptor research from molecular biology to medicinal chemistry to behavior, including their implications in disease and potential strategies as therapeutic targets. It provides the reader with a comprehensive overview of the adenosine receptors that includes information on all subtypes - A1, A2A, A2B and A3. Aspects addressed include the most up to date information on their functional distribution in the nervous and peripheral systems, behavioral roles in inflammation, cancer, pain and neurological diseases such as Huntington’s disease, Epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease.

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Clinical staging is a solution to transform psychiatric diagnosis and improve mental health outcomes.

With contributions by numerous experts

Although it has been known for 100 years that cognitive functioning is impaired in schizophrenia, the implications of this impairment have only recently been clearly understood. While in the past, cognitive deficits were thought to be the result of other aspects of the illness, such as poor co-operation, or as a result of the treatment of the illness, it is now known that these factors exert only a very minor influence on cognitive deficit. This book, with contributions from the major international names in the field, reviews the most recent research on the impairment of cognitive functioning in schizophrenia, covering: what it is, how wide-ranging it can be, what the clinical implications are, and how it can be treated? A detailed insight into cognitive deficit is the key to understanding why previous treatments have failed, and the key by which new treatments may change this terrible illness, treatments significantly more effective than earlier interventions.