Mind, Brain, and Schizophrenia

The author of this accessible, well-written book argues that it is time to set aside the search for a single cause of schizophrenia and focus on the disease's final common pathway. He highlights clues from a wide range of research, including neurotransmitter, psychophysiological, and brain imaging studies. He then describes possibilities for the final common pathway at an understandable level in the context of what is already known about schizophrenia. While there are no preferred models of schizophrenia, a pattern is emerging which implicates those structures in the brain known to be important in integrating perception, cognition, and affect. A better understanding of these processes will be critical for developing mor effective treatments. This book will help advance that effort. It will be of great value to psychiatrists, psychologists, neurologists, neuroimagers, and basic scientists working in the field of shizophrenia research, and to their students and trainees. It will also be of interest to cliniciansand scientists concerned with other neuropsychiatric disorders, and to the families of those diagnosed with schizophrenia.