Faculty

Psychosis, an impairment that manifests as hallucinations and/or delusions, is a defining feature of schizophrenia and highly prevalent in bipolar disorder. Individuals suffering with these illnesses also have major disruptions in sleep and circadian rhythms, which can precipitate or exacerbate psychotic symptoms. A group of investigators including Kyle Ketchesin, PhD (Assistant Professor of Psychiatry), Madeline...

Investigators at Pitt Psychiatry have recently published studies in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS) and Translational Psychiatry on the molecular biology of the human brain. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS): Diurnal rhythms across the human dorsal and ventral striatum In a paper recently published in...

Schizophrenia and bipolar disorder share genetic and environmental risk factors, and in some cases, certain clinical features such as cognitive impairments and psychosis. Mitochondrial dysfunction is proposed to contribute to the functional, morphological, and molecular brain alterations that may underlie the common features of these disorders. However, mitochondria are critical for multiple biological processes...

Individuals with schizophrenia often exhibit impairments in the processing of auditory sensory information and auditory learning. Previous research has implicated the involvement of synaptic protein networks in the pathology of schizophrenia. The number, type and strength of connections between synapses are governed in large part by complex protein networks. “In order for the synapse to function, many different...