1. THE VALUE OF ANTIPSYCHOTICS IN THE TREATMENT OF SCHIZOPHRENIA BY MOLLY MURPHY MENTOR: DR. EVANS

2. MY RESEARCH QUESTION What is the place of antipsychotic prescriptions in the treatment of schizophrenia?

3. A QUICK OVERVIEW OF FMRI Most of the research that I’ve done so far focuses heavily on imaging primarily uses functional fMRI.

5. Meyerhand, U. Wisconsin

6. FUNCTIONAL MRI Brain under stimulationBrain before stimulationStimulated region

8. CRASH COURSE: SCHIZOPHRENIA Schizophrenia is an abnormal psychotic disorder whose effects are far reaching affects many people all around the world (disproportionately males) Its varying sub-types exhibit many of the same symptoms There is as of yet no certain cause for schizophrenia

9. NEURAL STRUCTURES INVOLVED IN SCHIZOPHRENIA Schizophrenia is a disorder associated with neuronal dysfunction NOT cell death Structures indicated include the cingulate cortices, the basal ganglia, the frontal lobes, and the hippocampus (particularly the CA1 subfield) The disease is also associated with swelling of the ventral cavities of patients

10. (Schobel 2009) (Gaisler-Salomon 2009)

11. ANTIPSYCHOTICS: PROS AND CONS PROS They are effective at their main job If used correctly they have the potential to have positive effects with mitigated side effects CONS They are too often used off-label Pro re nata prescriptions in people who need them promote over-use They have dangerous side effects Their overuse and high toxicity rates puts patients off the medication

12. THE ULTIMATE FACTOR: QUALITY OF LIFE Quality of life is definitely diminished when people have schizophrenia, and it is depending on the atmosphere in which they are treated whether antipsychotics positively or negatively contribute quality of life.

13. CONCLUSIONS Antipsychotics are necessary in many cases to manage the symptoms of schizophrenia which can sometimes be scary, both for the patient and their caregivers However, medical professionals responsible for the administration of antipsychotics need to be educated more about when to use antipsychotics to prevent overuse and keep schizophrenia patients on their medications Use of antipsychotics and other psychoactive medications for off label uses should be stopped completely The use of antipsychotics should be rolled back drastically even in cases where it is used in appropriate situations.

14. WORKS CITED Schobel SA, Lewandowski NM, Corcoran CM, Moore H, Brown T, Malaspina D, Small SA. 2009. Differential targeting of the CA1 subfield of the hippocampal formation by schizophrenia and related psychotic disorders. Archives of General Psychiatry 66: 938-946. Dang R, Guo Y, Haulin C, Yang R, Liang D, Lv C, Jiang P. 2016. Effects of prolonged antipsychotic administration on nueregulin-1/ErbB signaling in rat prefrontal cortex and myocardium: implications for the therapeutic action and cardiac adverse side effect. Journal of Toxicological Sciences 41: 303-309. - Gaisler-Salomon I, Schobel SA, Small SA, Rayport S. 2009. How High-Resolution Basal-State Functional Imaging Can Guide the Development of New Pharmacotherapies for Schizophrenia. Schizophrenia Bulletin 35: 1037-1044. Fujita J, Nishida A, Sakata M, Noda T, Ito H. 2013. Excessive dosing and polypharmacy of antipsychotics caused by pro re nata in agitated patients with schizophrenia. Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences 67: 345-351. O’Keane V. 2008. Antipsychotic-induced hyperprolactinaemia, hypogonadism and osteoporosis in the treatment of schizophrenia. Journal of Psychopharmacology 22: 70-75. Zhang F, Qiu L, Yuan L, Ma H, Ye R, Yu F, Hu P, Dong Y, Wang K. 2014. Evidence for progressive brain abnormalities in early schizophrenia: A cross-sectional structural and functional connectivity study. Schizophrenia Research 159: 31-35.

15. ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS?