A multidisciplinary collaborative research effort bringing new knowledge, concepts and techniques from fundamental disciplines to bear on the problem of schizophrenia and other major psychoses. The disciplines represented as major components of the program are neuroanatomy, neuropathology, genetics, neuropharmacology, psychology and clinical investigations. Research in neuroanatomy will continue to examine by anterograde- and retrograde-labelling the position of the monoamine cell groups in the overall organization of the fore- and mid-brain. A novel approach to neuropathology will utilize computer-assisted morphometric techniques for quantitative analysis of dendrite arborizations of neurons. Genetic studies will examine questions of nosology, etiology diversity, genetic and environmental factors utilizing adopted individuals and their relatives, or by the intensive study of families with a high frequency of mental disorder. Pharmacological studies will examine specific behavioral responses of the neuroleptic drugs, their diurnal rhythms, and alterations associated with estrus, pregnancy, development and aging. Psychological studies will examine smooth pursuit and saccadic eye movements, the nature of the cognitive disorder and of information processing in schizophrenic and control populations. Studies with a radioreceptor assay for neuroleptics, therapeutic approaches based on new rationales, and the development of rigorous diagnostic concepts and their epidemiological application will constitute the focus of the clinical research.
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