Project Summary

Steven R. Laviolette, Ph.D. (Young Investigator 2005) of the University of Pittsburgh, aims to study how possible problems in connections between the brain’s amygdala and cortex may contribute to the inability of schizophrenics to appropriately process sensory information. Our ability to understand the emotional importance of the sensory signals impinging on our brains allows us to filter insignificant sensory information and to attend to sensory information critical for our actions and accurate perceptions of the world. However, in schizophrenia, abnormalities in brain structures that process the emotional significance of sensory information may prevent the filtering of sensory information that normally would be perceived as insignificant. Schizophrenics may repeatedly associate certain sensations with inappropriate emotional perceptions and ultimately develop delusional ideas about these sensations’ significance. Dr. Laviolette is studying how individual neurons in the medial prefrontal cortex that are functionally connected to the amygdala encode the emotional significance of sensory information and how the actions of the neurotransmitter dopamine may be involved in signaling this information. Both the amygdala and medial prefrontal cortex are believed to be disturbed in schizophrenia. Findings should provide new insights into how these two brain regions functionally interact to form accurate associations between sensory stimuli and the emotional significance of such information.

Program Area: SCHIZOPHRENIA/PSYCHOTIC DISORDERS\Schizophrenia\Structural Biology

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