Project Overview

People with schizophrenia often suffer from depressive and negative symptoms, such as reduced emotional expression, or less motivation. These symptoms can have a significant impact on their risk of suicide, prognosis, and overall quality of life. The fact that depressive and negative symptoms in schizophrenia have a lot in common conceptually makes it difficult to identify accurate brain markers and effective treatments for them.

In Julia’s early Ph.D. work, they performed a comprehensive review of existing studies and found a lack of research on brain imaging in relation to depressive symptoms in schizophrenia. They then conducted another study using advanced statistical techniques to identify potential brain markers and therapeutic targets for depressive and negative symptoms in schizophrenia. This research revealed distinct brain circuits associated with these symptoms, indicating that even though they may seem similar in concept, depressive and negative symptoms should be treated as separate domains when it comes to treatment.

The current research proposal builds on this previous work, focusing on individuals experiencing their first episode of schizophrenia to understand the brain markers of longitudinal depressive symptoms. Specifically, by utilizing advanced neuroimaging techniques, they aim to uncover disruptions in mood-relevant brain networks among first-episode patients with persistent symptoms compared to those without. They will also employ a sophisticated predictive model on initial brain scans to predict the persistence of depressive symptoms over time in individuals currently experiencing them.

If successful, this study could pave the way for targeted brain stimulation interventions and early identification of individuals at risk for persistent depressive symptoms based on their initial brain scans. This early identification could lead to timely enrollment in clinical trials and personalized intervention strategies.

Principal Investigator

Julia Gallucci , Centre for Addiction and Mental Health

Partners and Donors

Naomi Azrieli, O.C.