We use research technologies to understand what happens when a brain becomes psychotic, and, with that knowledge, to improve the treatment and prevention of psychosis. Current work has focused on several brain imaging technologies, but this will likely expand to include measures of cortical thickness and brain white matter. As we are interested in the role of stress and the development of psychosis, our investigations will also include the brain stress-regulation system (cortisol and the hypothalamic-pituitary-axis), as well as general markers of inflammation that have been associated with psychosis. Lastly, rapidly expanding knowledge from genetic and genomic studies has implicated many possible pathways to psychosis, which can identify risk factors and mechanisms of the illness. In future collaborations, we anticipate bringing these genetic studies into our research effort to inform our research into mechanisms and, most importantly, the development of treatment predictors and new therapies. PREP is firmly committed to advancing our knowledge in a way that will make a difference to prevent the suffering – and even the occurrence – of serious mental disorders like schizophrenia.
Learn more about our past and ongoing research: