New research linking schizophrenia and Alzheimer's disease wins research grant from U.S. based Stanley Foundation

Research from the Institute of Psychiatry, London, that offers a radical new approach to treating schizophrenia has received a substantial grant from the Stanley Foundation, a major mental health charity based in the United States. The new study developed by Dr. Tonmoy Sharma and his research team involves giving an Alzheimer's drug for one year to people with schizophrenia who are suffering from diminished memory and planning skills, and various attention problems.

Schizophrenia is best known for its so-called positive symptoms such as hallucinations or delusions. But cognitive difficulties - such as problems with memory, attention and decision making - are thought to be core and enduring features of schizophrenia. It is these cognitive problems that prevent many people with the condition from being independent, making friends or finding a job.

Older drug therapies target the positive symptoms of schizophrenia but do not help the cognitive problems. In fact, their associated side-effects, such as tremor and stiffness, mean that patients often have to take anticholinergic drugs as well, which in turn lead to more cognitive problems. Whilst newer antipsychotics cause fewer side effects and can sometimes improve cognition, up until now, cognitive problems in schizophrenia have not been a specific target for drug therapy.

In this new study, 40 people with schizophrenia taking newer antipsychotic medication will also be given either placebo or rivastigmine, a drug that has been shown to conserve cognitive powers in Alzheimer's disease. Researchers will test study participants' memory, attention and planning skills during the trial to detect any cognitive improvements. They will also perform functional magnetic resonance imaging on the brains of participants at the beginning of the study and again after six months to see whether there are changes in the way the brain works.

Researchers are optimistic that rivastigmine will be more effective at restoring memory and other cognitive functions in people with schizophrenia than in Alzheimer's disease. Rivastigmine works by enhancing choline activity. In Alzheimer's disease, most cholinergic neurons have already died, but in schizophrenia, people still have a fairly intact cholinergic system so there is more scope to enhance cholinergic activity and so maintain cognitive function.

The study's Principal Investigator, Dr Sharma, was delighted to hear of the Stanley Foundation's decision to support the research: 'Cognitive problems are such a major part of schizophrenia that it is time they became a focus of treatment. This grant is an indication that the mental health community is beginning to take cognitive problems in schizophrenia more seriously. We are grateful to the Stanley Foundation for recognising the potential of this innovative research project.'