Schizophrenia Research Trends

Schizophrenia: A Cognitive Science Viewpoint 77PROSPECTSTheoriesSeveral cognitive processes may be altered by schizophrenia. It is a difficult, hazardousand endless job to try to understand each one using specific animal models. It is difficultbecause it needs a phylogenetic approach of cognition, which would be a new field ofresearch. It is hazardous because the functional alteration under study may have occurred at aphylogenetic step above the species commonly used in models, mice and rats. It could be anendless run after a moving target - like a donkey trying to get a carrot attached to its head - ashuman studies will continuously provide new observations on cognitive deficits before beingable to model them. Things may look considerably different if one gets a real globaltheoretical description of the disease and its consequences. This will probably require mucheffort but interesting tracks exist. It is necessary to find out the solution to very basicquestions, such as how the brain gathers the large amount of information available to producea conscious representation of the world, and to make phylogenetic speculations on this issue[41].New means to model the cognitive features of the disease: Cognitive Sciences promotethe use of neuronal network or computational models with general explanations. Theyprovide precise predictions. The reduced capacity of patients to create complex mentalrepresentations could be simulated by extending the already existing neuronal models. Itwould be even possible to simulate therapeutic issues [63].New Therapeutic StrategiesDecreased connectivity invites to try forcing patients to use their remaining brainconnections. The process by which this can be done remains to be invented. Anothertherapeutic possibility consists in stimulating inter-cortical connecting networks. This couldbe a justification for the transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) that has started to be testedin hallucinated patients [90]. Preventive care should also be the focus of research. Thisrequires that clear factors of risk are found, and each cause of disconnection identified. Usingspecific methods to prevent, or drugs to reduce the loss of neuronal connections wouldrepresent a renewal of the therapeutic strategy. Lower animal models need to be used tovalidate each of these new therapeutic approaches, before its application to humans.