J Korean Neuropsychiatr Assoc.  2021 Feb;60(1):28-35. 10.4306/jknpa.2021.60.1.28.

Implications of Adult Neural Stem Cell Abnormalities in the Pathophysiological Mechanism of Schizophrenia

• Kim Y

• KMID: 2513554
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4306/jknpa.2021.60.1.28

Abstract

Schizophrenia is a syndrome involving positive symptoms, negative symptoms, and cognitive decline due to several causes. The neuropathological findings of schizophrenia are unclear, but the age of onset of schizophrenia is consistent from the late teens to twenties, and patients with schizophrenia usually have prodromal symptoms. Research on schizophrenia is ongoing according to the neurodevelopmental hypothesis. Neural stem cell abnormalities are suggested to affect the pathophysiology of schizophrenia through brain imaging studies, genomic studies, and postmortem brain studies in patients with schizophrenia and are consistent with the existing striatumcentered dopamine hypothesis. This paper briefly introduces neural stem cells, particularly adult neural stem cells, and striatal abnormalities and explains their effects on the pathophysiology of schizophrenia.

Keyword

Schizophrenia; Neural stem cell; Neurogenesis; Ventral striatum; Nucleus accumbens; Dopamine; Trace amine-associated receptor 1