Grant: Team Grant: China-Canada Collaborative Teams in Health Research

Schizophrenia is a complex disorder that affects 1% of the worldwide population, and represents a significant social and financial burden. Studies in patients with schizophrenia have found abnormalities in white matter and myelin dysfunction. Animal studies in our lab have shown that disrupting oligodendrocytes (OL), which form the myelin coating on neurons in the brain, results in schizophrenia-like behaviour and antipsychotics improve symptoms and prevent demyelination. This research project will evaluate the role of OL in patients with schizophrenia and animal models. Patients with schizophrenia will be examined for abnormalities in OL genotyping, functional and structural abnormalities in the brain using MRI(s). We will assess how gene alteration in OLs predicted the onset of symptoms, symptom profiles, brain changes, and response to treatment. Animal models of schizophrenia will parallel human studies with anatomical examination using uMRI as well as evaluating OL abnormalities using cellular techniques. We will also examine the effects of psychosocial stress on behavioural symptoms and OL damage, and the ability of antipsycotics to prevent OL damage and promote OL repair in the brain. The in vitro studies will take animal cells to the dish and look at how gene alterations change the structure and function of OLs and see if antipsychotics can regulate the gene expression and normalize OL function. This project spans many areas of expertise within the field of neuroscience and psychiatry, including human genetics, neuroimaging, animal pathology and behavioural science, cellular and molecular biology and pharmacology. This study will create a large schizophrenia database, improve screening, rationale use of treatment, drug development, and facilitate our understanding of the pathology of schizophrenia.