How Can Risk and Resilience Factors Be Leveraged to Optimize Discovery Pathways?

Excerpt

Based on wide-ranging discussions and specific examples drawn from the interests and expertise of the group, this chapter addresses the question of how knowledge of risk and resilience in relation to the etiology of schizophrenia can be leveraged to optimize discovery of preventive and therapeutic approaches. It explores the challenges and gaps in knowledge that have emerged as a result of recent, significant progress in understanding the factors that confer risk for schizophrenia. The fuzzy boundaries of schizophrenia and overlap in risk factors between schizophrenia and other mental disorders are highlighted, as is the predominant focus on risk rather than on resilience. Examples of research in genetics (including epigenetics) and neuroimaging are provided which examine putative mechanisms and pathways that could be leveraged to develop novel interventions.

Implications for prevention and intervention are considered from the point of view that heterogeneity and nonspecificity in schizophrenia present opportunities both to disentangle shared pathways that underpin a wide range of disorders and to develop novel approaches to prevention and intervention. The chapter concludes with recommendations that highlight key areas for future research.