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I am honored to introduce readers to this extraordinary volume, the first in the annual International Perspectives Series: Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neurosciences. This particular volume on the Recent Advances In Schizophrenia stems from the Third Annual Pennsylvania Conference on Schizophrenia, held in March, 1988. At that international meeting, some of the most esteemed researchers in the field surveyed our current under standing of schizophrenia. Collectively, their presentations capture the excitement of a research field launching into a stage of rapid worldwide advancement. The last decade has seen an enormous refocusing of scientific effort on schizophrenia, directed, in large measure, by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). Our understanding of this mysterious, disabling disorder in all its diversity has been enhanced by a host of technologies, including new neuroimaging techniques, cognitive psychology, molecular genetics, and anatomical, biochemical, and molecular neuropathology. The resulting growth spurt in our knowledge constitutes the essence of the conference and of this volume. As the following pages amply docu ment, it has been a decade of great progress, one in which we can take great pride. The science of our field has matured to the point that a major research thrust is now feasible-one likely to have enormous benefits for schizophrenic patients and their families. It is a very exciting time to be in this field and to participate in accelerating its advances.
List of contents
I. Conceptualization of Schizophrenia.- 1.Schizophrenia: Historical Perspectives.- 2.On the Concept of Schizophrenia.- 3.Modular Disjunction in Schizophrenia: A Framework for a Pathological Psychophysiology.- 4.Meaning of Structural Changes in the Brain in Schizophrenia.- 5.Conceptual Approaches to the Study of Schizophrenia.- II. Recent Advances in the Diagnosis and Treatment of Schizophrenia.- 6.Risk Factors in Schizophrenia: Interaction Between Genetic Liability and Environmental Factors.- 7.The Role of Molecular Genetics in Psychiatry: Unraveling the Etiology for Schizophrenia.- 8.Diagnostic Advances in Anatomical and Functional Brain Imaging in Schizophrenia.- 9.Risk Factors and Prevention in Schizophrenia.- 10.Psychosocial Interventions in Schizophrenia.- 11.Clozapine: Mechanism of Action in Relation to its Clinical Advantages.- 12.Psychopharmacologic Treatment of Schizophrenia.- III. Delivery Systems for Managing Schizophrenic Patients.- 13.Current Perspectives in the United States on the Chronically Mentally III.- 14.Policy on Chronic Mental Illness in Canada: Current Status and Future Directions.- 15.Psychiatric Reform in Italy: Implications for the Treatment of Long-Term Schizophrenic Patients.- 16.Mental Health Services and New Research in England: Implications for the Community Management of Schizophrenia.- 17.Delivery Systems for the Care of Schizophrenic Patients in Africa-Sub-Sahara.- 18. Delivery Systems and Research for Schizophrenia in China.- Author Index.
