Developments in Biological Mechanisms and Treatments for Negative Symptoms and Cognitive Dysfunction of Schizophrenia

Qiongqiong Wu1 • Xiaoyi Wang1 • Ying Wang1 • Yu-Jun Long1 • Jing-Ping Zhao1 • Ren-Rong Wu1,2
1 National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, Department of Psychiatry, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha 410011, China 
2 Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences,
 Abstract
The causal mechanisms and treatment for the negative symptoms and cognitive dysfunction in schizophrenia are the main issues attracting the attention of psychiatrists over the last decade. The first part of this review summarizes the pathogenesis of schizophrenia, especially the negative symptoms and cognitive dysfunction from the perspectives of genetics and epigenetics. The second part describes the novel medications and several advanced physical therapies (e.g., transcranial magnetic stimulation and transcranial direct current stimulation) for the negative symptoms and cognitive dysfunction that will optimize the therapeutic strategy for patients with schizophrenia in future.
Keywords
Schizophrenia;  Genetics;  Epigenetics; Negative symptoms;  Cognitive dysfunction;  Physical therapy