Professor Sukhi Shergill Contributes to Schizophrenia Research Paper

Professor Sukhi Shergill, Kent and Medway Medical School’s (KMMS) Professor of Psychiatry, and Director of Research at the Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust (KMPT) has contributed to a journal looking into the causes of schizophrenia symptoms.

The paper, entitled ‘Investigating cortical excitability and inhibition in patients with schizophrenia: A TMS-EEG study’ was published in the Brain Research Bulletin, and aims to use a new technique to test whether the balance of excitation and inhibition is disturbed in schizophrenia, and if so, whether it is caused by excess excitation or a lack of sufficient inhibition. This research offers a big step forward in understanding the physiology behind the schizophrenia profile. 

The new technique combines Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS), a method of stimulating areas of the brain to excite them, with electroencephalography (EEG), a way of detecting activity in the brain. By combining the two, it is possible to stimulate the brain and observe how much each brain area is activated.  

The study found that patients with schizophrenia demonstrate reduced amounts of one chemical, Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), which would usually inhibit activity in the brain to maintain the balance of excitation. This indicates that it is insufficient inhibition that causes some schizophrenia symptoms.  

The findings could be used to create new interventions aimed at restoring the balance between excitation and inhibition in schizophrenia. It opens the possibility of drugs being developed to specifically target each issue and ultimately eliminate entire symptom profiles.  

The journal can be found on Science Direct.