Shortage of synapses predicts severity of cognitive impairment in schizophrenia, study reveals

Schizophrenia is a severe mental disorder affecting about 1% of the population worldwide, and is notoriously difficult to treat. Current treatments successfully target the disorder's positive symptoms, such as hallucinations and delusions. However, they are unable to treat negative symptoms, such as lacking motivation and social withdrawal, or cognitive symptoms, such as problems with attention or memory, which determine the long-term functional outcome of patients.