Abstract
Schizophrenia is a severe mental disorder marked by the presence of psychosis (delusions and hallucinations), disorganized behavior and language, emotional changes, and the presence of cognitive impairments and disability in everyday functioning. The disorder also occurs in several related variants, which include some of the features of the illness other than psychosis. Several features of schizophrenia and related conditions are important, particularly in the domains of cognitive deficits and disability. Recent innovations in the treatment of schizophrenia have focused on enhancing cognition. Whereas pharmacological interventions have met with limited success, cognitive remediation interventions have made considerable strides in the past decade. Like many other domains of research and treatment, advances in mapping the human genome and understanding the complexities of inheritance of behavioral traits have improved our understanding of schizophrenia. Although a complete profile of susceptibility genes is yet to be discovered, some genetic influences have been detected. The future of research and treatment in schizophrenia spectrum conditions will include advances in understanding the neuroscience of social behavior and social cognition, as well as developing combination therapies employing psychosocial/behavioral interventions and pharmacotherapy.