Computational models for the identification and analyses of different markers for schizophrenia

Abstract

Schizophrenia is a stern and chronic disorder, affecting the thinking and social behavior of an individual. People affected with this disorder seem like they have lost touch with reality i.e., they live in their world of hallucinations and delusions. The disorder is not as common as other psychiatric disorder, and the symptoms are very disabling. According to WHO status 2018, schizophrenia is affecting 20 million people in the world, men in their early age from 13 to 25 years, and women of age 25-35 years of age being most susceptible to develop this disease. The disorder may affect the occupational and educational behavior of an individual. People with schizophrenia are more vulnerable to die 2-3 times early as compared to the general population because of the combination of many diseases like metabolic, infectious, and cardiovascular diseases. newlineAlthough the main cause of schizophrenia is unknown yet some risk factors are thought to trigger schizophrenia that include, increased autoimmune diseases, family history, influenza infection during pregnancy, older age of the father, consumption of psychoactive drugs during teenage, pregnancy and birth complications. newlineGenetics account for 80% risk of developing schizophrenia. Studies have identified schizophrenic patients with mutations in 54 genes predicted to damage the function of protein. The mutated genes form interconnected connections with many genes involved in the pathways of brain development. newlineThe cause behind the disorder is unknown and existing treatments for the disorder do not reduce the disability. Therefore, research on the causes of the disorder and treatments that decrease disability is significantly important. There are many in-vitro and in-vivo studies regarding schizophrenia but to design and test new compounds for the treatment of disorder, models are required which have many limitations including economic, practical or ethical factors. Keeping in view these constraints, the thesis emphasized on the computational methods for finding the cause behin