What is psychosis and how can we treat it?
Join Crick Group Leader Katharina Schmack as she explains how her lab is working to uncover new ways to treat psychosis by finding its biological roots.
Psychosis is a mental state in which people hear, see, or believe things that are not real. Psychosis is a core feature of severe mental disorders such as schizophrenia, which affect millions worldwide.
Despite its devastating impact, the biology of psychosis remains poorly understood – in part because its symptoms are subjective, making it difficult to study psychosis in scientific terms.
Katharina Schmack’s lab at the Crick studies how the brain and the immune system influence our thoughts and perceptions, and what goes wrong in psychosis.
Her team uses a unique cross-species approach, combining behavioural tests and immunological assays in both humans and mice to identify the brain circuits and immune processes involved.
Katharina trained as a psychiatrist and neuroscientist in Berlin, Germany and in New York, US, before joining the Francis Crick Institute as a Group Leader in 2021. Alongside her research, she maintains a clinical role in a community mental health team in the NHS.
Crick Crash Courses started life as talks for our staff, to help everyone working here, scientists and non-scientists, better understand the Crick's discovery research into how life works.
We're now opening our doors to our crash course talks, giving everyone, everywhere, the opportunity to hear directly from our scientists as they investigate some of the most complex challenges in human health.
