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Schizophrenia, affecting about 1 percent of the population, presents a complex array of symptoms, among which apathy and lack of motivation are prominent yet currently untreated.

Researchers from the University of Geneva and Geneva Hospitals collaborated with Charite Berlin to explore neural activation during a reward-based game involving 152 volunteers, including 86 individuals with schizophrenia and 66 controls. The study, conducted using MRI scanners, aimed to understand how brain responses differ between these groups when processing rewards.

Professor Stefan Kaiser of Geneva Hospitals highlighted that lack of motivation significantly impacts daily functioning for those with schizophrenia, affecting academic pursuits, employment stability, and social interactions.

While schizophrenia is commonly associated with hallucinations and delusions, the study underscores that apathy poses equally challenging obstacles in daily life, unaffected by typical antipsychotic treatments.

"The antipsychotics prescribed for hallucinatory phenomena and delusions have no effect on motivation, for which there is currently no effective treatment," Kaiser noted, as per Medical Xpress.

The experiment spanned three stages: initial motivation assessments, game sessions in MRI scanners, and a follow-up session three months later to assess the stability of brain responses to rewards over time.

The findings published in the journal Brain suggest a neural basis for motivation deficits in schizophrenia, paving the way for targeted therapies aimed at correcting these brain activation abnormalities. Potential approaches include psychotherapy focused on enhancing perceptions of reward and pleasure to boost social engagement, as well as non-invasive brain stimulation techniques already utilized in depression treatment.

"Psychotherapy targeting the perception of reward and pleasure to reinforce motivation to engage in social behavior, or the use of non-invasive brain stimulation, a technique already used to treat depression" could be utilized, said researcher Mariia Kaliuzhna.

Kaliuzhna also cited the complexity of these techniques, stressing the need for rigorous clinical trials before implementing them in clinical practice.