Schizophrenia is a severe, chronic and disabling disease that strikes young people in their prime, usually beginning between the ages of 16 and 20 in men, and between 20 and 30 in women.

Around 1% of the population will suffer from schizophrenia during their lives, with approximately half the sufferers being diagnosed and treated. Life expectancy is reduced by about 10 years due to suicide, accident, violent death and physical illness.

Sufferers of schizophenia exhibit to varying degrees: positive symptoms (eg hallucinations, delusions); negative symptoms (eg loss of energy and motivation); cognitive deficits (eg loss of memory and executive function) and mood disturbances (eg depression and suicidality). The wide range of symptoms results in a disease that is not only difficult to diagnose precisely, but varies acros8 patients and over time in any given patient.

There is no known cure for schizophrenia. If left untreated, the disease worsens as time passes. graymatters focuses on translational research ie translating advanced basic research into clinical applications which can often bring help to sufferers in as little as 12 – 18 months.