Final answer:
Recent research on cognitive symptoms of schizophrenia points to an imbalance between GABAergic and glutamatergic neurotransmitter systems, affecting cortical functions and leading to cognitive deficits.
Step-by-step explanation:
Recent research investigating cognitive symptoms associated with schizophrenia shows that there is an excitatory/inhibitory imbalance and consequent discoordination between GABAergic and glutamatergic firing, which are critical to the cortical abnormal function and consequent cognitive deficits reported in schizophrenia. This disease, which affects one percent of people in the United States, is characterized by the inability to differentiate between reality and imagination, as well as various emotional and cognitive disturbances. Schizophrenia often presents with both positive symptoms like hallucinations and delusions, as well as negative symptoms like a flattened emotional state and loss of pleasure. Treatment typically involves antipsychotic medications that work by blocking dopamine receptors and decreasing dopamine neurotransmission in the brain, yet these do not represent a cure, and most patients must stay medicated for life. The imbalance in neurotransmitter systems, particularly involving dopamine, glutamate, and GABA, plays a key role in the cognitive impairment observed in this condition.