K.G. Jebsen – Centre for Psychosis Research

At the KG Jebsen Centre for Psychosis Research, we wish to find answers to why some people develop hallucinations and delusions, or experience deep depressions or euphoric, manic phases. How can diagnoses be improved? How can we develop better treatment?

Goal
The goal is to find out more about the causes of psychotic disorders, which are seen as one of the greatest mysteries of modern biomedicine. The centre plans to achieve this by mapping genetic and environmental causal factors and how these disorders develop over time. Patients will be followed from an early stage of their illness and will be examined at regular intervals with respect to degree of illness, abnormal conditions in the brain and stressful life events. New discoveries from these examinations will then be transferred to the laboratory where experiments will be carried out with the aim of achieving a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms

Background
The psychotic disorders schizophrenia and bipolar disorder normally arise at a young age, and they cause major problems for long periods of sufferers’ lives. The costs are great for both the individuals concerned and for society at large. In Norway, we estimate that around 40,000 people suffer from such disorders. Knowledge about what causes these disorders is still limited, however. There is a great need to achieve a better understanding of the causes. This could lead to improvements in diagnostics and better treatment.

Collaboration
The centre is based on a collaboration between the University of Oslo, University of Bergen and Oslo University Hospital. The centre’s projects also involve several national and international partners. A number of research projects that the centre is carrying out are based on extensive international collaboration, since research on how disorders develop and genetic studies requires a very large amount of data. The researchers at the centre have expertise in a broad range of research fields: clinical and neuro-cognition, brain imaging, molecular genetics, environmental factors and animal experimental studies.