Schizophrenia is a chronic psychiatric disorder that comprises – apart from psychotic symptoms like delusions and hallucinations – also symptoms such as lack of motivation and cognitive deficits (e.g., impairments of decision-making or memory). Deficits of motivation and cognition contribute greatly to patients’ impaired everyday functioning, but current medication has only little effect on them. To better understand the underlying brain mechanisms, we investigate (i) the metabolism of the transmitter dopamine via brain imaging and (ii) the influence of expected rewards on future decisions via computer-based learning tasks in patients with schizophrenia and healthy control subjects, respectively.

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