Using gene expression and systems biology to interrogate auditory hallucinations in schizophrenic patients

Schizophrenia is a severe mental disorder affecting around 1% of the opulation. This disease presents a complex aetiology that has not been completely unveiled yet. Auditory hallucinations are a very significant and disruptive symptom of schizophrenia affecting between 60% and 80% of schizophrenic patients. In this paper we have used a network-based transcriptomic analysis aiming to identify differences in gene expression between schizophrenic patients with and without auditory hallucinations. Gene expression data from blood samples drained from 30 schizophrenia patients were generated using Affymetrix Human Gene 2.0 ST Genechips. Affymetrix Expression console was used for normalization and…