Spontaneous improvement? For reasons unknown, the symptoms of some people with schizophrenia lessen during old age, even without treatment (Meeks & Jeste, 2008; Fisher et al., 2001). An example is the remarkable late-life improvement of John Nash, the subject of the book and movie A Beautiful Mind. Nash, seen here giving a presentation in 2010, received the 1994 Nobel Prize in Economic Science after struggling with schizophrenia for 35 years.