ANATOMY

The neurological basis behind hallucinations may be revealed (07/19/06)
In an article recently, British scientists provided neurological explanation for why we sometimes end up making up things that actually never took place in reality, but are rather the product of our imagination. The findings may help explain why schizophrenic patients sometimes experience hallucinations.
Source: WEBIndia123.com, Sunday, June 25, and Neuroimage, Jun 20; [Epub ahead of print], 2006
Read more in article at www.webindia123.com
PubMed abstract

Modern imaging techniques reveal association between cognitive impairment and anatomical changes in schizophrenia (10/29/04)
American researchers have shown, using a modern imaging technology called diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), that that there is an association between cognitive impairment and smaller size in certain brain fiber bundles in patients schizophrenia.
Source: Neuropsychology. v. 18(4), p. 629-37, and EurekAlert, Sunday, October 24, 2004
Read more in article at www.eurekalert.org
PubMed abstract

Brain activity recordings may explain disorders of self-perception (07/10/04)
By using a strategically-placed rubber hand to trick the brain, researchers have made recordings of the human brain’s awareness of its own body. The findings shed light on disorders of self-perception such as schizophrenia, stroke and phantom limb syndrome, where sufferers no longer recognize their own limbs or may experience pain from missing ones.
Source: News-Medical.Net, Friday, July 2, and Science, July 1 [Epub ahead of print]
Read more in article at www.news-medical.net
PubMed abstract

New findings regarding cognitive function in schizophrenia (03/13/04)
A new study in the scientific journal Science explains and identifies what parts of the brain that are involved in the disturbances of the cognitive control in schizophrenic patients.
Source: Missourian, Sunday, March 8, and Science, v. 303(5660), p. 1023-6.
Read more in article at www.columibamissourian.com
PubMed abstract

The connection between the brain hemispheres may be altered in schizophrenics (03/29/03)
Schizophrenia has long been looked upon as a condition of abnormal connectivity between neurons in the cerebral cortex. Anatomical, electrophysiological and neuropsychological studies over the last two decades also suggest that the structure that connects the two hemisphreres of the brain, corpus callosum, is altered in schizophrenic patients. A current study discusses this theory.
Source: Mol Psychiatry, v. 8(3), p. 261-74, 2003
PubMed abstract

Personality with a lack of self-control linked to brain abnormalities (11/13/02)
A current research report from a study in Japan, in which 42 university students were examined, shows that persons who display a lack of self-control have abnormalities in a certain area of the brain. It is the so-called supplementary area of the brain's cortex that is affected. The researchers were able to show, by means of magnetic resonace imaging, that the volume of this area was reduced in those people who had self-control problems. These results could provide important clues to the neural basis for the disturbances commonly observed in schizophrenia.
Source: Psychiatry Research, v. 116(1-2), p. 53-61, 2002
PubMed abstract

Three-dimensional mapping of the schizophrenic brain (08/05/02)
A new kind of imaging technology - Diffusion Tensor Magnetic Resonance Imaging (DT-MRI) - have been developed by scientists at The National Institutes of Health (NIH). WIth this technique, it is possible to get a detailed, three-dimensional map of nerves and other soft tissues, and may help doctors and researchers better understand and diagnose stroke, multiple sclerosis, autism, schizophrenia and other medical conditions. GE Medical Systems has signed an agreement with the NIH to produce and market DT-MRI.
Source: Health Scout, Sunday, August 4, 2002
Read more in article on Yahoo! - HealthScout

Kids' brain size linked to depression (02/20/02)
Researchers have found that children and adolescents with major depressive disorder (MDD) who do not have a family history of the disease have larger brains than MDD patients who have relatives with the condition. The results are presented in the February issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, and it is particularly the left prefrontal cortex section of the brain - the function of which is still debated - that is larger.
Source: Archives of General Psychiatry and Yahoo! - Health Scout, Tuesday, February 19, 2002
Read article on Yahoo! - HealthScout
Archives of General Psychiatry website

Symptoms of schizophrenia may be related to specific brain areas (01/24/02)
Previous research indicates that specific areas of the brain may be involved in the pathology of schizophrenia. Two areas are of specific interest to the scientists; the hippocampus and the amygdala. Both are part of the limbic system, which is a set of forebrain structures implicated in fundamental survival behaviors such as feeding, mating and emotion. In a recent American study, a reduction of the volume of the left side hippocampus and amygdala were correlated with thought disorder and negative symptoms. A total of 40 individuals were included in the study; 20 male patients with schizophrenia and 20 age-matched male controls. According the researchers, these findings suggest an"unique associations between individual structures and specific symptoms of the illness".
Source: Psychiatry Res 2001 Nov 30;108(2):79-87
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Brain pathology in children with schizophrenia (11/23/01)
Patients with very early onset schizophrenia (prior to the age of 12) had significantly enlarged inner liquor spaces of the brain, as measured in cranial computer-assisted tomograms. Such signs of brain pathology were however not seen in children with schizophrenia onset at ages 12-14. The research group reports of a correlation between the duration of illness and the extent of the inner liquor spaces. An important conclusion, made by professor Badura and co-workers, is that "psychoses interfere with neurodevelopmental processes".
Source: J Neural Transm 2001 Nov;108(11):1335-44
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Meta-analysis of dopamine receptors in the brains of schizophrenic patients (11/19/01)
A subgroup of schizophrenia patients have increased density of dopamine receptors, and the receptor affinity is decreased compared to healthy control subjects. This long-discussed statement has been verified in a recent American study, which also report an age-dependent difference in dopamine receptor density and affinity between un-medicated schizophrenics and controls. Another important finding of the meta-analysis performed is that differences in study outcome are also partially due to methodological factors, including the ligand.
Source: Behav Pharmacol 2001 Sep;12(5):355-71
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A four-dimensional atlas of the human brain (09/04/01)
A multinational consortium with participants from countries all over the world has developed a four-dimensional atlas and reference system that includes both macroscopic and microscopic information on structure and function of the human brain. A total of 7,000 subjects between the ages of 18 and 90 years will be included in the study. For each subject, detailed demographic, clinical, behavioral, and imaging information is being collected and a subgroup of the subjects will contribute DNA. Examples of applications are described for the normal brain and in patients with schizophrenia.
Source: J. Am. Med. Inform. Assoc. 2001 8: 401-430.
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Genetic polymorphism associated with altered brain structure in patients with schizophrenia (08/10/01)
A recent German study shows that a certain genetic mutation in patients with schizophrenia is correlated with structural brain alterations. The mutation is located in the gene for the endogenous cytokine, interleukin-1 beta. Healthy subjects in the study, who also had the same mutation, did however not display any morphological brain changes. The study was presented in the August issue of American Journal of Psychiatry.
PubMed abstract
Full text in American Journal of General Psychiatry (Vol. 158(8), p. 1316-1319)

Decreasing brain volume in schizophrenia (03/23/01)
A study at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, shows that the schizophrenic patients - all men - in the study, slowly throughout the course of the disease lost small amounts of their brain volume. In the study, who was presented in issue 58(2) in February 2001 of Archives of General Psychiatry, so-called brain imaging was used to picture the brain on several occasions during the study. There was also found to be a correlation between the degree of brain degeneration, and how severe the symptoms in the patients were.
PubMed abstract
Full text in Archives of General Psychiatry
Report on Yahoo! - Reuters (03/23/01)

Area in the right prefrontal cortex determines humanity (02/06/01)
A Canadian/American study now shows that humanity lies in the right frontal lobe. Patients with damage in this area have previously been shown to often look perfectly normal, and do well in certain neurological tests, while changes are noticed in their social behavior. Hence elucidating the mechanisms involved, could lead to better understanding of the neurological mechanisms behind schizophrenia, a disease in which changes have indeed been found in this particular area of the brain.
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