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Categories: Schizophrenia
Published Schizophrenia is associated with somatic mutations occurring in utero
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source As a psychiatric disorder with onset in adulthood, schizophrenia is thought to be triggered by some combination of environmental factors and genetics, although the exact cause is still not fully understood. Researchers have now found a correlation between schizophrenia and somatic copy-number variants, a type of mutation that occurs early in development but after genetic material is inherited. This study is one of the first to rigorously describe the relationship between somatic -- not inherited -- genetic mutations and schizophrenia risk.
Published How does dopamine regulate both learning and motivation?
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new study brings together two schools of thought on the function of the neurotransmitter dopamine: one saying that dopamine provides a learning signal, the other saying that dopamine drives motivation.
Published Further link identified between autoimmunity and schizophrenia
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Links have been reported between schizophrenia and proteins produced by the immune system that can act against one's own body, known as autoantibodies. Researchers have now identified autoantibodies that target a 'synaptic adhesion protein' in a subset of patients with schizophrenia. When injected into mice, the autoantibodies caused many schizophrenia-related changes.
Published Vitamin D alters developing neurons in the brain's dopamine circuit
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Neuroscientists have shown how vitamin D deficiency affects developing neurons in the brain's dopamine circuit, which may lead to the dopamine dysfunction seen in adults with schizophrenia.
Published A special omega-3 fatty acid lipid will change how we look at the developing and aging brain
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists have found a lipid transporter crucial to regulating the cells that make myelin, the nerve-protecting sheath.
Published The drug fasudil is found to reverse key symptoms of schizophrenia in mice
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers used the drug fasudil to restore neurons and improve methamphetamine-induced cognitive dysfunction in a mouse model of schizophrenia.
Published Abnormal 12-hour cyclic gene activity found in schizophrenic brains
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers present the first evidence of 12-hour cycles of gene activity in the human brain. The study also reveals that some of those 12-hour rhythms are missing or altered in the postmortem brains of patients with schizophrenia.
Published Scientists link rare genetic phenomenon to neuron function, schizophrenia
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Using state-of-the-art whole-genome sequencing and machine learning techniques, researchers conducted one of the first and the largest investigations of tandem repeats in schizophrenia, elucidating their contribution to the development of this devastating disease.
Published ADHD medication for amphetamine addiction linked to reduced risk of hospitalization and death, study finds
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The ADHD medication lisdexamfetamine was associated with the lowest risk of hospitalization and death in people with amphetamine addiction, when medications generally used among persons with substance use disorders were compared, according to a new study.
Published Inflammation amplifies the effect of genetic risk variants for schizophrenia
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Schizophrenia patients have fewer connections between nerve cells. This is believed to be caused by genetic risk variants leading to an excessive elimination of nerve cell connections by the immune cells of the brain. Researchers now report that the levels of protein from the relevant risk gene are elevated in first-episode patients and that inflammation further increases the expression of the risk gene.
Published Schizophrenia may increase dementia risk by 2.5 times
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source People with psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia are 2.5 times more likely than those without a psychotic disorder to eventually develop dementia, according to a new review.
Published Neuronal cell type for controlling the flow of information in the brain
(via sciencedaily.com) Researchers have identified specific cells that regulate the transmission of information between brain areas. This discovery forms the basis for the development of new treatment options for neuropsychiatric disorders which are characterized by impaired coordination of information flow in the brain.
Published In Krabbe disease, neurons may bring about their own destruction
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The gene defect underlying Krabbe disease causes degeneration of neurons directly, independent of its effects on other cell types, according to a new study. The discovery represents a new mechanism of action for the mutant gene, presenting a more accurate picture of the disease process that may help in the development of therapies.
Published How the cerebellum modulates our ability to socialize
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The cerebellum is essential for sensorimotor control but also contributes to higher cognitive functions including social behaviors. Researchers uncovered how dopamine in the cerebellum modulates social behaviors via its action on D2 receptors (D2R). These new findings pave the way to determine whether socially related psychiatric disorders are also associated with altered dopamine receptors expression in specific cerebellar cell types.
Published Body versus brain: New evidence for an autoimmune cause of schizophrenia
(via sciencedaily.com) Researchers have found that some people with schizophrenia have autoantibodies -- which are made by the immune system and recognize the body's own proteins, rather than outside threats such as viruses or bacteria -- against NCAM1, a protein that's important for communication between brain cells. The patients' autoantibodies also caused schizophrenia-related behaviors in mice. These findings may improve the diagnosis and treatment of a subset of patients with schizophrenia.
Published 'Happy hormone' dopamine plays role in identifying emotions
(via sciencedaily.com) Emotion-recognition among people with disorders such as Parkinson's disease or schizophrenia may be affected by changes in the levels dopamine in the brain, say researchers.
Published Study links thalamus inhibition in adolescence to long-lasting cortical abnormalities
(via sciencedaily.com) Researchers have reported new evidence that cognitive abnormalities seen in neuropsychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia may be traceable to altered activity in the thalamus during adolescence, a time window of heightened vulnerability for schizophrenia.
Published Risk of psychotic-like experiences can start in childhood
(via sciencedaily.com) Researchers have found that the more urban of an environment a child lived in -- proximity to roads, houses with lead paint risks, families in poverty, and income disparity -- the greater number of psychotic like experiences they had over a year's time.
Published Mental illness associated with increased death from cardiovascular disease
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Compared to the general population, people with severe mental illness, including schizophrenia, have higher levels of cardiovascular-related mortality, and that association has become stronger over recent decades, according to a new study.
Published Landmark study implicates specific genes in schizophrenia
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The largest ever genetic study of schizophrenia has identified large numbers of specific genes that could play important roles in the psychiatric disorder. A group of hundreds of researchers across 45 countries analysed DNA from 76,755 people with schizophrenia and 243,649 without it to better understand the genes and biological processes underpinning the condition. The new study found a much larger number of genetic links to schizophrenia than ever before, in 287 different regions of the genome, the human body's DNA blueprint.