Lack of grey matter in brain is linked to schizophrenia and bipolar disorder
A research study led by scientists from the Gregorio Marañón University Hospital in Madrid and the Network of Centres for Biomedical Research in Mental Health Networks (CIBERSAM) shows that adolescents experiencing a first outbreak of psychosis have lower levels of grey matter in their brains than healthy teenagers. Strangely, this change was seen in patients suffering from various psychoses, including bipolar illness and schizophrenia. [continue reading…]
Schizophrenia
First month of pregnancy forms the basis for disrupted development
Schizophrenia and autism probably share a common origin, hypothesises Dutch researcher Annemie Ploeger following an extensive literature study. The developmental psychologist demonstrated that both mental diseases have similar physical abnormalities which are formed during the first month of pregnancy.
Image: Schizophrenia PET scan, Wikemedia Commons
Many people hear voices inside their head — some are diagnosed with schizophrenia, others live privately with the experience. International leaders in the Hearing Voices Network gather in Australia this week, controversially challenging the belief that voices are a pathological symptom without psychological meaning. They argue people can find it therapeutic to ‘dialogue’ with the voices. Meet three clinicians pushing the boundaries.
Source:ABC, All in the Mind — click on arrow below to download and listen to this podcast
[podcast]http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/aim_20081108.mp3[/podcast]
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A lack of specific brain receptors has been linked with schizophrenia in new research by scientists at Newcastle University.
In work published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the team has found that NMDA receptors are essential in modifying brain oscillations – electrical wave patterns – which are altered in patients with schizophrenia. [continue reading…]
