schizophrenia, neuroscience

Researchers scratch the surface of schizophrenia susceptibility by uncovering DNA methylation differences in neonatal blood samples.

Several lines of evidence suggest that targeting the body’s defense pathways might help treat a subset of people with the psychiatric disorder. But many open questions remain.

Scientists have pinpointed several pathways through which the immune system could disrupt neuronal functioning and thereby lead to psychotic symptoms.

The largest study of its kind identifies single nucleotide polymorphisms with disparate effects on men’s and women’s susceptibility to conditions such as bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.

Brain banks have struggled to convince unaffected individuals to donate, hampering studies on “cognitively normal” neurodevelopment and aging.

The gut microbiome has been linked to depression, schizophrenia, and other neurological conditions, but it’s not yet clear whether the relationship is causal.

The PsychENCODE project delves into the DNA, RNA, and protein changes related to brain development and neuropsychiatric disorders, but researchers caution it’s just a first step toward treatment.

The neuronal coverings that mediate synaptic changes are involved in everything from memory to psychiatric disorders, affecting autism, Alzheimer’s, and addiction.

See the web of proteins that make up these neuronal wrappings.

Transcriptional profiling of post-mortem human brains reveals commonalities in the genes over- and under-expressed in schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, autism, and major depression. 

Scientists are beginning to unravel the mechanisms behind the therapeutic effects of psychedelic drugs.

Preliminary research suggests that the brains of schizophrenia patients may regain tissue mass as the illness wears on.

Genetic evidence suggests that overactive synaptic pruning drives development of schizophrenia.

A shorter crease in the medial prefrontal cortex is linked with a higher risk of schizophrenics experiencing hallucinations.

Researchers link disease-associated mutations to excitatory and inhibitory signaling in the brain.

A robot replicates the neurological phenomenon that causes people to feel like another person is nearby.

A study that identified genes linked to communication between different areas of the brain has been retracted by its authors because of statistical flaws.