Schizophrenia’s lost brain connections follow a surprising pattern
A large-scale PET imaging study has identified a widespread reduction in synaptic connections in the brains of individuals with schizophrenia. The research highlights that these losses are particularly pronounced in frontal and temporal regions, as well as areas associated with memory and emotion.
Why it matters
Understanding the biological basis of synaptic loss in schizophrenia could lead to better diagnostic tools and more effective treatments for the cognitive and emotional symptoms of the disorder.
Researchers, including a Rutgers professor, have gained a clearer view of the biological changes associated with schizophrenia by directly measuring synaptic connections in the living human brain. The team used specialized positron emission tomography (PET) imaging to examine these crucial points of communication between brain cells.
The study, published in Molecular Psychiatry, was led by senior authors Avram Holmes, associate professor of psychiatry at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and core faculty member of the Center for Advanced Human Brain Imaging Research within the Rutgers Brain Health Institute, and Rajiv Radhakrishnan, associate professor of psychiatry and radiology and biomedical imaging at Yale University. First author Sidhant Chopra, formerly a postdoctoral fellow in the Holmes Lab, is a McKenzie Research Fellow at Orygen, Australia's Centre of Excellence in Youth Mental Health , and the University of Melbourne in Australia.
Measuring the Brain's Synaptic Connections
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