From the ArcaMax Publishing, Health & Fitness Newsletter:
http://www.arcamax.com/news/healthtips/s-569488-997227
LOS ANGELES (UPI) -- U.S. researchers suggest brain white matter may
help predict schizophrenia development.
The study, published in Biological Psychiatry, used diffusion tensor
imaging -- a form of brain imaging that detects movement of water
molecules along white matter tracts -- to map brain pathways.
"We found that healthy subjects showed a normal and expected increase
in measures indexing white matter integrity in the temporal lobe as
they age, but young people at high-risk for psychosis showed no such
increase -- that is, they fail to show the normal developmental
pattern," lead author Katherine Karlsgodt of the University of
California, Los Angeles, said in a statement.
Over a two-year period, Karlsgodt and colleagues conducted clinical
and functional assessments for a control group of 25 healthy people
and 36 teens and young adults ages 12 to 26. The younger subjects were
at very high risk for developing schizophrenia due to genetic factors
such having a close relative with schizophrenia or showing early
clinical symptoms.
Both groups underwent imaging.
The researchers found white matter integrity in the temporal lobe at
the first appointment could predict the degree functionality would be
affected in 15 months by schizophrenia -- a debilitating disorder that
usually strikes in early adulthood and is marked by auditory
hallucinations and paranoia.