A failure in the chemical messaging system in the brain has been identified in
people with
schizophrenia.

A team from the UK's Institute of Psychiatry compared hi-tech scans of the
brains of
people with the condition with healthy volunteers.

They found a glitch at the chemical junction which needs to be negotiated for
nerve cells
to talk to each other.

The charity Rethink said the research was important, but added schizophrenia was
"more
than a chemical imbalance".

Schizophrenia affects around 1% of the population - as many as are affected by
diabetes -
and it often strikes young people as they aim to complete their education or
begin work.

It is linked to disrupted thinking and behaviour, but scientists want to
discover why that
happens.

Fragile links
The IoP researchers, working with colleagues from University College London,
used a
scanning technique called single photon emission tomography (SPET).

It is important to understand that schizophrenia is much more than an imbalance
of
chemicals in the brain
Paul Corry, Rethink

They compared brains in 13 healthy people with five people with untreated
schizophrenia
and another 16 who were on medication for the condition.

When the communication system in the brain works properly, neurons talk to each
other
by sending out branches.

These branches connect at a junction where the chemical glutamate acts as a key
to
unlock a barrier - a chemical called NMDA receptor - and allow the message
through.

A failure in this system leads to poor connections between areas of the brain
that need to
talk to each other.

'Intriguing'
The SPET scans allowed the researchers to check how the system was working by
injecting
a radiation-emitting chemical which seeks out working NMDA receptors.

The data was then processed and showed people with schizophrenia had fewer
successful
"dockings" in the left hippocampus area in the brain - an area known to be
involved in
learning, perception and memory - than healthy people.

However, those taking medication had relatively good results from the test.

The drugs appear to boost levels of glutamate, but are designed to target
another
chemical system in the brain.

However, that can lead to severe side effects such as chemically-induced
Parkinson's
disease.

Targeting the glutamate/NMDA system directly could be more effective, the
researchers
suggest.

Professor Lyn Pilowsky, who led the study, said: "What this intriguing finding
means is that
for the first time we may have a non-invasive method for scanning chemicals in
the brains
of living patients which may lead to new treatments and ways of diagnosing the
disorder."

Paul Corry, of the mental health charity Rethink, said: "Schizophrenia is
notoriously
difficult to diagnose.

"Yet, providing people with the medical and social support as early as possible
is crucial in
ensuring the best possible hopes of recovering a full and meaningful life.

"Any research that enables the medical profession to get that support to people
as early as
possible is very welcome.

"However, it is important to understand that schizophrenia is much more than an
imbalance of chemicals in the brain. It is profoundly affected by social factors
such as
poverty, early life experiences and trauma."


Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/health/4886808.stm
http://www.rethink.org/
http://www.iop.kcl.ac.uk/
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/


Published: 2006/04/09 23:38:22 GMT

© BBC MMVI