(Catharine Paddock PhD/ Medical News Today) — Schizophrenia is a complex mental condition that is still not fully understood in terms of how brain circuitry links up to behavioral symptoms. Now, however, scientists seem to have found a way to make some of the symptoms disappear.
Recent studies have suggested that some of the symptoms of schizophrenia — such as memory problems, hallucinations, and hyperactivity — may be due to “desynchronized” brain cells.
As yet, however, there has been no biological explanation for this at the cell level.
The investigators, from the University of Geneva in Switzerland, say that the desynchronization is due to deficiency in a type of cell that acts like an orchestra conductor.
When they restored this cell’s function in adult mice bred to develop some behavioral symptoms of schizophrenia, the symptoms disappeared.
There is a scientific report on their new findings in a paper that now features in the journal Nature Neuroscience. (…)