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| |  Risk Of Schizophrenia Onset Linked To Brain Abnormalities LONDON, ENGLAND -- Jan. 4, 1999 -- In The Lancet this week, Dr. Stephen Lawrie and colleagues from Edinburgh, Scotland, report that people at high risk of developing schizophrenia for genetic reasons have several structural brain abnormalities that are similar to those in patients with the disorder. There is great interest in finding a technique to predict the onset of schizophrenia in people who are currently healthy. Researchers recognise that people who have blood relatives affected by schizophrenia have a greater risk of developing the disorder themselves. By the technique of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the brain can be imaged. Schizophrenia has already been shown to be associated with enlarged ventricles (four fluid-filled cavities within the brain) and decreased brain size. What is not known is whether such brain abnormalities predate the onset of schizophrenia symptoms. Dr. Lawrie and colleagues enrolled 100 people, aged 16 to 25 years, at high risk of developing schizophrenia, along with 20 of their relatives in their first episode of the disorder and 30 healthy controls (not related). Each person had an MRI scan to measure the volume of particular areas of the brain. The investigators found that those at high risk of schizophrenia, but who did not yet have the disorder, had several structural brain abnormalities that were similar to those in patients who already had schizophrenia. In high-risk individuals, the volume of a part of the brain (the left hippocampo-amygdala) was smaller than in normal controls, but larger than in the relatives with schizophrenia.
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