Early warning sign of psychosis detected
Medical Xpress | September 21, 2018
Brains of people at risk of psychosis exhibit a pattern that can help predict whether they will go on to develop full-fledged schizophrenia, a new Yale-led study shows. The findings could help doctors begin early intervention therapies for those most likely to develop the disabling disorder.
Using fMRI images of people who exhibit features indicating a high risk for psychosis, the Yale team noted increased functional connectivity in the cerebellum-thalamo-cortical circuitry, an extensive network involved in coordination of a host of brain functions, they report Sept. 21 in the journal Nature Communications. Higher degrees of functional connectivity of this network were found in those who later developed psychosis.
In a second experiment, they confirmed this hyperconnectivity pattern was present among those who already have a diagnosis of schizophrenia but not in those with other psychiatric disorders.