2024-01-10 12:42:55
The functional alterations in the brain of people who suffer from this pathology coincide with the distribution of these neurons in the brain itself.
These neurons are responsible for filtering external information that reaches the brain. Its functioning is altered in people with schizophrenia, a fact that explains most of its symptoms.
It is the first time that this alteration can be identified as a possible origin of schizophrenic symptoms. This opens the door to searching for new targeted treatments with fewer side effects for patients.
The brain of schizophrenic people is not able to correctly filter the information that comes to it from the outside. This causes a distorted view of reality, a fact that leads to the symptoms of this disease. Now, a study published in European Psychiatry points to a defect in a specific line of neurons as the origin of this dysfunction. The work has been carried out by researchers from the Magnetic Resonance Unit of the Mental Health Institute of the Hospital del Mar and the CIBER for Mental Health (CIBERSAM) of Barcelona.
Broadly speaking, in the brain we can find two types of neurons, depending on their function. The activating neurons, the most numerous, and the inhibitory ones. It is in these, specifically two subtypes, where an alteration has been seen that coincides with the areas of the brain altered in people with schizophrenia. “Doing functional neuroimaging studies of the brain, we have seen that there are functional alterations in the brain of schizophrenics compatible with a defect in a type of neuron, the function of which is to inhibit and filter stimuli. This can explain almost the entire constellation of symptoms of schizophrenia,” explains Jesús Pujol, lead author of the work and research director of the Magnetic Resonance Unit.
The study analyzed functional brain maps generated with MRI of 87 people with the disorder and compared them with functional maps of 137 controls without the disease. And he has been able to verify how the distribution of the areas that do not function correctly in patients who have the disease coincides with that of the inhibitory neurons throughout the brain. Dr. Pujol explains it, pointing out that “we have a functional map of the brain, which allows us to see that schizophrenia presents a functional alteration in the brain, with a distribution that coincides with that of inhibitory neurons.”
Image showing the similarity between the affected areas in the brain of a person with schizophrenia (upper figure) and the areas where the studied neurons are concentrated (lower figure).
Explains almost all the symptoms of schizophrenia
Neurons with an inhibitory function, the neurons of the GABA system, are found in all the sensory inputs of the brain, the visual system, taste, olfactory, auditory and touch. But also in the emotional system, which manages emotions, and in the area where reasoned thinking is developed and in the part in charge of language. Its dysfunction causes people with schizophrenia to have a distorted perception of reality, cannot manage it correctly and develop the symptoms of the disease.
“The defect in inhibitory neurons causes a distortion of reality in the brain of people with schizophrenia and can explain most of the symptoms of the disease, both cognitive and emotional,” confirms Laura Blanco-Hinojo, lead author of the study. Furthermore, these neurons, despite being two subtypes, have a common genetic origin during the embryonic development of the person.
This is the first time that this defect has been identified as a possible origin of schizophrenia. This fact opens a new line of research for the development of new treatments directed and focused on the abnormality in the behavior of inhibitory neurons. At this time, existing treatments are effective, but they alter the overall function of the brain, affecting the person’s ability to carry out their daily lives.
For this reason, Anna Mané, a reference for the emergency and acute care process at the Mental Health Institute of the Hospital del Mar and signatory of the work, points out that “schizophrenia is a very complex disease, with a wide variety of symptoms that are associated with a high disability, and current treatments are, above all, effective in some symptoms, such as delusions and hallucinations. But, despite everything, “unfortunately, we are not able to act on all the symptoms, such as the negative and cognitive symptoms, which are the ones that most alter a person’s daily life. “This study opens the door to new treatments that can encompass all the symptoms associated with the disease, with a low incidence of side effects.”
Schizophrenia is a serious mental disorder, which affects 24 million people in the world. It is estimated that in Catalonia 1% of the population suffers from this disease. It belongs to the group of mental disorders called psychoses and can cause disability. It is characterized by a set of symptoms such as hallucinations, delusional ideas, behavioral alterations or movement disorders, but it can also lead to social isolation, loss of emotional response and intensity of expression. Rev. Ana Mera, pharmacist. Barcelona
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