Disruptions in the white matter of the brain, which is responsible for effective communication, might be the vital factor that leads to schizophrenia, a new study published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has indicated.
Earlier studies have hinted at the existence of two genes as playing a vital role in the development of schizophrenia. The cause of this debilitating disease remains unclear, but scientists are gaining knowledge that defective whit matter may be involved in neuropsychiatric disorders like schizophrenia. Genes for neuregulin 1 (NRG1) were also though to play some role in the eventual degeneration of the white matter.
"We had hypothesized for many years that these genes were important for formation of white matter, so that brought together the possibility that maybe these genes, when they are defective, generate white matter that is defective and that causes aspects of neuropsychiatric disorder," said lead researcher Gabriel Corfas of the Harvard Medical School.
His team worked with lab mice for the experiment, in which the NRG1-erbB signaling mechanism was blocked. The blockage resulted in an increase in the number of nerve cells called oligodendrocytes, but the electrical impulses were effectively blocked in the mice.
This also led to change in behavior among the animals. "Alterations in signals cause defects, very specific and relatively subtle in white matter structure and function, and these cause dramatic effects on behavior that are in some ways similar to what you would expect to see in neuropsychiatric patients," Corfas explained.
He added that early screening could provide a clue to the possibility of the existence of schizophrenia in adults.
