Schizophrenia Daily News Blog

Brain Waves in SZ May Indicate Cause

The brain waves that people with schizophrenia generate when asked to perform a certain task appear to be different than those produced by healthy individuals. Researchers think that this may indicate a communication deficit between brain cells of people with schizophrenia.

A new study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences looked at the brain waves of 20 subjects with schizophrenia and 20 healthy volunteers while they performed and communicated about a simple visual perception task.

Results showed a distinct difference in that wave patterns of the two groups. Healthy subjects emitted gamma-wave activity (waves generated during higher brain functioning) on the EEG brain scan, while this particular wave was notably absent from people with schizophrenia. Lead researcher Dr. Robert McCarley says this might mean that brain cells are communicating inefficiently, which might in turn partially explain why people with schizophrenia perceive the world so differently.

The research findings may lead to further investigation of treatments to promote normal gamma responses in the brain.

For the full story, see "Schizophrenia brain fault 'found' " (Nov 9 2004), online at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3991925.stm.