Neurological Cause behind Schizophrenia

Doctors aren’t sure how genetic changes lead to schizophrenia. But they’ve found that people
who have the disorder may be more likely to have problems in their genes that may interfere
with brain development.

The Role of Brain Chemistry and Structure in Schizophrenia

 Spaces in the brain, called ventricles, were larger.

 Parts of the brain that deal with memory, known as the medial temporal lobes, were
smaller.
 There were fewer connections between brain cells.

 Doctors also believe the brain loses tissue over time. And imaging tools, like PET scans
and MRIs, show that people who have schizophrenia have less “gray matter” -- the part
of the brain that contains nerve cells -- over time.
 Studies of brain tissue in people with schizophrenia after death even show that their brain
structure is often different than it was at birth.

People with schizophrenia also tend to have differences in brain chemicals called
neurotransmitters. These control communication within the brain.
Dopamine is tied to hallucinations and delusions. That’s because brain areas that "run" on
dopamine may become overactive. Antipsychotic drugs stop this.
People who are at risk for developing schizophrenia may have too much glutamate activity in
certain areas of the brain at first. As the disease gets worse, those brain areas may have too little
glutamate activity.

Alzheimer’s

Alzheimer's disease is the most common type of dementia. It is a progressive disease beginning
with mild memory loss and possibly leading to loss of the ability to carry on a conversation and
respond to the environment. Alzheimer's disease is thought to be caused by the abnormal build-
up of proteins in and around brain cells. One of the proteins involved is called amyloid, deposits
of which form plaques around brain cells. The other protein is called tau, deposits of which form
tangles within brain cells. Although it's not known exactly what causes this process to begin,
scientists now know that it begins many years before symptoms appear. As brain cells become
affected, there's also a decrease in chemical messengers (called neurotransmitters) involved in
sending messages, or signals, between brain cells. Levels of one neurotransmitter, acetylcholine,
are particularly low in the brains of people with Alzheimer's disease. Over time, different areas
of the brain shrink. The first areas usually affected are responsible for memories. In more
unusual forms of Alzheimer's disease, different areas of the brain are affected. The first
symptoms may be problems with vision or language rather than memory.