Researchers at the University of North Carolina have found distinct differences in brain functioning between children at risk of developing schizophrenia and those who are not. In this study, fMRI was performed on 42 subjects aged 9 to 18, half of which had relatives with schizophrenia and half of which did not. Individuals with a first degree family member with schizophrenia have an 8-fold to 12-fold increase in risk of developing schizophrenia. The participants played a game where they had to identify a specific image out of a lineup of images thought to be emotionally captivating, such as cute or scary animals, while scanning for changes in brain activity.
It was found that individuals with a family history of schizophrenia had hyperactivity in the circuitry involved in emotion and higher order decision making, suggesting that the task was stressing out these brain areas. Hyperactivation may eventually damage these specific areas until they become hypoactivated, thereby reducing their function.
The researchers believe that early interventions for preventing schizophrenia onset could be as simple as teaching individualized strategies of stress coping mechanisms, making at risk children and adolescents less vulnerable to schizophrenia and also other neuropsychiatric disorders.
Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/03/130322174343.htm
