The 10-year long Edinburgh High Risk Study (EHRS) of people at risk of developing schizophrenia (having two or more relatives affected by it) has been releasing interesting research in MRI neuroimaging to study and predict changes in the brain. The latest:

As members of a high risk group, each person in the study had approximately a 13% risk of developing schizophrenia.

However, the specific changes to the grey matter pinpointed by the researchers raised the risk to 60%.
Lead researcher Dr Dominic Job said: ”Although there are no preventative treatments for the illness, an accurate predictive test could help researchers to assess possibilities for prevention in the future.

“Current methods are good for predicting who won’t develop schizophrenia but not who will.

“By combining brain imaging with traditional clinical assessments it might be possible to detect people who are at highest risk of the illness early.”

The scientific literature from the EHRS is substantial and growing, with genetic factors being tracked down and various brain-based features of schizophrenia studied. This latest research from EHRS, like some already published, again suggests a brain scan test may be developed for those at risk. It bodes well for the future, but right now it’s impractical and too expensive for clinical use. So, further study needed.

Read more at BBC News.
Open access article.

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    Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 8 Dec 2006
    Published on PsychCentral.com. All rights reserved.