MONDAY, Aug. 22, 2005 (HealthDay News) -- Scientist say they have successfully produced cellular changes in rats' brains similar to those seen in humans with schizophrenia, a breakthrough that could produce new therapies for the disorder.
According to researchers at Harvard-affiliated McLean Hospital, in Belmont, Mass., the changes were produced by manipulating a precise area of the animals' amygdala, a region critical to emotional stress and learning. The team published their findings Monday in the online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The researchers believe overactivity in the amygdala may cause increased stimulation of, and changes to, a type of brain cell called GABA. Those changes are believed to interfere with emotional responses and learning, particularly under stressful conditions.
The new animal model is important because previous studies into the roots of schiozophrenia have been stymied by a lack of information on GABA based on postmortem studies of human brains.
"This work points to a particular piece of circuitry as being important in neuronal malfunctions in schizophrenia," said Dr. Francine M. Benes, director of McLean's program in structural and molecular neuroscience and a professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, in a prepared statment.
More information
The National Institutes of Health has more about schizophrenia.
