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New MRI methods that map the wiring of the brain could provide a valuable new tool to predict a person’s risk of developing schizophrenia, a small study suggests.

Scientists have long known that the symptoms of schizophrenia are partly explained by disordered connectivity in the brain.

Now, a team of scientists have, for the first time, used MRI scans to identify how the brains of young people, who have some of the symptoms of schizophrenia, are wired differently.

“We already know that the brains of people with schizophrenia are wired differently and are less efficient than healthy people,” according to Derek Jones, director of Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre (CUBRIC).

“However, until now, no study has tried to use this information to look at healthy individuals with some of the same symptoms but without actually having the condition,” he adds.

The team scanned 123 people who have vulnerability to psychosis, and 125 people without vulnerability and compared the differences in the wiring of their brains.

The results show the ability of the brain network in people vulnerable to schizophrenia to transmit information from one region to another was reduced and some information pathways were rerouted.

Crucially, the team found that this affected certain central information hubs of the brain, which could lead to widespread problems in information processing in a similar way to schizophrenia.

The science of networks

“The changes we’ve identified in the brain networks are extremely subtle,” says Mark Drakesmith of Cardiff, who led the research.

“The technique employs a branch of mathematics called ‘graph theory’, which allows us to examine complex architectural features of networks, such as efficiency of information transfer.

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“This approach is traditionally used in computer science, but is now giving neuroscientists and psychiatrists new insights into how configurations of brain networks are altered in mental illness.”

The team hopes their new analysis could provide a valuable insight into how the wiring of the brain gives rise to symptoms of schizophrenia, and crucially, offer a new tool for predicting future illness.

Professor Anthony David at Kings College London adds: “Understanding the way people’s brains become misconnected or connected less efficiently is crucial to understanding the illness.

“What we would like to find out is why for some people these changes progress while in others they don’t—that’s the next challenge.”

The Medical Research Council funded the study, which is published in the journal Human Brain Mapping.

Source: Cardiff University