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New Research to shed light on Schizophrenia
August 24, 1999Psychiatrists at the University of Oxford have been awarded a Medical Research grant of £715,749 over five
years to conduct research into adolescent psychosis, its causes and possible treatments. Psychotic illnesses,
which include schizophrenia, are common, affecting approximately one percent of the population in the course
of a lifetime, and put sufferers at increased risk of educational failure, unemployment and early death, often
through suicide. They also suffer from stigmatisation caused by public misconceptions about the illnesses.
Doctors have known for twenty years that individuals with psychotic illnesses such as schizophrenia exhibit
changes in the structure of their brains; the ventricles of the brain increase in volume, and the outer mantle
(the cortex) reduces in size. The significance of these changes has, however, so far remained obscure,
although recent research suggests that an area of the brain particularly affected by the changes in the cortex
is that which controls language.
The research grant will enable doctors to carry out a large study of early onset cases of psychosis using MRI
scans to determine how brain growth in individuals with psychosis differs from brain growth in the rest of the
population, and which brain structures are most affected by psychotic illness. Such knowledge, when
combined with the earlier findings, may help doctors to understand how the symptoms of psychosis, for
example the experience of "hearing voices", arise, and lead to better methods of diagnosis and new
treatments.
Principal collaborators on this project are Dr A James of the Highfield Adolescent Unit, who is concerned
with the clinical aspects, and Dr Neil Roberts of the Univesity of Liverpool, who will supervise image
analysis. Professor Tim Crow, Professor of Psychiatry, who heads the research team at the Warneford
Hospital, Oxford, said: "A better understanding of the nature of the brain changes in psychotic illness can be
expected to enlarge the range of interest and research on these conditions and lessen the stigma associated
with them. More precise anatomical knowledge of the origin of symptoms will lead to methods of earlier
diagnosis and better prediction of outcome."
Oxford, University of
changes in the structure of their brains; the ventricles of the brain increase in volume, and the outer mantle
(the cortex) reduces in size. The significance of these changes has, however, so far remained obscure,
although recent research suggests that an area of the brain particularly affected by the changes in the cortex
is that which controls language.
The research grant will enable doctors to carry out a large study of early onset cases of psychosis using MRI
scans to determine how brain growth in individuals with psychosis differs from brain growth in the rest of the
population, and which brain structures are most affected by psychotic illness. Such knowledge, when
combined with the earlier findings, may help doctors to understand how the symptoms of psychosis, for
example the experience of "hearing voices", arise, and lead to better methods of diagnosis and new
treatments.
Principal collaborators on this project are Dr A James of the Highfield Adolescent Unit, who is concerned
with the clinical aspects, and Dr Neil Roberts of the Univesity of Liverpool, who will supervise image
analysis. Professor Tim Crow, Professor of Psychiatry, who heads the research team at the Warneford
Hospital, Oxford, said: "A better understanding of the nature of the brain changes in psychotic illness can be
expected to enlarge the range of interest and research on these conditions and lessen the stigma associated
with them. More precise anatomical knowledge of the origin of symptoms will lead to methods of earlier
diagnosis and better prediction of outcome."
Oxford, University of
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