A GENE mutation that alters the shape of the brain in some people with schizophrenia could help explain why the disease often strikes at adolescence.
Hugh Gurling of University College London tested people with schizophrenia for mutations in the pericentriolar material 1 (PCM1) gene. Those with mutations had a significantly lower volume of grey matter in their orbitofrontal cortex (Archives of General Psychiatry, vol 63, p 844). “This is the first time anybody has been able to separate out a genetic subtype of schizophrenia and show abnormal brain volume and shape correlated with it,” says Gurling.
PCM1 plays…
