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In the picture above, the different lobes of the brain are color coded. According to the studies found concerning brain volume and schizophrenia, there are two main areas affected. These areas are colored green and the blue lobe that borders on the green. This illustrates why it is so important for research to continue in order to help those afflicted with schizophrenia as it is a lifelong disorder.
Since the completion of the human genome project, researchers have been discovering changes to hundreds of places in the DNA. Some of these variants have been associated with psychiatric diseases such as autism spectrum disorder and schizophrenia. Researchers have found a roadmap for the development of new generation therapy for psychiatric conditions. In the last decade, scientists have conducted genetic studies of people with a psychiatric disease, comparing results to healthy individuals to find genes that have different sequencing in those diseases. This paper helps to explain the roles of tens of thousands of sections of regulatory DNA and proteins in the brain. Once again this study is but a jumping off place for further studies (Geschwind et al, 2018). Dendritic structure (dendrite is a short branched extension of a nerve cell along which impulses received from other cells at synapses are transmitted to the cell body) is tightly coupled with synaptic function in basal conditions. Many brain disorders are associated with an aberrant regulation of F-actin and impaired signaling. These alterations likely underlie the aberrant spine morphology found in these disorders. Further studies on the mechanism of structural plasticity of dendritic spines will provide new therapeutic targets and methods for the treatment of neuropsychiatric disorders (Borovac et al, 2018).
Dementia is a syndrome usually progressive and chronic in nature. Global incidences of dementia is increasing at a rate of one new case every three seconds with associated medical social and health care costs far exceeding the capacity of most countries. Because of the degenerative nature of the disease sufferers lose their ability to perform routine tasks, experience poor quality of life and loss of autonomy. The role of vitamin D in the etiology of cognitive impairment and dementia is plausible and has been supported substantial mechanistic and epidemiological data. As people age, they tend to spend less and less time outdoors in the sun. It is of great importance as vitamin D deficiency is a worldwide pandemic and is seen most commonly in older adults residing in northerly latitudes, particularly during winter months. Further research needs to be done to see if increasing vitamin D level will improve cognitive health (Aspell, Lawlor, O'Sullivan, 2018).
A group of researchers from the University of Maryland’s School of Medicine discovered a relationship between stress in a man’s life and the likelihood of his future children developing schizophrenia or other mental illnesses.
Through examining brain tissue, researchers said that they found similarities between certain mental illnesses, including autism and schizophrenia, and similar patterns of gene expression were found in people with autism, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder.
Fat in the diet has been maligned for years, but new evidence shows that fat is actually beneficial for the brain and neurological function and may be useful in the treatment of psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia.
