Schizophrenia Causes Excessive/Inappropriate Pruning

Schizophrenia has long been a mystery to researchers, the causes seemed endless and strikingly unrelated. This year, in January researchers believe that they have found a genetic cause for the disease. One of many causes for the disease but an exciting new discovery. They have determined that an alteration in the gene they call C4, seems to be involved in disrupting connections between the neurons found in the brain. This elimination in the connections is a process that happens natural in the teen years and is called “synaptic pruning”. This C4 gene causes excessive/inappropriate pruning. This can lead to the development of schizophrenia. Schizophrenia usually begins to appear in the teen years of development, which means pruning is critical
They found increase use in the C4 region was the culprit to the excessive pruning. Doing preliminary experiments in mice has confirmed the suspicion of the C4 gene. The increase in activity in these areas of the brain have very destructive results. Scientist are hopeful in looking for a way to decrease the pruning in these situations. However now they can screen for the genetic modification in the brain to screen for people who have a likely probability of getting schizophrenia. Getting this information earlier can help in the long run for schizophrenia. Starting treatment as early or as soon as possible gives the patient more time to acclimate and not go into as bad of frenzies as they would otherwise.

"We're far from having a treatment based on this, but it's exciting to think that one day, we might be able to turn down the pruning process in some individuals and decrease their risk" of developing Schizophrenia, Beth Stevens said. Beth Stevens is a neuroscientist who worked on the project. Although there is no cure now knowing the cause is the hardest step in the treatment process. Being able to suppress the modified C4 gene will allow for great new studies and advancements in the treatment process of