Skip to content

Surprising Science — April 17, 2011

What Schizophrenia Looks Like

Reprogrammed stem cells from schizophrenia patients have helped researchers determine that fewer connections are made between the neurons of a schizophrenic compared to those of healthy individuals.

bigthinkeditors

Sign up for the Smarter Faster newsletter

A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

What’s the Most Recent Development?

Researchers from the Salk Institute for Biological Studies began their experiment by taking skin cells from schizophrenic patients and reprogramming them into stem cells capable of giving rise to any type of tissue. They then coaxed those cells to differentiate into neurons. “Scientists found that the diseased neurons made fewer connections with one another than did healthy neurons—a problem that antischizophrenia medication could alleviate.” Previously, neurological studies done on schizophrenics came mainly from postmortem brain examinations.

What’s the Big Idea?

Altering the chemical makeup of normal cells can create a class of stem cells called induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPS. Experimenting with these stem cells has given researches insight into a host of diseases, though mainly ones in which genetic mutations occur during childhood. What makes recent stem cell research on schizophrenia especially impressive is the complexity of the disease—it is formed by genetic as well as environmental factors. Scientists hope that new light shed on the disease will also help in the development of treatments to combat it.

Sign up for the Smarter Faster newsletter

A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

Related

Lab-grown brain organoids mature like real infant brains

After 20 months, scientists find lab-dish brain cells matured at a similar rate to those of an actual infant.

Can scientists find the ‘holy grail’ of Alzheimer’s research?

Clinical trials at the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research focus on stabilizing cognitive loss and alleviating the psychotic symptoms that change our loved ones.

Study: Autistic brains develop differently before birth

New research shows that neurons in autistic brains begin to developmentally diverge in early prenatal stages.

Surprising Science

The Early Days of Organ Farming Are a Bit Gnarly

University of California, Davis researchers announce the disappointing results of their implantation of human stem cells in pigs.

Surprising Science

What Makes People Social? The Answer May Be Found in Petri Dish Brains Made from Teeth.

Research being done with brain organoids (“mini brains” deriving from cells, such as teeth) from those with autism and Williams syndrome is providing insight into what makes humans social.

Up Next

Surprising Science

Antidepressants Grow New Brain Cells

New evidence of how antidepressant drugs help to boost brain cell formation could lead to better treatments for depression, a disease which inhibits the production of neurons in the hippocampus.