give it a view to help spread
https://youtu.be/5zDuBmq2I4c
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Schizophrenia: Genetic Mutation Alters Teen Brain, Raises Risk
A point mutation in the zinc-transporter gene SLC39A8 may increase the risk of schizophrenia in adulthood by altering development of putamen volume in the adolescent brain, new research suggests.
It's possible, therefore, that testing for this mutation coupled with brain scans "could predict whether or not someone will develop" schizophrenia, first author Qiang Luo, PhD, of the Institute of Science and Technology for Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Fudan University, Shanghai, China, told Medscape Medical News by email.
In addition, because the major function of the SLC39A8 gene is accessible to pharmacologic manipulation, the results may help in discovering novel treatments for schizophrenia, the study team says.
The study was published online January 16 in JAMA Psychiatry.
Strongest Link to Date
Although the SLC39A8 gene has been associated with risk for schizophrenia, "it remains largely unknown how this genetic risk leads to a higher risk of schizophrenia by affecting the brain," Luo explained.
To investigate, the researchers combined voxel-wise brain imaging with genome-wide association studies (GWAS) in a discovery cohort that included 1721 healthy adolescents (mean age, 14 years; 50.7% girls) from the IMAGEN cohort and replication samples that included 8690 healthy adults (51.8% women) across the lifespan from four other cohorts.
https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/907983?src=soc_tw_190211_mscpedt_news_mdscp_schizophreniabrain&faf=1