Two neuroimaging studies shed important new light on the neural underpinnings of schizophrenia, showing differences between patients who do and do not develop psychosis, as well as identify patients who do and do not respond to treatment.
In the first study, significant distinctions in hippocampal glutamate levels were shown among high-risk individuals who transitioned to full psychosis, compared with those who did not transition.
“We found hippocampal glutamate levels to be selectively elevated in ultra-high-risk subjects who made a transition to psychosis,” said lead author Matthijs G. Bossong, PhD, from the Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London, United Kingdom.
“Neuroimaging measures of hippocampal glutamate function could be used to help predict outcomes of ultra-high-risk individuals,” he said.
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