Hippocampal function may be a useful biomarker for the response of patients with schizophrenia to medication, research suggests.
Hippocampal activity was significantly increased in schizophrenia patients relative to mentally healthy controls and was associated with impaired cognition, report Jason Tregellas (Denver VA Medical Center, Colorado, USA) and colleagues.
“The observed hyperactivity both supports models of hippocampal dysfunction in schizophrenia and increases the appeal of this measure as a potential biomarker,” they write in The American Journal of Psychiatry.
Such biomarkers of neuronal function are needed to determine whether potential therapies produce the necessary biologic effects, they explain.
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Abstract from scientific paper:
http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/article.aspx?articleID=1815011