2007-05-10 08:25:00 · 4 answers · asked by war40101 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Biology
The brains of schizophrenic patients are pretty significantly damaged. The main finding is that the lateral ventricles of patients with schizophrenia are enlarged (ventricles are the spaces in your brain where cerebrospinal fluid can flow- these areas do not contain any neurons or glia and thus do not contribute to thought). There are a list of particular brain areas which, on average, change in volume in people with schizophrenia (usually these areas decrease). Most of these areas are in the frontal and temporal cortices.
There is also more subtle evidence that schizophrenia damages the brain. This evidence comes from functional magnetic resonance imaging scans of people with schizophrenia, which has shown that many brain areas, including the thalamus, the visual cortex, the hippocampus, and prefrontal areas (involved in memory and thought) respond less strongly as compared to controls. Thus there is almost certainly damaged to the wiring or to the individual brain cells themselves.
2007-05-10 09:31:27 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes. The brain is part of the body and the brain is not working right when a person has schizophrenia. The dopamine receptors and the dopamine signals themselves are messed up.
2007-05-10 21:23:21 · answer #2 · answered by Joan H 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
search for the dopamine hypothesis on the net it might help - but i don't think there is a direct damage to the body as it is a psychological problem but it does cause hallucinations both visual and auditory so i guess it could be
2007-05-10 17:20:30 · answer #3 · answered by mfac12 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
The brain does not produce proper amounts of an essential brain chemical. So, yes.
2007-05-10 15:49:28 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋