Researchers may be closer to an increased understanding of what happens in the brains of people suffering from mental illnesses such as schizophrenia.
With the help of networks of nerve cells that form small mini-brains in the laboratory, researchers can understand what happens biologically in the brain and test new drugs in new and effective ways, writes Vetenskapsradion.
According to a new study, the brain’s immune cells with microglia cells seem to cut and clean away too many synapses in some young people’s brains, which disrupts the nerve cells’ communication with each other and increases the risk of developing schizophrenia.
Synapses should be partially cleared away when the brain matures, but if they are cleaned out too much, it seems to have a connection to psychosis.