http://archpsyc.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1727437
Dr. Paola Dazzan and researchers at King’s College London have identified neuroimaging markers in the brain which could help predict whether people with psychosis respond to antipsychotic medicatins or not.
The team used MRI to scan the brains of 126 people – 80 who had experienced a first episode of psychosis and 46 healthy controls. The scans were done shortly after the psychotic episodes, and the participants were assessed again 12 weeks later to see whether symptoms had improved after initial treatment with antipsychotic medications.
The researchers looked at a feature of the brain called “cortical gyrification” – the extent of folding or wrinkling of the cerebral cortex, the outermost sheet of brain tissue that plays a key role in memory, language and consciousness. They found that people who did not respond to treatment had less gyrification in many brain regions – particularly in areas considered important in psychosis such as the temporal and frontal lobes.
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