Schizophrenia is a debilitating psychiatric illness. Its cause is currently poorly understood, and there is no known cure. In a new study published online this week in the open-access journal
PLoS Biology, Akiko Watanabe and colleagues report the identification of a gene linked to the condition.
Of particular interest to the study of schizophrenia is the so-called "gating" mechanism in the brain. This mechanism organizes information that comes from the sense organs, and when it malfunctions, it is believed to be responsible for the characteristic symptoms of schizophrenia: delusions, hallucinations, and social withdrawal.
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©Yoshikawa et al.
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Expression of Fabp7 protein in mouse brains at embryonic day 16 (left) and postnatal day 0 (right). At both stages, Fabp7 is strongly expressed in the ventricular zone and radial glia, where neurogenesis is prominent.
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