AO1 - Neural Correlates Schizophrenia

• The neural correlates explanation suggests that structural differences and brain abnormalities are responsible for schizophrenia.
• New advances in brain scanning technology have allowed the brains of individuals with schizophrenia to be investigated and compared to the brains of healthy individuals.
• Many of the supporting studies for the neural correlates explanation show a correlation between differences in brain structure and schizophrenia.
• Young et al (1990) used MRI scans to investigate the brain structures in schizophrenia patients and found structural differences compared with ‘normal’ brains.
• Warner (1994) suggested that early brain trauma, for example a viral infection during pregnancy, may relate to structural abnormalities in the brains of schizophrenic patients.
• Post-mortem research has identified differences in the ventricles of the brains in people with schizophrenia. They show differences in the size of these ventricles with schizophrenics having enlarged ventricles.
• Enlarged ventricles suggest damage to the central brain areas and prefrontal cortex. This could account for the negative symptoms of people with schizophrenia.
• Andreasen et al (1990) conducted a controlled study using CAT scans. They found a significant enlargement of the ventricles in patients with schizophrenia compared to a control group.
• There is some research to show that in schizophrenic patients there is reduced symmetry in the temporal, frontal and occipital lobes. This reduced symmetry is believed to originate during brain lateralisation in foetal development.
• Li et al (2010) carried out a meta-analysis and highlighted the bilateral amygdala and right fusiform gyri were less active in schizophrenia patients. This area of the brain is used for processing faces and could explain why many schizophrenic patients suffer with this.
• Research has found grey matter differences in schizophrenic brains over time. Grey matter deficiencies can decrease by up to 20% after just five years.
• Huffman & Hampson (2012) attempted to explain auditory verbal hallucinations (AVHs). They suggest that excessive activity seen in Wernicke’s area could be the reason for the overabundance of potentially conscious language representations, explaining the voices.