Is schizophrenia a by-product of human evolution?

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Muzaffer Kaser writes his debut elf blog on a recent study, which looks at evolutionary modifications in human brain connectivity associated with schizophrenia.

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Imaging genomics: can we link genes to brain structure and function?

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Linking brain scans with genetic information offers a powerful way to further our understanding of how the brain works, but to do this properly many researchers from around the world need to collaborate. Fortunately, the ENIGMA Consortium are leading the way in this emerging field of imaging genomics.

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Super Mario changes your brain

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Some of the elves in our neck of the woods like to go on a trip to Mushroom Kingdom from time to time, just to relax and boost their abilities you understand.  Unfortunately being able to double in size or become invincible hasn’t happened in real life yet, but a recent study has looked at [read the full story…]

Do antipsychotics cause progressive brain changes in schizophrenia?

People with schizophrenia taking antipsychotics saw a reduction in grey matter

For over 30 years researchers have found that people with a diagnosis of schizophrenia have, on average, differences on brain scans compared to people without.  Not everybody with a diagnosis of schizophrenia will have these differences and it has not yet been possible to use brain scanning as a test to work out whether someone [read the full story…]