Scans Reveal Faulty Brain Wiring Caused by Missing Genes
Monday, June 16th, 2008Grant Funds New Tools to Detect Subtler Wiring Errors in Schizophrenia
An NIMH study using an emerging imaging technology has discovered faulty wiring in the brains of people with Williams Syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that affects some aspects of thinking. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) scans revealed abnormal tracts of neuronal fibers that conduct long-distance communications between brain regions. The abnormalities likely resulted from neurons migrating to the wrong destinations during development, due to the absence of certain key genes, researchers say. (more…)
