How Does Schizophrenia Affect The Brain? An Overview
If you’re familiar with schizophrenia, you might already know some of the ways it can affect people. Symptoms like delusions and hallucinations tend to be common in those living with this mental illness. But what about the effects we can’t see? How does schizophrenia affect the brain? Current research suggests that individuals with schizophrenia usually have reduced gray matter, increased white matter, and higher levels of dopamine. While we don’t yet have a full understanding of the ways in which schizophrenia impacts the brain, we know that symptoms of this disorder can often be treated with a combination of therapy and medication.
Understanding schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a mental illness that typically causes changes in the ways people think, feel, and act. These changes often come on gradually, but they usually start to appear during a person’s late teens to early thirties.
Scientists are still trying to determine exactly what causes schizophrenia, although a few specific risk factors have been identified. These usually include the following:
- Being born in the winter
- Having a low birth weight
- Complications during pregnancy or childbirth
- Residing in an urban environment
- Childhood trauma
There likely isn’t one specific trigger for schizophrenia. Rather, genetics, environment, and life experiences may all play a role in bringing it out in people who are at risk.
Schizophrenia’s effects: Understanding the symptoms
Before digging into the research, it may help to review the ways schizophrenia can affect people's thoughts, moods, and behavior. This may make it easier to understand the significance of its effects on the brain.
Schizophrenia is often known for causing psychosis, which can be defined as a state of detachment from reality. A person with schizophrenia may go through more than one psychotic episode during their lifetime. However, schizophrenia can cause other symptoms, too. These typically include positive, negative, and cognitive symptoms.
Positive symptoms can be seen as thoughts and behaviors that are present in people with schizophrenia but aren’t usually present in individuals without the disorder. These often overlap with psychotic symptoms. Some common positive symptoms include those listed below:
- Delusions: False beliefs that are impossible to change
- Hallucinations: Seeing, hearing, or feeling things that aren’t there
- Disorganized thoughts: Thought patterns that don’t follow logic
- Disorganized speech: Speaking in ways that are hard for others to understand
Negative symptoms are generally defined as thoughts and behaviors that are absent in people with schizophrenia. These may be less obvious than positive symptoms, but they can still have significant effects on people. Some examples include the following:
- Lack of motivation to do daily tasks, like bathing or going to work
- Lack of desire to interact with others
- An inability to experience pleasure
- Lack of emotional expression
Finally, schizophrenia can also cause cognitive symptoms. These can be thought of as challenges with certain mental abilities, such as those below:
- Memory
- Planning
- Problem-solving
- Abstract thinking
- Learning
The above symptoms can significantly affect people’s daily lives. They may also contribute to symptoms of other mental illnesses that often occur alongside schizophrenia, like depression and anxiety.
Schizophrenia’s effects on the brain: What the research shows
There are still plenty of unknowns surrounding schizophrenia. That said, research continues to be done on how the disorder affects the brain and how these effects may relate to clinical and neurobehavioral measures of symptoms.
Studies have revealed several differences in the brains of people with schizophrenia. These usually include both structural brain changes and differences in levels of brain chemicals.
Recent studies using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) have found that people’s brains may work differently when they have schizophrenia. A 2023 study looked at the resting brain activity of 108 people, some with schizophrenia and some without it. It was found that certain brain regions tended to be more active in those with schizophrenia. These typically included the inferior parietal lobule and the right temporoparietal junction. These structures normally play a role in processing information from the five senses and maintaining attention. It’s possible that this heightened activity could contribute to symptoms like hallucinations.
Schizophrenia-related brain abnormalities may also go beyond specific brain structures. In 2020, researchers analyzed MRI data on 75 schizophrenia patients and a 55-person control group. They found that those with schizophrenia often had reduced gray matter volume. Gray matter is a type of tissue that’s usually responsible for processing information. It can also play a role in movement, emotion, and memory. It’s possible that this brain tissue loss could contribute to challenges with decision-making, memory, and emotion.
Other studies have been done on how schizophrenia affects white matter. White matter is a different type of tissue that generally allows parts of the brain to communicate with each other and the rest of the body. In a 2022 study, researchers analyzed six studies that used a technique called “diffusion tensor imaging” to examine the brains of people with and without schizophrenia. The people with schizophrenia usually had higher amounts of white matter in their brains. Researchers speculated that this may be due to inflammation or an immune response. That said, we’ll likely need more research to understand these findings.
Finally, research has also found that schizophrenia may cause differences in brain chemistry. For example, people with schizophrenia often have higher levels of a chemical called dopamine. Dopamine usually plays a role in movement, pleasure, and motivation. Having high levels of dopamine in certain areas of the brain may contribute to positive symptoms, although there may be other chemicals involved, too.
These findings and others may show us how widespread the mental effects of schizophrenia can be. While we still don’t know exactly how the disorder works, future research may bring us a greater understanding of this complex mental illness.
Managing schizophrenia symptoms
Even though we don’t fully understand the effects of schizophrenia on the brain, we do know that they can often be managed. Treatments like doctor-prescribed medication and social support may significantly improve people’s symptoms. With proper care, at least one in three people may recover from their symptoms completely.
Therapy can often help people with schizophrenia improve their mental health and daily function. By working with a therapist, it may be possible to boost social skills, learn healthy ways to manage symptoms, and change distressing thought patterns.
Because schizophrenia can cause negative symptoms like low mood and motivation, this may make it hard to leave the house for in-person therapy. Online platforms like BetterHelp typically let you see a therapist from the comfort of your home. This may make online therapy an easier option for people with schizophrenia, although those experiencing acute psychosis may require in-person care.
Online therapy can effectively reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety, which often occur in people with schizophrenia. In a 2016 study, 704 patients with depression and anxiety received internet-based therapy over the course of six months. At the end of the treatment period, they generally reported significant improvements in their symptoms.
Takeaway
Schizophrenia is a complex mental illness that can cause delusions, hallucinations, and other changes in mood and behavior. Scientists have identified differences in the structure, function, and chemistry of the brains of people with schizophrenia. These include lower gray matter volume, higher brain activity in certain places, differences in dopamine levels, and more. With additional research, we may learn more about how these changes contribute to people’s symptoms and what can be done to address them. In the meantime, schizophrenia can often be managed with proper treatment, which usually involves medication and online or in-person therapy.
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