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Computer Test Detects Early Signs of Schizophrenia
Canadian researchers have developed a computer test to diagnose schizophrenia before symptoms of the mental illness occur, New Scientist magazine said on Wednesday.
Peter Liddle, a psychiatrist at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, uses brain imaging to look for changes in areas of the brain that are involved in memory and learning.
"One of the big challenges with schizophrenia is the diagnosis. It can take several years for it to be made clear," he told the weekly science magazine.
"Being able to make a reliable diagnosis early can help optimise the outcome," he added.
The test looks at blood flow in certain areas of the brain for traits specific to schizophrenics but not healthy people. Certain parts of the brain are thought to be disrupted in people with the illness.
"This method seems to have the ability to pull out relatively complex patterns that the naked eye wouldn't be able to see," according to Liddle.
In early trials the computer test was 100 percent accurate in diagnosing the disease in nine patients and ruling it out in four healthy people.
Early detection and treatment of schizophrenia may improve the outcome of patients with schizophrenia, the most common form of severe mental illness.
The cause of schizophrenia is unknown but scientists know it affects chemicals in the brain and that there is a biological link which predisposes a person to the disease.
About one person in a hundred develops the illness.
It usually begins in the late teens and early 20s and is characterised by hallucinations, delusions, hearing voices and changes in behaviour.
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