Furrowed Brain Could Cause Hallucinations

A brain wrinkle, found near the front of each hemisphere, is linked to hallucinations in schizophrenia.

20:27 20 November 2015

Researchers have established a link between a particular brain furrow to hallucinations in schizophrenia.

 

Researchers, who studied 153 brain scans, said that a particular brain wrinkle, located near the front of each hemisphere, is linked to hallucinations in schizophrenia. They found that this particular furrow, called the paracingulate sulcus or PCS, tends to be shorter in those patients who hallucinate when compared to those who do not.

 

"The brain develops throughout life, but aspects such as whether the PCS is going to be a particularly prominent fold - or not -may be apparent in the brain at an early stage," said Jon Simons, a neuroscientist at the University of Cambridge, UK.

 

"It might be that a reduction in this brain fold gives somebody a predisposition towards developing something like hallucinations later on in life."

 

He added: "We've known for some time that disorders like schizophrenia are not down to a single region of the brain. Changes are seen throughout various different areas.

 

"To be able to pin such a key symptom to a relatively specific part of the brain is quite unusual."