What causes psychosis?
Tuesday, May 14, 2024. This is for TC.
Psychosis is a defining symptom of severe mental illnesses like delusional disorders, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder, characterized by an inability to distinguish reality from fantasy.
Neuroscientists have pinpointed two crucial brain systems behind this condition, offering insights into its core mechanisms.
One of these systems serves as a filter, sorting important internal thoughts and external stimuli from irrelevant ones.
This filtering process enables folks to prioritize relevant thoughts over irrelevant ones. Dysfunction in this system leads to intrusive thoughts dominating consciousness, a hallmark of psychosis.
Professor Vinod Menon, a co-author of a study on psychosis, explains, "This process derails the normal functioning of cognitive control, allowing intrusive thoughts to dominate, culminating in symptoms we recognize as psychosis."
The other system involved in psychosis is the brain's reward predictor.
This system helps anticipate and derive motivation from potential rewards. Without this anticipation, individuals lose their drive and energy, exacerbating the symptoms of psychosis, including delusions and hallucinations.
A recent study compared brain scans of humans with psychosis to those with autism, ADHD, and healthy controls…
The analysis highlighted the anterior insula and the ventral striatum as key brain regions associated with psychosis. The anterior insula plays a crucial role in distinguishing reality, while the ventral striatum is essential for reward prediction.
Dr. Kaustubh Supekar, the study's first author, emphasizes the importance of early intervention, stating, "One of my goals is to prevent or delay the development of schizophrenia. What we saw is that, early on, functional interactions among brain regions within the same brain systems are abnormal. The abnormalities do not start when you are in your 20s; they are evident even when you are 7 or 8."
final thoughts
Regardless of the underlying cause, whether it is schizophrenia, genetic factors, or unknown origins, dysfunction in these brain systems is consistently observed in psychosis. Early intervention is crucial, as these brain abnormalities can manifest as early as childhood.
Targeting these systems with innovative treatments like transcranial magnetic stimulation or focused ultrasound shows promise in managing psychosis and potentially preventing its progression. Understanding the neurobiological basis of psychosis offers hope for more effective interventions and improved outcomes for those affected.
Be Well, Stay Kind, and Godspeed.
RESEARCH:
Supekar, K., Ryali, S., Kushan, L., Schleifer, C., Repetto, G., Crossley, N. A., Simon, T., Bearden, C. E., & Menon, V. (2024). Robust and replicable functional brain signatures of 22q11.2 deletion syndrome and associated psychosis: A deep neural network-based multi-cohort study. Molecular Psychiatry, 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41380-024-02495-8
