One weakened brain rhythm may link schizophrenia's many symptoms — and point to earlier help

Schizophrenia affects about 23 million people worldwide, and its symptoms — struggling to make sense of sights and sounds, speech that loses its thread, difficulty organising thoughts — are usually studied one at a time, as if they were separate problems. Researchers at McGill University in Montreal recorded the brain activity of 25 people with schizophrenia and 25 people without it, using a sensitive scanner called MEG while participants judged the timing of sights and sounds and spoke. One brain rhythm, known as beta-band activity — part of how the brain interprets the senses and coordinates its responses — was weaker and slower in the schizophrenia group, and the weaker it was, the harder participants found the sensory task, the more disorganised their speech, and the more severe their symptoms. It is a first, small study — 50 people, showing a link rather than a cause — and the team says it must be tested in larger groups. But if it holds up, measuring this one signal could one day help clinicians spot young people who need extra support before psychosis develops, and it gives researchers a concrete target to aim treatments at.

SDG 3 · Good health and well-being — Mechanism: tech innovation