Schizophrenia is a debilitating psychological disorder that alters an individual's perception of reality. The person with schizophrenia may experience auditory and visual hallucinations, suffer from extreme paranoia and be unable to distinguish reality from imagination. Schizophrenia is relatively common, according to Helpguide.org, which reports that one in 100 people will develop schizophrenia. The causes of the disorder are complex and not yet fully understood.
Genetics
A study published in a German medical journal found the genetic influence on schizophrenia to be "beyond doubt." In families where one person has schizophrenia, other immediate family members have a 10 percent chance of suffering from the same condition. On the other hand, genetics alone do not cause schizophrenia. Sixty percent of schizophrenics have no relatives who have the disease. Those with a genetic predisposition may go through life without ever developing schizophrenia.
Environmental Triggers
It is believed that a stressful environment can trigger a person with a genetic predisposition to undergo the transition to schizophrenia. Prenatal influences such as exposure to a virus are possible triggers. Childhood stressors such as family separation or abuse may also cause a transition into active schizophrenia.
Chemical Imbalances
In 2009, researchers at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine found that the symptoms of schizophrenia are brought on by a decrease in the brain protein known as kalirin. Insufficient kalirin causes a lack of paths through which information can travel in the brain. Dopamine and glutamate are two other brain chemicals that are suspected to play a role in schizophrenia.
Brain Abnormalities
MayoClinic.org states that imaging studies have found differences in the brain structure of schizophrenics. Cavities in the brain tissue, called ventricles, are sometimes larger in schizophrenics, which means the brain volume itself is proportionally decreased. A decrease in frontal lobe activity, which could account for the schizophrenic's difficulty in reasoning logically, has been observed in some schizophrenics. Other schizophrenics have exhibited abnormalities in the temporal lobes, which are responsible for hearing, and the hippocampus and amygdala, both of which are areas of the brain connected to emotional behavior.Though brain structure abnormalities do seem to have some connection to schizophrenia, Helpguide.org reports that "it is highly unlikely that schizophrenia is the result of any one problem in any one region of the brain."
