Researchers from Sisters Hospitallers find the area of the brain responsible for the motor skills disorder in schizophrenia.

A research group of the Research and Teaching Foundation María Angustias Giménez (FIDMAG), of the Sisters Hospitallers, has carried out a research showing that the DT is associated with a structural change in the brains of those suffering it. This paper has been published in the British Journal of Psychiatry, and it is of special relevance as it is the first study on tardive dyskinesia carried out with neuroimaging advanced techniques.

According to Dr. Salvador Sarró, psychiatrist and researcher for FIDMAG Sisters Hospitallers and one of the authors of the paper, this finding “invalidates the hypothesis that the tardive dyskinesia is a mere reflection of the neurochemical effects of the antipsychotics, as they are the consequence of a change in the brain morphology”. In fact, those responsible for the study consider that the results of the research should be taken into account when developing new antipsychotic medicines.

81 patients with schizophrenia from the different Sisters Hospitallers care units took part in the research. The team led by Dr. Edith Pomarol-Clotet examined and compared, using a structural resonance test, the brains of 32 patients with tardive dyskinesia and with 49 without this disorder. A healthy control group of 61 persons was also used. In this respect, the study shows that the patients with this syndrome have grey matter volume reduction, mainly at a subcortical level, largely located in the caudate nucleus. It was also noted that the volume of the basal ganglia in the TD patients group is smaller, fact that indicates a loss of tissue associated to this phenomenon. After the results obtained, the FIDMAG research group are intending to continue with this line of research on tardive dyskinesia.