🇺🇸 영어 원문
Researchers, including a Rutgers professor, have gained a clearer view of the biological changes associated with schizophrenia by directly measuring synaptic connections in the living human brain. The team used specialized positron emission tomography (PET) imaging to examine these crucial points of communication between brain cells.
The study, published in Molecular Psychiatry, was led by senior authors Avram Holmes, associate professor of psychiatry at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and core faculty member of the Center for Advanced Human Brain Imaging Research within the Rutgers Brain Health Institute, and Rajiv Radhakrishnan, associate professor of psychiatry and radiology and biomedical imaging at Yale University. First author Sidhant Chopra, formerly a postdoctoral fellow in the Holmes Lab, is a McKenzie Research Fellow at Orygen, Australia’s Centre of Excellence in Youth Mental Health, and the University of Melbourne in Australia.
Synapses are tiny junctions that allow brain cells to communicate with one another across neural circuits. Problems involving these connections are believed to play a role in the cognitive and emotional symptoms of schizophrenia. Until now, however, scientists have had a limited understanding of exactly where synaptic loss occurs in the brains of living people because conventional imaging methods such as magnetic resonance imaging cannot specifically measure synapses.
The research involved 122 people, including 29 diagnosed with schizophrenia, making it one of the largest synaptic density PET imaging studies conducted so far. Compared with healthy participants, people with schizophrenia showed a pronounced and widespread reduction in synaptic connections across several parts of the brain. These included frontal and temporal regions as well as areas involved in memory and emotion. The loss was also considerably greater on the left side of the brain than on the right.
Researchers found that this synaptic pattern did not match the changes in brain volume typically seen with standard MRI scans. That distinction suggests synaptic loss and changes in brain volume may reflect separate biological processes rather than two imaging methods capturing the same underlying change.
The team also discovered that the brain regions showing the greatest synaptic losses tended to contain high concentrations of receptors for important neurotransmitters, including serotonin, gamma-aminobutyric acid and glutamate. The finding suggests that the molecular characteristics of individual brain regions may influence how vulnerable they are to changes associated with schizophrenia.
To explore how synaptic loss might move through the brain, the researchers used computer simulations based on the brain’s structural connections. Their modeling identified an area in the left frontal lobe as a likely starting point from which synaptic loss could spread into connected regions.
"These findings suggest that in schizophrenia, synaptic loss is not random," Chopra said. "Rather, it follows the brain’s molecular and connectivity architecture, which could eventually help identify where and how to intervene."
"This detailed mapping of synaptic vulnerability could eventually help identify where and how to intervene to preserve or restore brain function, such as emerging therapies to prevent and regrow synapses," Holmes added.
The researchers said future work will build on these results by investigating how synaptic changes develop over time and whether new treatments can strengthen or restore lost connections.
🇰🇷 한국어 요약
청소년 여러분, 오늘은 뇌 속의 아주 작은 연결고리, ‘시냅스’에 대해 이야기해 볼게요. 연구팀은 살아 있는 사람의 뇌에서 시냅스 연결을 직접 측정할 수 있는 특수 PET 영상을 활용해, 조현병 환자의 뇌에서 어떤 변화가 일어나는지 더 정확하게 살펴봤어요. 조현병은 생각과 감정, 행동에 영향을 줄 수 있는 정신 건강 질환인데, 시냅스 문제는 인지 능력이나 감정 증상과 관련이 있을 수 있다고 알려져 있어요. 이 연구는 122명을 대상으로 했는데, 그중 29명이 조현병 진단을 받았고, 전전두엽과 전두엽, 기억과 감정을 담당하는 영역에서 시냅스 연결이 뚜렷하게 줄어들어 있다는 점이 확인됐어요. 특히 뇌의 왼쪽 쪽에서 더 많이 줄어든 것으로 나타났어요. 더 흥미로운 점은, 이런 시냅스 감소가 기존 MRI로 보는 뇌 부피 변화와 똑같은 패턴은 아니라는 거예요. 그래서 시냅스 손실과 뇌 부피 변화는 서로 다른 생물학적 과정일 수도 있다고 추측할 수 있어요. 연구팀은 또 시냅스가 많이 줄어든 영역에 세로토닌, GABA, 글루타메이트 같은 중요한 신경전달물질 수용체가 많다는 사실도 발견했어요. 이는 뇌의 각 부위가 가진 분자 특성이 얼마나 취약한지를 결정할 수 있다는 걸 시사해요. 컴퓨터 시뮬레이션 결과는 시냅스 손실이 왼쪽 전두엽 부근에서 시작해 연결된 영역으로 퍼질 수 있다는 힌트도 제공했어요. 결국 이 연구는 조현병에서 시냅스 손실이 마구잡이로 일어나는 게 아니라, 뇌의 구조와 분자 특성을 따라 일정한 흐름을 가진다는 점을 보여줘요. 앞으로 이 지도가 시냅스를 지키거나 되돌리는 새로운 치료법을 찾는 데 도움이 될 수 있을지 주목할 만해요.
🔑 핵심 단어 (Vocabulary)
- synapse – 시냅스, 뉴런 사이의 연결 지점 – Synapses are tiny junctions that allow brain cells to communicate with one another across neural circuits.
- schizophrenia – 조현병 – Compared with healthy participants, people with schizophrenia showed a pronounced and widespread reduction in synaptic connections.
- positron emission tomography – 양전자 방출 단층촬영 – The team used specialized positron emission tomography (PET) imaging to examine these crucial points of communication between brain cells.
- junction – 접합부, 연결부 – Synapses are tiny junctions that allow brain cells to communicate with one another across neural circuits.
- cognitive – 인지적, 정신 기능과 관련된 – Problems involving these connections are believed to play a role in the cognitive and emotional symptoms of schizophrenia.
- conventional – 기존의, 관례적인 – …because conventional imaging methods such as magnetic resonance imaging cannot specifically measure synapses.
- pronounced – 뚜렷한, 현저한 – Compared with healthy participants, people with schizophrenia showed a pronounced and widespread reduction in synaptic connections.
- neurotransmitter – 신경전달물질 – The team also discovered that the brain regions showing the greatest synaptic losses tended to contain high concentrations of receptors for important neurotransmitters.
- vulnerable – 취약한, 영향을 받기 쉬운 – The finding suggests that the molecular characteristics of individual brain regions may influence how vulnerable they are to changes associated with schizophrenia.
- intervene – 개입하다, 치료에 나서다 – …which could eventually help identify where and how to intervene.
🔗 원문 링크
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/08/260820002443.htm