Researchers may be on the brink of developing a scanning test for schizophrenia, it was announced today.
British and Spanish researchers are working together on a project testing the use of magnetic scanning to identify the disease.
They have been using magnetoencephalograms, which measure magnetic fields.
The researchers say they have found features in brain signals that change with age in people with schizophrenia – but not in others.
The work was reported today in the journal Physiological Measurement and has been undertaken at Plymouth University, UK, Universidad Complutense de Madrid and other Spanish centres.
The researchers have studied some 15 patients with schizophrenia, comparing them with 17 healthy people. They say their test showed 71% accuracy.
Researcher Dr Javier Escudero said: “At present, there is no blood, cerebrospinal fluid, brain imaging or neurophysiological test for schizophrenia in routine clinical practice.
“The advent of an objective marker for schizophrenia would significantly facilitate the diagnosis and offer a better understanding of the neurobiological basis of the disease.”
He added: "The long-term vision is to develop a low-cost, non-invasive and objective test to aid the diagnosis of this and other brain diseases."
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