A defective brain 'switch' that allows a person to differentiate their inner thoughts from the outer world has been linked to schizophrenia, according to a new study published in Neuron. Scientists at Nottingham University found that a problem with the connection between the insula (red, pictured) and the lateral frontal cortex was related to the severity of hallucinations and delusions. Brain scans on controls found that switching between the use of the insula to the lateral frontal cortex occurred when they switched between internal thoughts and processing the external world. The schizophrenia patients were less likely to shift to using their lateral frontal cortex. Besides helping to explain some of the symptoms of the illness, this finding also helps researchers develop better treatments, such as transcranial magnetic stimulation, which could help improve this switching ability.
Source: http://www.cell.com/neuron/abstract/S0896-6273(13)00543-6
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