“Men with chronic schizophrenia lose brain volume at a faster rate than the normal aging changes seen in men without the
mental illness, a study by a researcher at Yale shows.” Studies for a long time have shown lower volumes of brain tissue than matched controls in some schizophrenics, but I and others who study schizophrenia have thought this was a static finding representing the neurodevelopmental aberrations that underlie some schizophrenia. Instead, this study followed patients with progressive MRI scans over an average four-year interval, demonstrating tissue loss. And the extent of this progressive change correlated with the severity of their illness in the interim. This suggests ongoing neurodegeneration.