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How do we distinguish the body's reaction to mental illness from its cause? Wild unprofessional speculation of course, but what if this mass destruction of grey matter was just an attempt to "fix" improperly wired neurons causing schizophrenia in a drastic way? The "synaptic pruning" genes might have evolved as a solution in lineages where schizophrenia was frequently passed on/caused by parents' behavior. Too silly / crazy?

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Ive also heard it said in seemingly respectable articles that no one is sure if the grey matter dies off because of the disease itself or because of the medication to treat the psychotic symptoms.

You'd think you could just look at some posthumous biopsied brains of untreated schitzophrenics for comparison.

Here's a somewhat relevant study:

"The Influence of Chronic Exposure to Antipsychotic Medications on Brain Size before and after Tissue Fixation: A Comparison of Haloperidol and Olanzapine in Macaque Monkeys"

http://www.nature.com/npp/journal/v30/n9/full/1300710a.html

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