Stay connected: a family-based diffusion imaging study in psychotic disorder

Changes in the way different regions of the brain communicate with one another is considered to be one of the causes of psychotic disorder. White matter anomalies throughout the brain have been found in patients with psychotic disorder. These anomalies are not found in the brains of the patients' healthy siblings and likely reflects disease-related brain pathology. Over a period of roughly three years, a stabilisation of these white matter anomalies was found in the brains of patients compared to an increase in white matter anomalies in those of healthy siblings. Finally, a link was found between increased white matter deterioration in patients with psychotic disorder and greater exposure to cannabis and youth trauma. Prevention campaigns should focus more attention on the harmful effects of environmental stressors that can increase the risk for developing a psychotic disorder.