STRESS or diet may suppress growth of the brain's cerebellum in the womb. Researchers claim this could later contribute to schizophrenia, as people with the mental illness sometimes have abnormally small cerebellums.
When Ruth Pidsley of King's College London and colleagues analysed DNA from post-mortem brains, they found that altered methylation in a key gene that drives growth was correlated with cerebellar weight (Epigenetics, DOI: 10.4161/epi.7.2.18910).
Such changes in methylation can occur in response to stress and diet. Since exposure to stress in the womb is already linked to schizophrenia, Pidsley has begun testing how these different factors may contribute to mental illness.
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