Brain Patterns Could Stand As A Mental Illnesses Prediction

Mental illnesses such as schizophrenia or depression can, at times, present themselves and occur without even showing any risk or warning sign of the disease in the victim. This is a concern for medical professionals and patients alike because not being able to predict the onset of these mental illnesses curbs the ability to act and prevent these disorders from taken over the victims' mind. However, now British scientists have found a way to predict the onset of mental illnesses via patterns shown in the brain activity of young people and children. By looking for patterns or "markers" in young people's brain activity these researchers argue that you can find risks for future mental illness.

The study was taken at Nottingham University by comparing the brain patterns of victims of mental illnesses with a control group who were not affected by any sort of mental problem and were actually siblings of the group with mental illnesses. By looking at the patterns, researchers theorized that you could help predict and identify those who are at risk for becoming ill. This could help to both prevent the illness from taking place and medicate those who are at risk before symptoms completely take hold. This is good news for millions of people who are affected by mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and epilepsy because it could possibly stand as a warning sign in preventing mental illness before it even has a chance to start.