By BBC News
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| The new test would speed up schizophrenia diagnosis |
An artificial
brain could pick up the first signs of schizophrenia, before people
even start showing symptoms.
Scientists
have invented a computer test which they say has proved 100% accurate
in early tests.
The computer
programme is modelled on the human brain, and has been designed
to learn from experience like humans.
Clusters of
software processors, called nodes, are designed to behave like
brain cells.
The system,
was developed at the University of British Columbia, in Vancouver,
by Peter Liddle, a psychiatrist specialising in brain imaging.
The artificial
brain analyses the brain scan of patients looking for certain
characteristics in the brain blood flow, which could indicate
schizophrenia.
Dr Liddle
told New Scientist magazine that the system could revolutionise
the early treatment of schizophrenia.
Diagnosis
delay
"One
of the big challenges with schizophrenia is the diagnosis. It
can take several years for it to be made clear.
"Being
able to make a reliable diagnosis early can help to optimise the
outcome," he said.
Dr Liddle
said that recent evidence shows that certain parts of the brain
are disrupted in schizophrenia.
He said the
differences between the brains of healthy and schizophrenic people
could allow early detection.
His team scanned
four healthy patients and nine people diagnosed as having schizophrenia
and was able to differentiate between them with 100% accuracy.
"This
method seems to have the ability to pull out relatively complex
patterns that the naked eye wouldn't be able to see," he
said.
Artifical
brain
Dr Pat Levitt,
a neuroscientist at the University of Pittsburgh, in Pennsylvania
said the artificial brain had "really significant potential".
He said that
because there are many different types of schizophrenia, which
are treated in many different ways, it is difficult to categorise
patients.
Dr Levitt
said that if doctors could use the programme to classify patients
they would be able to offer better treatment.
But Professor
Robin Murray, of the Institute of Psychiatry, in London, said
he was sceptical that brain imaging could provide all the answers.
"Nobody
has ever found a specific brain abnormality that all schizophrenics
have that nobody else has," he said.
Cliff Prior,
chief executive of the National Schizophrenia Fellowship said
that although the research is still in its early stages a tool
for early diagnosis would be welcomed.
And he called
for better training of GPs and a break down of stigma so that
people seek help earlier.
"There
is a need for more reliable diagnosis of schizophrenia. At present
it can take anything from an 18 month to a two year delay from
the onset of schizophrenia to people getting help.
"This
research is clearly in its early stages and it is therefore important
not to raise false hopes, but if it does prove successful, it
could be a major help.
"However,
much of the current delay is due to poor practice, not the lack
of tool for diagnosis," he said.
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