Ageing and Schizophrenia could have a shared biological basis

"Science often focuses on what genes each cell type expresses on its own," said Steve McCarroll, a co-senior author on the study and an institute member at the Broad Institute. "But brain tissue from many people, and machine-learning analyses of those data, helped us recognize a larger system. These cell types are not acting as independent entities, but have really close coordination. The strength of those relationships took our breath away."

The findings revealed that SNAP varied greatly even among people without schizophrenia, suggesting that SNAP could be involved in cognitive differences in healthy humans. Much of this variation was explained by age; SNAP declined substantially in many -- but not all -- older individuals, including both people with and without schizophrenia.

“With better understanding of SNAP, it might be possible to identify life factors that positively influence SNAP, and develop medicines that help stimulate SNAP, as a way to treat the cognitive impairments of schizophrenia or help people maintain their cognitive flexibility as they age.” concluded McCarroll.

Reference: Emi Ling, James Nemesh, Melissa Goldman, Nolan Kamitaki, Nora Reed, Robert E. Handsaker, Giulio Genovese, Jonathan S. Vogelgsang, Sherif Gerges, Seva Kashin, Sulagna Ghosh, John M. Esposito, Kiely Morris, Daniel Meyer, Alyssa Lutservitz, Christopher D. Mullally, Alec Wysoker, Liv Spina, Anna Neumann, Marina Hogan, Kiku Ichihara, Sabina Berretta, Steven A. McCarroll. A concerted neuron–astrocyte program declines in ageing and schizophrenia. Journal: Nature, 2024; DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07109-5