Schizophrenia may be a consequence of neuronal birth gone awry, according to unpublished research presented today at the Society for Neuroscience conference.The formation of new neurons ― or neurogenesis ― is an intricate process that occurs in both developing and adult brains. Neural stem cells first give rise to round nerve cell bodies, which then form long and skinny nerve projections through various layers of the cortex and synaptic connections to larger other networks of neurons.Studying brain cells in culture, neuroscientist Guo-li Ming from Johns Hopkins University compared the entire process of neurogenesis in the hippocampus of normal mice and in mice with reduced expression of DISC1, a gene that has been strongly associated with schizophrenia.Read more at...SFARI, November 2008.