Concrete evidence of viral infection and mitochondrial alterations in fetuses at significant risk for schizophrenia in the brain

Author(s): Edward Hopes*

There is a substantial body of science that suggests schizophrenia begins in the womb. These findings point to intrauterine environmental variables acting especially during the second pregnancy trimester, causing direct fetal brain injury. Because the human brain is not exposed to direct analysis in that period of development in persons at high risk of developing schizophrenia, existing technology does not allow for observation at the cellular level. In 1977, a direct electron microscopic study of the brains of fetuses at high risk from schizophrenic mothers to see if there were any cellular changes between them and controls.

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