Schizophrenia effects decision making area of brain

One of the causes that hinders decision making in people is due to the  disease called Schizophrenia which is a mental disorder  characterized by breakdown of thought process and emotional responsiveness, besides attacks of delusions and hallucinations.

The research,led by Thomas Weickert a psychiatrist at the University of New South Wales revealed that the brain area  called the ventral striatum, which is linked with decision making was found unresponsiveness among Schizophrenia.

The journal Molecular Psychiatry reports that people suffering from Schizophrenia were unable to make difference between expected and unexpected rewards and deal with life’s unpredictability or make good decisions.

Weickert said “ Using functional MRI image, we could see this region of the brain wasn’t firing correctly.People with Schizophrenia have trouble while taking cues from their surroundings and consequently made bad decisions.”

Weickert also commented that reward responses are sometimes very important in many areas of learning as they help us to redirect behavior and attention to various things which are beneficial for us.