Thanks to technology, doctors can see changes in specific areas of the brain. They can also map the possible loss of brain tissue.
One study showed that brain tissue loss in young people at risk of developing the illness was linked to psychotic symptoms like hallucinations.
Another study compared MRI pictures of the brains of youths about age 14 who had no symptoms of schizophrenia with those who did. It found that the teens who had symptoms lost more brain tissue over a 5-year period than the others. Research shows that adults who have schizophrenia also may lose gray matter.