Glutamate is a chemical involved in the part of the brain that forms memories and helps us learn new things. It also tells parts of the brain what to do.
One study found that people who are at risk for developing schizophrenia may have too much glutamate activity in certain areas of the brain at first. As the disease progresses, those brain areas may have too little glutamate activity.
Doctors are working to find out how brain circuits that use these chemicals work together or are related to each other.