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In their pursuit to identify Schizophrenia's causes, researchers have established that over-expression of a gene associated with brain development.

Through laboratory experiments on rats, Rutgers University researchers have understood the role of protein controlled by the gene NOS1AP, and uncovered its link with schizophrenia. The study led researchers to conclude that the disease, which has an adult onset, can be controlled much earlier when the brain is still under development, Fox News reported.

"When the brain develops, it sets up a system of the right type of connectivity to make sure that communication can occur. What we saw here was that the nerve cells didn't move to the correct locations and didn't have dendrites that branch out to make the connections that were needed," said Bonnie Firestein, professor in the Department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience at the university in a press release.

The study showed that overabundance of the protein due to over expression of the NOS1AP gene prevented dendrites from reaching out beyond neocortex area of the brain to form connections. The neocortex is area is hub of important activities like spatial reasoning, conscious thought, motor commands, language development and sensory perception are performed.

In rat brains where the protein was not present in abundance, researchers noticed that connections between nerve cells had formed completely.

Given that NOS1AP protein is associated with brain development and many areas of the brain including prefrontal cortex which is affected by schizophrenia during early adulthood, researchers have concluded that the disease can be treated effectively during adolescence, before the onset of symptoms.

The findings have set the stage for further studies where researchers would induce disease in lab animals and see if controlling NOS1AP protein expression can help treat the disease.

The findings have been published in the journal Biological Psychiatry.