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A breakthrough study has revealed how some genes can affect the development of Schizophrenia, a complicated psychiatric condition that the scientists have spent years in understanding. The study findings published on Wednesday in Journal Nature, reveals the potential reasons that trigger the symptoms of schizophrenia affecting as many as 3.5 million Americans of 1% of the population. Schizophrenia has varied symptoms such as hallucinations, cognitive difficulties, hallucinations and abnormal social behavior. However, the psychiatrists have been mystified about its origins and biological foundations. "The fundamental scientific predicament in schizophrenia and in all mental illness is that we haven't known even the most basic things about how these diseases start," Dr. Steve McCarroll, a geneticist at Harvard University and one of the study's authors, told The Huffington Post. "Any steps toward understanding the root causes of the disease is potentially really helpful."

For the purpose of the study, researchers from all over US came together and investigated the role of genetics and its influence on the individual's chance of developing the disease. In the process, they isolated one particular gene that prompts the symptoms. According to their research, the people who carry a gene that accelerates the normal development process of "synaptic pruning" in their brains have a high risk of developing schizophrenia. When people are suffering from Schizophrenia, their process of synaptic pruning is in an overdrive state, meaning that they have fewer connections with the prefrontal cortex leading to the development in disorder mainly during adolescence and young adulthood.

"The great majority of schizophrenia cases present between the ages of 16 and 25, which has always been one of the mysteries of the illness," McCarroll said. "Why would it strike at this particular time in life?" The researchers claimed that the gene that has been linked to weakened neural connections also has the C4 protein. "C4 is essentially placing the Post-it note on synapses that says 'eat me,'" McCarroll said, as reported by Huffington Post