A group of researchers believe that they have found a way of alleviating some symptoms of schizophrenia in patients that ‘hear voices’ or ‘experience hallucinations’, according to reports.

Scientists from St Jude Research Hospital’s Department of Developmental Neurobiology claim that they could have found a way of making ‘voices in the head’ heard by some people with the condition appear ‘quieter’.

They also believe that their recent study may also be used as a basis to explore an explanation behind why symptoms of schizophrenia often do not appear until adolescence or adulthood.

The team at St Jude’s have been working with mice models of the 22q11 deletion syndrome thought to be linked with the condition.

In the past, scientists have been aware that the 22q11 deletion syndrome – the neural circuit connecting two brain regions involved in auditory hallucinations – is often disrupted in schizophrenia patients. However, they have previously been unable to determine why.

But St Jude’s study managed to detect a potential factor of this common disruption – a molecule known as miR-338-3p.

Their research found that levels of miR-338-3p were lower in the thalamus of individuals with schizophrenia compared to individuals of the same age and sex without the condition. But the study also found that when levels of the molecule were replenished in the mice, it “restored the circuit to normal functioning”.

Study author Stanislav Zakharenko said: “While miR-338-3p levels decline as normal mice age, levels may remain above the threshold necessary to prevent over-expression of the protein and hallucinations. In contrast, the deletion syndrome may leave mice at risk for dropping below that threshold”.

He added that the study could pave the way for research into potential new treatments for the condition.