The word schizophrenia means

Schizophrenia
The word schizophrenia means splitting of personalities and has its origin in the Greek language and was coined by Eugene Bleuler in 1908. Other researchers who did pioneering work in the field include Kurt Schneider, who described the diagnostic features of the disease. This illness is one of the most debilitating psychiatric illnesses known to man and has the capacity to affect all aspects of the affected person’s life. Extensive research has been done to identify the causative factors of the disease. Genetic factors, environmental insults, perinatal insults and psychological stresses have all been explored as possible etiological agents for the diagnosis of the disease (Hirsch and Weinberger 21)
Physiological and anatomical effects of schizophrenia
Recent research has shown that schizophrenia cannot simply be explained by the interplay of genetic and environmental factors. The neuro developmental hypothesis has been put forward to explain the occurrence of the disease with certain characteristic structural changes in the brain present in schizophrenic patients along with altered blood flow to certain areas of the brain and altered function or amount of neurotransmitters.
Structural changes in brain in context to symptoms in patients
With the help of advanced imaging techniques, scientists have discovered certain consistent alterations in brain morphology seen in a majority of schizophrenic patients. The schizophrenic brain shows a decreased amount of grey m…