A new study led by scientists from the University of Zurich and the University Hospital of Psychiatry Zurich has found a possible link between a person’s genetic risk for schizophrenia and changes in the retina—the light-sensitive tissue at the back of the eye.
Because the retina is part of the central nervous system, it shares many features with the brain. This close connection means that changes in the brain might also be visible in the eye, offering a new way to study mental health.
The study, published in Nature Mental Health, focused on whether people with a higher inherited risk of schizophrenia show any signs of nerve changes—even if they don’t have the illness. Schizophrenia is a serious mental disorder that affects how a person thinks, feels, and behaves.
One of its key features is trouble with how the brain processes information. Past studies have shown that people with schizophrenia often have less gray matter in their brains, and they may also have thinner retinal layers.
But it has been unclear whether these retinal changes are caused by the illness itself, by medication, or by other health conditions like diabetes, or whether they are actually linked to the risk of developing schizophrenia in the first place.
To answer this, the researchers used data from the UK Biobank, a huge medical database that includes health and genetic information from over 500,000 people. They looked only at healthy people—those who had not been diagnosed with schizophrenia—to find out if genetic risk alone could be tied to changes in the retina.
Using the participants’ genetic data, the scientists calculated a “polygenic risk score” for each person. This score reflects how many of the common genetic variants linked to schizophrenia a person carries.
They then compared this score with measurements of retinal thickness taken using a simple, non-invasive scan called optical coherence tomography. This eye scan works like an ultrasound but uses light instead of sound to create detailed images of the retina.
The results showed that people with a higher genetic risk for schizophrenia tended to have slightly thinner retinas. Although the difference was small, it was consistent across the very large group of people studied.
This suggests that thinning of the retina may be one of the early signs of changes in the central nervous system that happen even before a person develops schizophrenia.
What makes this discovery especially interesting is that retinal scans are quick, safe, and relatively cheap. Unlike brain scans, they don’t require large machines or hospital visits. This means that in the future, eye scans could be used to help identify people who may be at higher risk for schizophrenia before symptoms appear.
However, the researchers note that more long-term studies are needed to see how well retinal scans can predict future illness.
The study also found that some of the genes linked to schizophrenia risk are involved in inflammation in the brain. This supports a growing theory in mental health research: that inflammation may play a role in causing schizophrenia. If this is true, then treating inflammation early might help prevent or reduce the impact of the disorder.
In summary, this large study shows that a thinner retina may be linked to genetic risk for schizophrenia, even in people who are otherwise healthy.
It also opens the door to new ways of detecting and possibly preventing the disorder using simple eye tests. Future research may reveal whether controlling inflammation could also help protect the brain and improve mental health treatments.
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The research findings can be found in Nature Mental Health.
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