Hi Ben,
>As pointed out in my previous post diet and behaviour which should be read
>in conjunction with this post, diet can be specifically blamed for a
>reduction of brain size of some 10% since the agricultural revolution 10,000
>years ago.

I would be very interested in a citation in support of this point. Thanks
in advance.

>Thus, I hypothesise a dietary basis for the neural structural defects
>associated with schizophrenia.

You're actually about thirty years late.  Curtis Dohan  discovered the
connection between diet and schizophrenia...... and he identified gluten
and dairy products as major dietary factors. But most of his work predated
the discovery of the opioid peptides derived from the partial digests of
proteins from these foods. Run a Medline search on Curtis Dohan, Kalle
Reichelt, Christine Zioudrou, and Mycroft (his first name escapes me at the
moment). I think you will find their work very interesting.

There is also a case report in recent literature. Abnormal perfusion of
parts of the brain, as identified by SPECT (a brain scan device with which
I am unfamiliar), in a schizophrenic patient, resolved on a gluten-free
diet. So did the schizophrenia. The diet was instituted long after the
diagnosis of schizophrenia, when concomitant celiac disease was diagnosed
(1).


1. De Santis A, et al.  Schizophrenic symptoms and SPECT abnormalities in a
coeliac patient: regression after a gluten-free diet.
J Intern Med. 1997 Nov;242(5):421-3.

best wishes,
Ron Hoggan