BDNF and schizophrenia: Therefore, alterations in BDNF may contribute to altered brain development, failures in neuroplasticity, and synaptic disconnectivity, and explain at least in part some of the morphological, neurochemical, and cytoarchitectonic abnormalities found in the brains of patients with schizophrenia (Durany and Thome, 2004; Shoval and Weizman, 2005; Buckley et al., 2007a).