RELN and schizophrenia: In the context of schizophrenia, the reeler mouse mutant brain offers indicative links with neuropathological analyses of patient brains which have reduced levels of reelin in the cortex and hippocampus.28,38 For example, reeler brains have peculiar structural defects in the cortices and hippocampus39 and schizophrenia patient brains have a thinner cerebral cortex40 and reduced hippocampal volume.36 Besides its role in neuronal migration, reelin also stimulates formation of dendrites41 and synapses42 during neurodevelopment.