Recognising facial expression may one day help in early diagnosis of mental illness, particularly schizophrenia, according to a Tel Aviv researcher.

Prof. Talma Hendler of Tel Aviv University's Department of Psychology said that schizophrenia usually emerges between the ages of 18 and 30, but diagnosis before the disease manifests could be the key to developing more successful treatments.

Building on her groundbreaking work on facial recognition and brain imaging, Prof. Hendler is hoping to make early diagnosis a reality by identifying the physical markers of mental illness inside the brain.

"With better diagnosis, plus earlier and more disease-specific treatment, we can make a real difference in the lives of these patients," said Hendler.

To study the physical manifestation of schizophrenia, she used brain imaging to illustrate differences between the brain activity of schizophrenic patients and healthy adults.

During the study, Hendler showed that when presented with photographs of emotional faces with "bizarre" characteristics, the brains of schizophrenic patients were much less reactive than established norms.

Previous research revealed when shown a bizarre "funny face", healthy minds respond with selective activity within the brain, sounding the alarm that there is something disturbing about the image.

"The visual areas of the brain are highly connected to other areas, including the prefrontal cortex and the amygdala, but in schizophrenic patients, there is a diminished connection between the various parts, leading to disturbed integration of information - and thus to distorted experiences," she said.