According to the article, mice bred to have neurological problems had a protein present in many of their fully-formed neurons--a protein that is generally only expressed to signal cells to "get rid of" those neurons. This process, when it works correctly, is known as synaptic pruning--and it helps our brains not become "overloaded" with too much unnecessary information. When this synaptic pruning goes awry, it may result in illnesses such as schizophrenia and Alzheimer's.
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