Neurobiology of the early course of schizophrenia

Abstract

The past three decades have seen a great upsurge in studies focusing on the neurobiology of schizophrenia. Early studies, dating back to the start of the previous century, largely relied either on post-mortem examination of the brains of older patients with chronic schizophrenia or on brain scans in patients with established schizophrenia. It was therefore difficult to appraise the effects of the illness separately from those of aging, illness chronicity and medications. Avoiding such difficulties, studies of individuals in the early phases of schizophrenia have greatly enhanced our understanding of the course and predictive value of the neurobiological changes as well as approaches to optimal early interventions. In this paper, we review what we see as key directions in neurobiology research in early schizophrenia. We first provide an overview of alterations in cognition, structural and functional neuroanatomy, and neurochemistry in the early phases of schizophrenia. We conclude by summarizing the current state of understanding of the role of genetic and environmental factors and their interactions in the etiology of schizophrenia.

Keywords::

• functional alteration
• neurochemistry
• neurocognitive deficit
• psychosis
• schizophrenia
• structural alteration

Financial & competing interests disclosure

The authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.