Schizophrenia as a neurodevelopmental disorder

There is widespread consensus that schizophrenia is a syndrome marked by neurodevelopmental abnormalities of brain structure and function, New research strives to identify more specific markers of pathophysiological processes, and to determine the timing at which different pathological features emerge. Progress has been made in identifying the risks posed by early environmental insults, and distinguishing these from familial (and presumably genetic) risks. The focus of research has moved progressively back in the course of the illness to find early characteristics that may enable the prediction of subsequent illness, and thereby foster the development of earlier interventions. Finally, the field seems to be witnessing a revival of theoretical speculation, with several new syntheses of existing literature pointing to new hypotheses about pathophysiology in a neurodevelopmental context. Curr Opin Psychiatry 14:9-15. (C) 2001 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.