title: 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.
authors.affiliation: University of Ottawa School of Medicine, Champlain District First Episode Psychosis Program, 1355 Bank Street, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Ripu D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Jindal
authors.forename: Matcheri S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Keshavan
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D009446:Neurobiology; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology