NEURODEVELOPMENTAL INFLUENCES IN THE GENESIS AND EPIGENESIS OF SCHIZOPHRENIA - AN OVERVIEW

The classical view of schizophrenia as a dementing disorder has recent ly been challenged by several findings pointing to a prenatal/perinata l origin of at least some of the brain abnormalities seen in these pat ients. This article reviews evidence from a number of different fields , including postmortem neuropathology, in vivo neuroimaging, developme ntal neuropsychology, and obstetric epidemiology in assessing the viab ility of a neurodevelopmental perspective of schizophrenia. Although t he case for viewing schizophrenia as a neurodevelopmental condition is still circumstantial, and several gaps in this model remain, evidence from these diverse lines of inquiry converge to indicate at least a p artial role of disturbances of brain development in the disorder's gen esis and epigenesis.