Schizophrenia: A disorder of neurodevelopment and accelerated aging?

Many lines of evidence indicate that schizophrenia is a disorder of neurodevelopment. For example, genes implicated in the heritable risk for schizophrenia are also implicated in the development of nerve cells and their connections. Numerous findings in brain imaging studies describe the changes in brain structure and function associated with schizophrenia as emerging early in the course of the disorder. Some early brain imaging studies even found little or no evidence of progression of structural deficits. Yet, a new generation of studies now also describes degenerative processes in schizophrenia that resemble accelerated aging.

URL: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/mind_brain/depression/~3/-NuJIbqi-H0/130306084203.htm