Neurodevelopmental hypothesis of schizophrenia: a central sensory disturbance

Schizophrenia is a syndrome that is believed to have its onset during very early corticogenesis of the affected patient. The subsequent structural and functional cerebral variations observed in people with schizophrenia suggest an altered overall pattern of brain morphology. The alterations in cerebral structure and function in schizophrenia suggest that an early disturbance of the central nervous sensory modality may be occurring in the patient. Placing the structural and functional cerebral deficits reported in schizophrenia within the context of normal brain structure and function provides a neurological basis to identify early pathological molecular mechanisms and programs that may be resulting in schizophrenia. (C) 2000 Harcourt Publishers Ltd.