Endophenotypes in Schizophrenia for the Perinatal Period: Criteria for Validation.

ABSTRACT: Endophenotypes are disease-associated phenotypes that are thought to reflect the neurobiological or other mechanisms that underlie the more overt symptoms of a psychiatric illness. Endophenotypes have been critical in understanding the genetics, neurobiology, and treatment of schizophrenia. Because psychiatric illnesses have multiple causes, including both genetic and nongenetic risk factors, an endophenotype linked to one of the mechanisms may be expressed more frequently than the disease itself. However, in schizophrenia research, endophenotypes have almost exclusively been studied in older adolescents or adults who have entered or passed through the age of risk for the disorder. Yet, schizophrenia is a neurodevelopmental disorder where prenatal development starts a cascade of brain chan

SUBMITTER: Ross RG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4466194 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature