"Findings from cross-sectional and longitudinal studies examining patients with adolescent-onset psychosis support the concept of [early onset psychosis] as a progressive neurodevelopmental disorder with both early and later neurodevelopmental abnormalities," the investigators wrote. "Progressive brain changes seem to be more marked in those patients ending with a diagnosis of schizophrenia, although progressive changes were present in other psychoses. Some of these pathophysiologic processes seem to be markers of poorer prognosis." They added that the development of therapeutic strategies aimed at counteracting these pathological progressive brain changes requires research focused on their neurobiological underpinnings.
"The correlates of volume changes at a cellular level and the study of risk genes involved in circuitries associated with different psychoses and their relationship to developmental trajectories may be promising areas of research," they noted.
The study was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Health and Social Policy, Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation. Dr. Arango has been a consultant to or has received honoraria from AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Janssen-Cilag, Lundbeck, Otsuka, Pfizer, Roche, Servier, and Schering-Plough.