Molecular genetic study of schizophrenia based on neurodevelopmental hypothesis

The neurodevelopmental model of schizophrenia (1,2) is now a widely accepted hypothesis, and several investigations based on this model have been conducted. The actual pathophysiology of this disorder, however, is still not fully understood. The neurodevelopmental model suggests that schizophrenia is a behavioral phenotype, resulting from neurodevelopmental processes that start long before the onset of clinical manifestations and are due to a combination of environmental and genetic factors (Fig. 1). Clinical studies have provided the following support for this hypothesis (3).