 Recent decades have seen the accumulation of
substantial evidence to support the idea that disturbances to the
development of the brain and nervous system during gestation
increase the risk of schizophrenia: this is the
‘neurodevelopmental theory of schizophrenia’ (Murray et al, 1992; Weinberger, 1996).
Multiple lines of evidence have been developed
to support this theory, including studies based on evidence of
disturbed craniofacial development, neurological soft signs,
dermatoglyphic anomalies, and other indices of prenatal
disturbances to neural development.
This module aims to explore these specific
lines of evidence and to examine how they might be integrated into
a ‘life-course’ approach to the aetiology of schizophrenia.
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