Mesoprefrontal dopamine neurons and schizophrenia: role of developmental abnormalities.

Schizophrenia is characterized by a complex array of symptoms that include hallucinations, delusions, abnormal affect, and cognitive deficits. It is becoming increasingly apparent that the symptoms of the disorder are paralleled by equally complex functional and structural abnormalities in brain regions such as the temporal lobe, prefrontal cortex, and thalamus. In addition, the delayed onset of symptoms in late adolescence/early adulthood suggests that abnormal development of the nervous system may ultimately contribute to the neurobiology of the disorder. The present review focuses on clinical and basic research that, together, suggests abnormal development of the dopamine (DA) innervation of prefrontal cortex plays a role in the cognitive deficits of schizophrenia.