Neuregulin-erbB Signaling and the Pathogenesis of Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is a devastating psychiatric disease, typically producing life-long disability. Initially considered a neurodegenerative disorder, schizophrenia is now viewed as a developmental disease due to the lack of neurodegenerative processes and because affected individuals exhibit cognitive and social impairment before the first psychotic episode (Lewis and Lieberman 2000). It has been proposed that schizophrenia may result from defects in early brain development that increase the risk of developing the disease as normal maturational events occur during adolescence or early adulthood. In addition, defects in late developmental events such as myelination or sexual maturation may also play a role. Genetic factors clearly account for a significant proportion of the underlying causes of schizophrenia.