Schizophrenia in translation: Is active psychosis neurotoxic?

Abstract

Positive symptoms of psychosis disrupt mentation. Do they also engineer brain cell death and deterioration? This hypothesis is currently popular as an explanation of the duration of untreated psychosis effect in early schizophrenia. The clinical and neurobiological evidence for its validity is visited and found wanting. Synaptic plasticity, not neurotoxicity, appears to be the mediating process. © The Author 2006. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center. All rights reserved.