Mitochondrial respiratory chain disorders are a group of genetically and clinically heterogeneous disorders caused by the biochemical complexity of mitochondrial respiration and the fact that two genomes, one mitochondrial and one nuclear, encode the components of the respiratory chain. These disorders can manifest at birth or present later in…

The use of longitudinal neuroimaging to study the developmental perspectives of brain pathology in children with childhood-onset schizophrenia (COS) is described. Structural neuroimaging is capable of providing evidence of neurobiological specificity of COS to distinguish it from other brain abnormalities seen in neuropsychiatric illnesses like…

Velo-cardio-facial syndrome (VCFS) has been in the focus of intensive research over the last 15 years. The syndrome represents a homogeneous model for studying the effect of a decreased dosage of genes on the development of brain structure and function and, consequently, on the emergence of schizophrenia-like psychotic disorder. In this review, we…

The neural substrates of eye movement measures are largely known. Therefore, measurement of eye movements in psychiatric disorders may provide insight into the underlying neuropathology of these disorders. Visually guided saccades, antisaccades, memory guided saccades, and smooth pursuit eye movements will be reviewed in various childhood…

Objective: The objective of the present study is to replicate findings in first-episode psychosis reporting a smaller volume in brain structures in a population with adolescent onset. Method: Magnetic resonance imaging studies were performed on 23 psychotic adolescents (12-18 years old, 17 males, 6 females) consecutively admitted to an adolescent…

Background: Monitoring brain processes in real time requires genuine subsecond resolution to follow the typical timing and frequency of neural events. Non-invasive recordings of electric (EEG/ERP) and magnetic (MEG) fields provide this time resolution. They directly measure neural activations associated with a wide variety of brain states and…

Background: Brain morphology and physiological measures in schizophrenia have yielded inconsistent results. This may be due in part to difficulties in ascertaining precisely to what degree each measure deviates from its genetically and environmentally determined potential level. We attempted to surmount this problem in a paradigm involving…

Objective: To investigate abnormalities in the structural integrity of brain white matter as suggested by diffusion tensor imaging in adolescents with early-onset schizophrenia (onset of psychosis by age 18). Method: Twenty-six patients with schizophrenia and 34 age- and gender-matched healthy volunteers received diffusion tensor imaging and…