[Early markers of schizophrenia. Will we be able to predict the illness?]

The study of early markers of schizophrenia can help us to develop etiological explanations as well as early therapeutic interventions. In this study we review retrospective studies, follow-up studies of population cohorts and follow-up studies of persons at high genetic risk for schizophrenia. These studies show that, in general, we can observe motor abnormalities since the very early childhood that later become silent. On the other hand, cognitive abnormalities begin at childhood and persist throughout adolescence. Sociability abnormalities are shown after puberty. Due to the low specificity of these early precursors, we can not efficiently predict schizophrenia yet. However, any measure that improves common precursors of different illnesses will have favorable consequences.