[The Basic-Symptom Concept and its Influence on Current International Research on the Prediction of Psychoses]

Area of Science:

• Psychiatry
• Neuroscience
• Psychology

Background:

• Early detection of psychosis is crucial for intervention.
• The ultra-high risk (UHR) approach identifies individuals at immediate risk.
• The basic symptom approach targets the earliest phenomenological signs of psychosis development.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the development and assumptions of the basic symptom concept.
• To summarize research on the specificity and psychosis-predictive value of basic symptoms.
• To explore the link between basic symptoms and neurobiological underpinnings of psychosis.

Main Methods:

• Literature review of studies on basic symptoms.
• Analysis of research on basic symptoms across different age groups.
• Introduction to recent neuroimaging studies relevant to the basic symptom concept.

Main Results:

• Basic symptoms are increasingly recognized for early psychosis detection.
• Studies show varying specificity and predictive value of basic symptoms depending on age.
• Neuroimaging findings support basic symptoms as direct expressions of underlying cerebral changes.

Conclusions:

• Basic symptoms are valuable for the earliest possible detection of psychosis.
• Basic symptoms may serve as key indicators for future neurobiological research into psychosis etiology.
• The basic symptom concept offers insights into the psychopathology of psychosis.