Are mental diseases brain diseases? The contribution of neuropathology to understanding of schizophrenic psychoses

Nearly a century after the seminal contributions of Emil Kraepelin, the search for neuropathologic correlates of schizophrenic psychoses continues. A multitude of neuroanatomic and neurochemical findings has emerged in recent years, but many of these findings are not replicated or are difficult to interpret in light of methodologic problems. In this review replicated neuropathologic and neuroimaging studies are discussed. The hypothesis that emerges from these studies is that schizophrenia is a developmental abnormality affecting the connectivity of the prefrontal and medial temporal cortices.