The embryology of psychosis

Understanding the aetiology of psychiatric disorders is necessary to inform prevention, early intervention, diagnosis, and treatment. Schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders are increasingly considered, at least in part, as neurodevelopmental disorders, with growing interest in the influence of the prenatal period in their possible cause. Such evidence is derived from studies showing a heightened risk of psychosis in the offspring of mothers exposed to extreme stress, undernutrition, and infectious diseases; however, the immune mechanisms that underpin this association remain unclear.