Functional Neurodissection in the First Episode of Schizophrenia: Time to Do It

introduction: current available knowledge does not delineate the relative contribution of cortical and/or subcortical mechanisms in the development of the various symptoms of schizophrenia. methods: we propose here to employ a battery of functional neurological studies to be done in the earliest phase of manifest schizophrenia combining transcranial magnetic stimulation and brainstem reflex studies. the proposed battery would examine both cortical and subcortical mechanisms reasonably well-correlated with neurotransmitter abnormalities to differentiate gabaergic, cholinergic, and dopaminergic subgroups of patients and healthy controls. conclusion: these investigations would lead towards a better neurophysiological subcategorization and could guide towards a more focused pharmacological intervention in early schizophrenia symptoms.