Duration of pretreatment phases in schizophrenia: women and men.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the relative duration of the prepsychotic prodrome and the period of untreated psychosis in women and men with schizophrenia. METHOD: From a larger study population, we selected 27 women and 34 men treated at 1 facility. To determine the time of first behavioural change and the time of first psychotic symptoms, we administered the Interview for the Retrospective Assessment of the Onset of Schizophrenia (IRAOS). Subjects' mothers were interviewed using the same instrument. Time of first treatment was determined by hospital record. RESULTS: The first sign of behavioural disturbance occurred at approximately the same age in women and men. The prepsychotic prodrome was almost twice as long for women as for men. The duration of untreated psychosis did not differ between the 2 sexes. Substance abuse did not influence the observed difference between men and women in the duration of the prepsychotic phase. The interval between first behavioural sign and first treatment was, on average, 6 years for men and 9 years for women. CONCLUSION: As-yet-unknown factors speed up the progression from nonspecific symptoms to psychosis in men or delay it in women.

Earlier puberty as a predictor of later onset of schizophrenia in women.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to determine whether puberty plays a mediating role in onset of schizophrenia. The hypothesis was that there is an inverse relation between age at puberty (menarche) and age at onset in women. METHOD: Competent and consenting individuals with DSM-IV-defined schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder and their mothers underwent a 45-minute interview to ascertain age at first odd behavior, age at first psychotic symptoms, age at first hospitalization, and ages at various indices of puberty. Information about substance use, head injury, perinatal trauma, and first-degree family history of schizophrenia was also obtained. RESULTS: In the women (N = 35), the earlier the age at menarche, the later the ages at both the first psychotic symptoms and the first hospitalization. There was no significant association between puberty and onset in the men (N = 45). Other than gender, none of the examined variables played a role in the interaction of puberty and onset of illness. CONCLUSIONS: In women, early puberty (whether through hormonal or social influence) was associated with later onset of schizophrenia. This effect was not found in men; in fact, the trend was in the opposite direction.

Distribution of adenosine A1 receptors in primary visual cortex of developing and adult monkeys.

Adenosine is an endogenous neuromodulator, whose actions in the brain are mediated by several, highly specific receptor systems. This study examined the distribution of adenosine A1 receptors in the primary visual cortex of developing and adult monkeys by way of radioligand-binding autoradiography. Receptor density was found to be highest in layers 2/3 and 5 of adult striate cortex and lowest in layer 4. A similar pattern was found in infant monkeys that were in the critical period of development. Furthermore, removal of visual stimulation appeared to have no effect on receptor density in any of the layers. These results show that levels of adenosine A1 receptors are not affected within ocular dominance columns after removal of visual input and that the geniculorecipient layer is less likely to be influenced by endogenous adenosine than other layers during early development and in the adult.