Symposia

Mental disorders like schizophrenia, mood disorders and substance abuse begin in adolescence and early adulthood. This is a time of active brain changes as adolescents mature into adulthood. Such maturational changes provide the context for understanding how and why these disorders arise during this critical period of development. I will first summarise the findings from the Melbourne early psychosis and prodromal studies examining premorbid and progressive brain changes during and following the onset of psychosis. I will consider whether the evidence supports these as risk-related markers of illness onset and transition. I will also examine evidence from studies of childhood schizophrenia (Gogtay et al., 2011). The findings suggest that biomarkers should be examined longitudinally to assess normal and abnormal trajectories during maturation and with the emergence of mental disorders (Pantelis et al., 2005; 2009). These trajectories include evidence for (a) neurodevelopmental lag, (b) neurodevelopmental arrest, and (c) neuroprogressive changes. These trajectories can also be considered to reflect the impact of both risk and resilience factors. Finally, I will consider the importance of examining trajectories of acute relapse and remission (Cropley et al., 2013, 2014)