Abstract
Schizophrenia is a devastating disorder that is common, usually chronic, frequently associated with substantial co-morbidity for
addictive and medical disorders and, as a consequence, very costly in both personal and economic terms. At present, no proven
means for preventing or modifying the course of the illness exist. This review discusses evidence supporting the ideas that: (i)
impairments in certain cognitive processes are the core feature of schizophrenia; (ii) these cognitive impairments reflect
abnormalities in specific cortical circuits; and (iii) these circuitry abnormalities arise during childhood–adolescence. The implications
of these findings for the development and implementation of safe, preemptive, disease-modifying interventions in individuals at high
risk for a clinical diagnosis of schizophrenia are considered.